About the program
Read the program description before you complete the application.
Am I eligible to apply?
Consult the Eligibility criteria for faculty to ensure that you can participate in this grant program as an applicant or a co-applicant.
Who completes the application?
The applicant and co-applicant(s) must complete their respective sections of the application according to the instructions, using the Research Portal. In addition, they must each complete the Canadian Common CV (CCV) and link it to the application.
Presentation standards
You must submit all requested information in the application, and the submitted application must meet the Research Portal presentation and attachment standards. Incomplete applications and applications that do not meet the presentation standards may be rejected, or be at a disadvantage, in comparison with those that are complete and respect the presentation standards. Information that is not required, based on the application instructions, will be removed. Where page limits are stated, pages in excess of the number permitted will be removed.
Application deadlines
Your application must be received at your institution’s research grants office by its internal deadline date; contact your research grants office for those deadlines.
The application must be received at NSERC by 8:00 p.m. (ET) on October 25, 2022.
In instances of systems interruptions, refer to the Service standards for NSERC and SSHRC’s online application systems policy on sustained interruptions.
Once an application has been submitted to NSERC, it cannot be updated or modified, either before or after the deadline.
Collection and use of personal information
The information you provide in your application is collected under the authority of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Act and stored in a series of NSERC data banks described in Information about programs and information holdings. Details on the use and disclosure of this information are described in Use and disclosure of personal information provided to NSERC, in the NSERC program literature and below. The information is used in accordance with the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.
Self-identification information (research team)
You must complete the self-identification form found in the person profile of the Research Portal when applying for funding. This data provides information on the diversity of the population applying for and receiving agency funds. This information increases NSERC’s capacity to monitor its progress on increasing equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in its programs, to recognize and remove barriers, and to design new measures to achieve greater EDI in the research enterprise. If you do not want to self-identify, you have the option to choose “I prefer not to answer” for each question, but you are required to select a response for the questionnaire to be marked as complete. Self-identification information is not part of the application and will be neither accessible to, nor shared with, external reviewers and/or selection committee members.
For more information, refer to the Frequently asked questions about the self-identification questionnaire.
Whom should I contact for help?
Note: Applicants are not required to submit a notification of intent to apply (NOI) before submitting a category 1 Subatomic Physics Research Tools and Instruments (SAP-RTI) grant application.
Administering organization
Organization – Select the organization that will administer the grant.
Department – If your department is not in the list, select “head office.”
Application
Application title – The title must be short and descriptive. It may be used for publication purposes. Restrict the use of acronyms (e.g., DNA, NATO, etc.), and avoid company or trade names.
Language of the application – Indicate the language in which the application will be submitted. The main body of the application must be written in either English or French, rather than a mix of both official languages. All NSERC CCVs must be submitted in the same language as the application.
Suggested evaluation group (not editable) – Only researchers undertaking research in subatomic physics at a Canadian university can apply to the Subatomic Physics Research Tools and Instruments (SAP-RTI) program. Applications that do not meet this requirement will be rejected.
Hours per month to be devoted to the research/activity or use of equipment or facility – Enter the number of hours per month you, the applicant, plan to devote to the proposed research/activity or use of equipment or facility. Do not include hours contributed by others (e.g., highly qualified personnel).
A limit of 3,000 characters is allowed in the text box.
Provide a summary of the proposal. The summary is intended to explain the proposal in language that the public can understand, and it will be made available to the public.
Using simple terms, briefly describe the equipment or the facility that is requested, what it will be used for, and the research activities it will enable. Indicate why and to whom the research activities are important, their anticipated outcomes and the benefits to the research field and to Canada.
If you wish, you may also provide a summary in the other official language in the text box for that purpose.
For SAP-RTI – category 1 grants, provide a one-year budget. If your request is for a longer duration, you must provide an explanation in the Budget justification section. If you do not request support for certain years, you must enter 0 for each of those years.
Verify all of your entries carefully. The Total Amount Requested from NSERC is calculated automatically by subtracting the Total Cash Contributions, if any, from the Total Proposed Expenditures.
All project expenditures are subject to the principles and directives governing the appropriate use of grant funds as outlined in the Tri-agency guide on financial administration.
Review and take into account the eligible and ineligible costs specific to the SAP-RTI – category 1 grants in the program description.
Use the Budget justification section (free-form attachment) to explain and justify each budget item and any contributions from other sources towards the purchase of the equipment or facility.
Refer to NSERC’s Guidelines on the assessment of contributions to research, training and mentoring.
The applicant and each co-applicant must complete this section.
A limit of 3,000 characters is allowed in the text box.
Discuss your most significant contributions to the training of highly qualified personnel (HQP) over the last six years.
Training supported by NSERC ranges from undergraduate theses and summer projects to postdoctoral levels, and includes technical and other research personnel.
You must clearly explain your role in any co-supervision of HQP.
The assessment of past contributions to HQP training focuses on the quality and impact of training, as demonstrated through three components. Each component should be supported through your CCV and/or application text:
Important: Trainee or team demographic data is not requested or required to assess impacts resulting from consideration of equity, diversity and inclusion in the research and training environment.
For more information on equitable, diverse and inclusive research and training environments, refer to NSERC’s EDI considerations for research teams.
For more information on equitable and inclusive recruitment practices, refer the Canada Research Chairs’ (CRC’s) Creating an equitable, diverse and inclusive research environment: A best practices guide for recruitment, hiring and retention and NFRF's
Best practices in equity, diversity and inclusion in research.
For additional context, refer to the Contributions to training and mentoring section in NSERC’s Guidelines on the assessment of contributions to research, training and mentoring.
The applicant and each co-applicant must complete this section.
A limit of 9,000 characters is allowed in the text box.
Describe up to five of your most significant contributions to research and/or to practical applications over the last six years. Contributions made more than six years ago but for which the impact is being felt now (e.g., exploitation of patent, inclusion in a code, etc.) may be described in this section only, with a proper description of the significance.
For each contribution, describe its significance in terms of influence on the direction of thought and activity in the target community, as well as its significance to, and use by, other researchers and end users. For collaborative contributions, describe your role.
A contribution does not have to be a single publication or report. For example, a group of publications on a specific subject could be discussed as one contribution.
Note:
The applicant and each co-applicant must complete this section.
A limit of 3,000 characters is allowed in the text box.
Provide details, as appropriate, on the contributions listed in your NSERC CCV. Such details may include:
For more information, refer to NSERC’s Guidelines on the assessment of contributions to research, training and mentoring.
Certification requirements
Before completing this section, consult the Requirements for certain types of research.
Research involving humans: If you select Yes, you must provide your institution's administration with the appropriate certification indicating that research involving humans has been reviewed and has received the required approval.
Research involving the use of animals: If you select Yes, you must provide your institution's administration with the certification from the animal care committee at the institution that the experimental procedures proposed have been approved and that the care and treatment of animals is in accordance with the principles outlined in the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) guide.
Research involving human pluripotent and/or totipotent stem cells: If you select Yes, or if the application is found to fall into this category through peer review and is recommended for funding, it will be forwarded, with your consent, to CIHR’s Stem Cell Oversight Committee (SCOC) to ensure compliance with
Chapter 12, Section F of the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans
(TCPS 2). The SCOC review is in addition to the normal review by local research ethics boards (REBs). Funding will not be released until approval has been obtained from the SCOC.
Research involving hazardous substances: If you select Yes, you must provide your institution's administration with the certification from the biosafety committee at the institution that the laboratory procedures being used comply with the safety precautions necessary for the level of containment required by the research.
Environmental impact: For more information, consult NSERC’s guidelines on impact assessment.
Research subject codes
Consult the Research subject codes table. All applicants are required to select a primary research code.
Area of application codes
Consult the Area of application codes table. All applicants are required to select a primary area of application code.
Keywords
Modify, as required, the keywords to best describe your proposal. A maximum of 10 keywords are permitted.
You must validate your eligibility profile. Review your information and ensure it accurately reflects the details of your eligible position. If your position is not in the list provided, enter free-form text. Click on Save and validate.
In the Application Overview page, click Attach to include each required document. Attachments are free-form and must respect Research Portal presentation and attachment standards and page limits, where appropriate.
Important note: You must preview all of your attachments in the Research Portal to ensure that the documents have been uploaded correctly and that the content is viewable. NSERC will not accept corrupted or protected files that cannot be opened or viewed.
This is a free-form PDF attachment.
Page limit: four pages.
Address all the selection criteria for the SAP-RTI grants program, as presented in the program description. The onus is on the applicant to thoroughly address each criterion and provide detailed information to the Subatomic Physics Evaluation Section.
Refer to the NSERC CCV instructions for information on obtaining consent to name individuals in your proposal.
This is a free-form PDF attachment.
There is no page limit. The file size limit is 10MB.
Provide a detailed explanation and justification for each budget item. For each item, provide sufficient information to allow reviewers to assess whether the requested support is appropriate.
Equipment or facility
Give a breakdown of the items requested. Provide details on models, manufacturers, prices and applicable taxes. Justify the need for each item requested. Ensure that you include quotations, when applicable.
Provide two recent quotations for items or systems costing more than $25,000 before taxes. You must provide a justification if two quotations are not available.
Note: When individual items costing less than $25,000 each are intended to be assembled together and integrated into a single new system, with a resulting overall cost exceeding $25,000, NSERC reserves the right to request quotations for the individual items after receipt and/or review of the application.
Other expenses
List all items not covered in the previous category and provide a detailed explanation.
Contributions from other sources (if applicable)
If appropriate, explain any financial contributions from other sources toward the purchase of the equipment or facility. If a contribution toward the purchase of the equipment is provided by an organization other than the applicant’s institution, a letter is required from the organization confirming this commitment.
You must use the Budget justification section only for the purpose of justifying the proposed budget. You should not use any part of it to provide additional information on the proposal and further address the selection criteria. Applications that do not comply with this requirement will be at a disadvantage in comparison with those that do. NSERC reserves the right to remove pages from this section if they are unrelated to the budget justification.
This is a free-form PDF attachment.
There is no page limit. The file size limit is 10MB.
The explanation of other research support (held and/or applied for) is considered in the evaluation of the need for funds. The onus is on applicants to provide sufficient information to enable the reviewers to assess the relationship between this application and other sources of support, and the incremental value of additional support from the SAP-RTI program.
This section refers only to other research support that will be held or applied for, or may become active within the funding period of the proposed SAP-RTI grant, held by the applicant or any of the co-applicants. For funding applied for, you must demonstrate that there will be no duplication of funding for the same expense(s) by explaining how funds will be used if all applications are successful. These funds can include grants and contributions from funding agencies, organizations, the private sector, institution start-up funds, research chairs, the primary place of employment (for adjunct professors), and other institutional research support. You are encouraged to provide, in the form of a table, the number of hours per month and fraction of full-time equivalent (FTE) that all participants plan to devote to the proposed research/activity.
Failure to provide adequate information to assess the relationship to other research will result in a rating of “Insufficient” for the need for funds criterion.
This is a free-form PDF attachment.
Page limit: two pages.
There is no typical number of co-applicants for a SAP-RTI – category 1 grant application, and the choice of researchers to include as co-applicants is left to the discretion of the applicant. However, without co-applicants and their NSERC CCV, the Subatomic Physics Evaluation Section may have difficulty in assessing several of the selection criteria for equipment intended to support the research activities of several researchers and their HQP.
NSERC recognizes that applications are the same and that the profile of co-applicants will vary accordingly. However, teams should strive for a diverse group of co-applicants and major users, including balanced gender representation. EDI considerations should be reflected in the rationale of the team composition and, where applicable, in the designated roles within the team. For more information, refer to the guide EDI considerations for research teams.
From the Application Overview page in the Invitations section, click on Manage Invitations.
Provide the name and email address of each co-applicant. An email will be sent to each participant with instructions on how to accept the invitation.
As a co-applicant, you must accept the invitation as specified in the invitation email. In the Research Portal, complete or update your eligibility profile, upload your NSERC CCV and provide the following information using the instructions specified above:
Note: Co-applicants (except those from the applicant’s institution) must advise the authorized officer of their organization that the applicant, or the applicant’s institution, will be seeking their authorized officer’s signature and agreement to the co-applicant’s participation before the application is submitted to NSERC.
To successfully upload your CCV, the first name and family name used to create your CCV site account must be identical to those used to create your Research Portal account. As well, the email address used to create your Research Portal account must be identical to at least one of the emails you listed on the CCV site.
Note: While the Canadian Common CV website is bilingual, you can only save your NSERC CCV in only one official language at a time, corresponding to the language of the platform you are using. For example, to save an French version of your NSERC CCV you must sign into your account using the French platform.
Click on the Submit button at the bottom of the Application Overview page. A pop-up message will appear. You will be required to extract and view your application to ensure that it is complete and that all relevant attachments extract properly. Note that the CCV will not appear in the extracted application. Save a copy of your application for your records. Once the confirmation box has been checked, click on the Submit button displayed in the pop-up message.
To complete the submission process, you will need to read and accept the terms and conditions by clicking on the I accept button. You will receive a confirmation message on the web page, as well as a confirmation email.
When you submit your application, it is sent to your research administrator for approval and submission to NSERC. The status of your application will be changed to Received by administrator. Once your research administrator has approved and forwarded your application to NSERC, the application status will be changed to Received by agency.
To verify the status of your submission, return to the home page.
Note: The retention period in the Research Portal is three months after the deadline date. If you wish to keep a record of your submitted NSERC application, use the Export application and attachments to PDF function and save a copy.
NSERC does not require original signatures on applications or other documents submitted electronically using the Research portal. User ID/password-based “signatures” allow applicants, supporting organizations and authorized institutional representatives—such as research grants officers, scholarships liaison officers and business officers—to “sign” and submit online applications and other documents to NSERC. Refer to the frequently asked questions in the Program guide for professors for more details.
For applicants and co-applicants
Before you, as an applicant or co-applicant, can submit your application to NSERC or upload your NSERC CCV to an application, you must read and agree to the terms and conditions of applying that appear in a pop-op window during the submission process. It is your responsibility to retain a copy of the agreed terms and conditions for your records.
The “signatures” of the institutional authorities certify that
The “signatures” of authorized officers of other supporting organizations certify that the organization
If you are both the applicant or co-applicant and a principal of a collaborating organization, another senior official must “sign” on behalf of the organization.