Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council

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The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) is a Canadian government division that provides grants for research in the natural sciences and in engineering. In 2004-2005, it will invest CAD $850 million in university-based research and training.

NSERC was created on May 1, 1978 with the passing of Bill C-26 and Gordon MacNabb was appointed the first president. It is a separate employer of the Government of Canada and reports to Parliament through the Minister of Industry. It is governed by a Council composed of 21 members chosen from the private and public sectors, and universities.

The current President is Suzanne Fortier of Queen's University.

Contents

[edit] Grants

  • Discovery Grants are the basic "operating grants" provided in support of Canadian researchers in five-year awards. Specific supplements (e.g., for northern research) may be awarded also.
  • Special Research Opportunity (SRO) Grants are provided to allow researchers to take advantage of new and emerging avenues of study as they arise.
  • Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) Grants are awarded for specific equipment purchases over $7,000 and up to $150,000.
  • Major Facilities Access (MFA) Grants support researchers' access to major regional or national research facilities.

See NSERC grants programs for information about additional types of research support.

[edit] Scholarships and fellowships

In addition to research grants for university faculty and industry researchers, NSERC provides funding to exceptional individuals at the postdoctoral, graduate, and undergraduate levels.

  • Postdoctoral Fellowships (PDF) are CAD $40,000 for each of two years of postdoctoral research and can be held within or outside of Canada.
  • Postgraduate Scholarships - Doctoral (PGS D) scholarships are for Ph.D. students and may be held for three years.
  • Postgraduate Scholarships - Master's (PGS M) are for Master's degree students and may be held for two years.
  • The most outstanding candidates in the PGS competitions can be awarded Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGS), which carry a higher level of funding (see CGS and PGS award amounts)
  • Industrial Postgraduate Scholarships (IPS) provide funding for a graduate student who is conducting research in collaboration with an approved industrial partner.
  • Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) pay $4500 toward the salary of an undergraduate research assistant for one summer. The organization hosting the student must also contribute at least 25% toward the student's salary.

[edit] Awards

NSERC awards several prestigious prizes annually, covering all levels of study from graduate students to senior scientists. Details about the prizes and their current and past recipients are available at the NSERC Prizes page.

  • The Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering is Canada's highest research honour. It is named after 1971 Nobel Prize-winning chemist Gerhard Herzberg and "is awarded annually to an individual who has demonstrated sustained excellence and influence in research, for a body of work conducted in Canada that has substantially advanced the natural sciences or engineering fields"[citation needed]. The Herzberg Medal was first awarded in 2000, replacing the Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering. The Herzberg Medal carries a guarantee of CAD $1 million in research funding over five years.
Past winners of the Herzberg Medal:
Past winners of the Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering:


  • The NSERC Award of Excellence is given to all finalists for the Herzberg Medal (three per year, including the Herzberg Medal winner, unless already awarded in a previous year).
Past winners:
  • E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowships, named after chemist Edgar William Richard Steacie, are "awarded to enhance the career development of outstanding and highly promising university faculty who are earning a strong international reputation for original research"[citation needed], with up to six awardees per year. The award provides CAD $90,000 per year toward the Fellow's salary, permitting a stronger emphasis on research by freeing him/her from most teaching duties.
Past winners:
  • The Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering is named for 1994 Nobel-Prize winning physicist Bertram N. Brockhouse and "recognizes outstanding Canadian teams of researchers from different disciplines who have come together to produce achievements of international significance in the natural sciences and engineering in the last six years"[citation needed]. The prize carries a CAD $250,000 team research grant award.
Past winners:


  • The Howard Alper Postdoctoral Prize is named after the first recipient of the Herzberg Medal, Howard Alper, who donated a portion of his award to the founding of this prize. It is awarded annually to the top NSERC-funded postdoctoral researcher in science or engineering. The Alper Prize is CAD $20,000 in addition to the $40,000/yr of the PDF award.
Past winners:
  • Kyle Shen (2006)
  • Annick Gauthier (2005)
  • Aneil Agrawal (2004)
  • T. Ryan Gregory (2003)
  • Rees Kassen (2002)
  • Glenn Tattersall (2001)


  • The NSERC André Hamer Postgraduate Prizes are "awarded to the most outstanding candidates [one each per year] in NSERC’s master’s and doctoral scholarship competitions"[citation needed]. The prizes were founded by Arthur McDonald using a portion of his 2003 Herzberg Medal award and are named in memory of André Hamer, a student Dr. McDonald's who died in 2003.
Past winners:
  • Kenneth Chau, Jem Berkes (2005)
  • Sharonna Greenberg, Selena Smith (2004)


  • NSERC Doctoral Prizes are awarded to up to four graduating doctoral students per year based on the quality of the Ph.D. thesis work.
Past winners:


Other awards given by NSERC include the Michael Smith Award for Science Promotion, the Innovation Challenge Award, the Synergy Award for Innovation, and induction as Friends of NSERC for individual private citizens who significantly assist research carried out by NSERC-funded scientists and engineers.

[edit] See also

  • Lithoprobe, geoscience research project funded by the council

[edit] External link

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