NSERC - Online Services - Instructions (2023)

Personal Data Form

How to Complete Form 100

Who must complete Form 100?

All applicants and co-applicants for NSERC grants must complete Form 100 and the required appendices.

Read and/or print the following documents before you start completing Form 100:

• Frequently Asked Questions on how to use the On-line System;
• The NSERC Program Guide for Professors for deadline and program details.

Whom should I contact if I need help?

If you have questions regarding:

• the program to which you are applying (e.g. content of the application, program deadlines, eligibility, budget, etc.), contact the staff responsible for the program;
• the On-line System, send an e-mail to webapp@nserc-crsng.gc.ca or call 613-995-4273. Please include in your message the e-mail address where you may be contacted as well as your telephone number.

General instructions for all applicants

Use Forms 100 and 101 if you are submitting an application to the grant programs listed in the Table of Contents.

Also...

• Use these forms in conjunction with the NSERC Program Guide for Professors. Before you complete the forms, see the relevant sections of the guide for information about eligibility criteria, selection criteria, and application deadlines.
• If you are applying for more than one type of support, complete a separate application for each.

General presentation

When you prepare your application, supporting materials and attachments, follow these guidelines:

• Print must be in black ink and of letter quality.
• Text must be single-spaced, with no more than six lines per inch.
• The accepted font is Times New Roman regular 12 pts, or any comparable font – nothing smaller.
• Condensed font, and applications completed strictly in italics, are not acceptable.

Attachments – free form (formerly Part II):

• Use white paper, 8 1/2 x 11 inches (21.5 cm x 28 cm), portrait format, with a single column, unless specified otherwise.
• Set margins at 3/4 of an inch (1.9 cm) (minimum) all around.
• To ensure that the font size remains acceptable, within Adobe Acrobat, in the Print window, select None in the Page Scaling field.
• Enter your name and PIN at the top of every page, outside the set margins.
• Number consecutively following the last page of Part I.
• Print on one side of the page only.
• The maximum number of pages allowed is indicated in the instructions for the appropriate program. Pages in excess of the number permitted will be removed.

Note All text must conform to these standards. Incomplete applications and/or 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.

Avoid using acronyms and abbreviations or explain them fully.

Colour images submitted in the application will not be duplicated in colour for the peer reviewers.

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.

The information is stored in a series of NSERC data banks described in Info Source. Details on the use of this information are provided in the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act (ATIP).

Mailing address

Send your correspondence to:
NSERC
125 Zaida Eddy Private, 2nd floor
Ottawa ON, K1R 0E3

Person Profile

Update the fields as needed.

Previous family name

If you have changed your family name since you last applied for support from NSERC, enter your previous family name in the appropriate area.

NSERC PIN - (Personal Identification Number)

All NSERC applicants have received, or will receive, an NSERC PIN. Use your PIN each time you apply for a grant and in all correspondence with NSERC.

Current Employment

Section 1:

Enter your primary place of employment.

Section 2:

Enter your position at a Canadian postsecondary institution if it is different from the primary place of employment/affiliation. If your primary place of affiliation is government or industry, indicate the position that makes you eligible for NSERC grants.

Note: If you have not taken up your position at the time of application, indicate the institution where you have been offered a position or where you will hold the grant. If you currently have more than one position at a postsecondary institution, enter the other positions in the Academic, Research and Industrial Experience section.

Address

1. Primary affiliation

Complete this section if your primary place of employment is not a Canadian postsecondary institution (e.g., industry, government, non-Canadian university, etc).

1. Enter the complete address.
2. Indicate if your position at a post-secondary institution is tenured or tenure-track.
3. Indicate if your position at a post-secondary institution is a full-time or part-time appointment.

2. Temporary mailing address

Complete this section if you are a Canadian researcher from a postsecondary institution on leave (sabbatical or other). Enter your temporary address and e-mail address as well as the start and end dates of your leave.

Academic Background

Include only current and/or completed degree programs. Use the Other Degree section for any additional degree.

Academic, Research and Industrial Experience

List your academic and professional work experience, including administrative appointments.

Area(s) of Expertise

Research subject code(s)

All applicants are required to select a primary research subject code. Consult NSERC's Code Tables.

Key words

Provide a maximum of ten (10) key words that describe your area(s) of expertise. If you have expertise with particular instruments and techniques, specify which one(s).

Research Support

List all sources of support (including NSERC grants and university start-up funds) held in the past four (4) years, currently held, or applied for, as an applicant or as a co-applicant. Review and update any previously entered information.

Include the following:

• the family name and initials of the principal applicant and the number of co-applicants, if applicable (e.g. John X. Doe and 3 others);
• the amount(s) of support in Canadian dollars;
• one of the three categories for each new entry;
• for group grants, the percentage of the funding directly applicable to your research.

On the printed version, the list will be sorted by Category and by increasing 'Year 1.'

Contributions

Using the headings below and a maximum of five (5) pages single-sided pages, describe your contributions to research, industrial R&D and highly qualified personnel training over the last six (6) years up to the deadline date for the submission of the current application (for example, from 2003 to the 2009 deadline date). For non-university research and training, include contributions over the last ten (10) years.

Consult the Policy and Guidelines on the Assessment of Contributions to Research and Training, the Guidelines for the Preparation and Review of Applications in Engineering and the Applied Sciences and the Guidelines for the Preparation and Review of Applications in Interdisciplinary Research for additional information.

1. Most Significant Contributions to Research and/or to Practical Applications

List up to five (5) of your most significant contributions to research and/or to practical applications over the last six (6) years. Contributions made more than six (6) years ago but for which the impact is being felt now (e.g., exploitation of patent, inclusion in a code, etc.) may be included in this section. For each, describe the significance in terms of influence on the direction of thought and activity in the target community and in terms of 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 that you should not include the full reference to your contributions listed below, but simply describe them as needed.

2. Research Contributions and Practical Applications

List research contributions and practical applications over the last six (6) years. Begin with your most recent, and start each entry on a new line.

For published contributions, list the full authorship as it appears in the original publication, year, title, name and volume of the publication, and the first and last page numbers. For publications in press, indicate the date of acceptance. For publications submitted, indicate the journal to which they were submitted. Do not include papers in preparation.

Use boldface to indicate students who are co-authors on the contributions listed. List the sources of funding for each contribution and use parentheses to indicate the primary one. Clarify your role in multi-authored papers.

Use the following order:

1. Articles in refereed publications:
   • published or accepted;
   • submitted.
2. Other refereed contributions. These may include:
   • letters, notes, communications;
   • review articles;
   • papers in refereed conference proceedings (include the title, date, and sponsoring society of the conference);
   • monographs, books or book chapters;
   • government publications.
3. Non-refereed contributions. These may include:
   • papers or letters;
   • papers in conference proceedings;
   • review articles;
   • specialized publications, technical reports, internal reports, discussions, abstracts, symposium records;
   • monographs, books or book chapters;
   • conference presentations;
   • all other publications, including those from research that you supervised (e.g., theses);
   • government publications.
4. Contributions to practical applications of knowledge. These may include:
   • R&D activities at your primary place of employment (non-university or part-time university participants);
   • technology or product development;
   • technology transfer and commercialization, including spin-off companies;
   • participation in industrially relevant R&D activities;
   • patents and copyrights (e.g., software, but excluding publications). For each, provide the following information:
     • date filed, date awarded;
     • country or countries of issue;
     • name(s) of joint inventor(s);
     • title and brief description;
     • patent/copyright number.

Provide details, as appropriate, on the contributions you listed. Such details may include:

• a list of collaborators and their institutions;
• the nature of collaborations with other researchers;
• the rationale or practice used for:
  • the order of authors in the publications listed, and
  • the inclusion of students in the list of authors;
• your role in joint publications;
• the reason for selecting certain journals for publications, particular features of the journals, e.g., target audiences, review procedures;
• the impact or potential impact of patents and technology transfer;
• the nature of industrially relevant R&D activities;
• the significance of technical reports;
• original research reported in books or technical reports.

3. Other Evidence of Impact and Contributions

List other activities that may show the impact of your work. These may include:

• awards;
• prestigious invited lectures;
• research fellowships;
• journal editorships;
• membership on committees, boards, or policy-making bodies;
• consulting activities;
• public awareness/education;
• any other activities or information that will help committees to evaluate your contributions to and impact on science and engineering, including interdisciplinary research.

4. Delays in Research Activity

Explain and give dates for any significant delays in your research activity or in disseminating research results (e.g., parental leave, bereavement, single parent situations, illness, extraordinary administrative duties or other circumstances). Consult the Policy and Guidelines on the Assessment of Contributions to Research and Training.

5. Contributions to the Training of Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP)

In this part of your Form 100, you should clarify your contributions to training of HQP (i.e., your most important contributions to training, such as, aggregate data on a particular group of trainees), discussion of training in particularly important or challenging areas of research, specialized methodologies and techniques, interdisciplinary or industrial collaborations, as well as your role in co-supervision of some of your HQP, the lack of recent contribution to training, etc.

Training supported by NSERC ranges from undergraduate theses and summer projects to postdoctoral levels, and includes technical and other research personnel.

Enter the data related to the training of HQP in the Highly Qualified Personnel section.

Data on HQP Training

HQP summary

In the appropriate sections, please indicate: 1) the number of highly qualified personnel that you currently supervise or co-supervise, and 2) the number of highly qualified personnel that you have supervised or co-supervised over the past six years (excluding students that you are currently supervising or co-supervising).

HQP personal data

Provide personal data about the HQP that you currently, or over the past six years, have supervised or co-supervised. Under “Type of HQP,” indicate the program, e.g. M.Sc., P.Eng., or the title, e.g. Research Assistant. Read the instructions on Obtaining Consent from your HQP before completing this section.

The HQP Training section allows you to enter a maximum of 40 names. If you wish to enter more than 40 names, they can be included in the allotted five (5) pages of your Contributions document.

Obtaining consent from your HQP

Based on the federal Privacy Act rules governing the collection of personal information, applicants are asked to obtain consent from individuals they have supervised before providing personal data about them to NSERC. In seeking this consent, the NSERC applicant must inform these individuals what data will be supplied, and assure them that it will only be used by NSERC for the purpose of assessing the applicant’s contribution to HQP training. To reduce seeking consent for multiple applications, applicants will only need to seek consent one time for a six-year period. If the trainee provides consent by e-mail, the response must include confirmation that they have read and agree to the text of the consent form.

The Consent to Provide Limited Personal Information About Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) to NSERC form is provided with the application form as Appendix D. Consent forms obtained from these individuals are to be retained by the applicant.

When consent cannot be obtained, applicants are asked to not provide names, or other combinations of data, that would identify those supervised. However, they may still provide the type of HQP training and status, years supervised or co-supervised, a general description of the project or thesis and a general indication of the individual’s present position, if known.

Letters of Support – Exceptions

Unless specified in the instructions for the specific program to which you are applying, additional documents such as letters of support must not be submitted and will not be appended to the application. The exception to this rule is letters from users attesting to the nature and the significance of confidential technical and internal reports described in your Personal Data Form (Form 100). Unless your program still permits printed applications (five copies, mailed to NSERC and clearly identified), these letters of support must be attached to your electronic application using the appropriate module. For additional information, refer to the Guidelines for the Preparation and Review of Applications in Engineering and the Applied Sciences.

Appendix A – Personal data

Note: Appendix A information is automatically generated through the On-Line System.

Complete Appendix A if you:

• are an applicant or co-applicant applying for the first time;
• make updates to the personal information submitted with a previous application; or
• do not hold an appointment at a Canadian postsecondary institution.

NSERC will use this information primarily to contact applicants and award holders. It may also be used to identify prospective reviewers and committee members, and to generate statistics. It will not be seen or used in the adjudication process.

Appendix B – Eligibility (For University Faculty)

Complete this section if you are an applicant or co-applicant holding a position at a Canadian university that is not a tenured, tenure-track or life-time professor emeritus position at the time of application. The information you provide must be for the position you will hold at the time the grant is awarded. If you are not currently in that position, you must have a written offer. If your university has not yet confirmed your position offer, provide an explanation. Consult the Eligibility Criteria for details.

This information will be used by NSERC staff to determine your eligibility to hold an NSERC grant. It will not be seen or used in the adjudication process.

Appendix B1 – Eligibility (For College Faculty)

Complete this section if you are an applicant on an Idea to Innovation project or a co-applicant on a research project grant application who holds a position at an eligible Canadian college at the time of application. The information you provide must be for the position you will hold at the time the grant is awarded. If you are not currently in that position, you must have a written offer. If your college or institution has not yet confirmed your position offer, provide an explanation. Consult the Eligibility Criteria for details.

This information will be used by NSERC staff to determine your eligibility to participate as a co-applicant on an NSERC research project grant. It will not be seen or used in the adjudication process.

Appendix C – Applicant's Activities

You must complete this appendix if :

• you hold a part-time academic appointment at a Canadian post-secondary institution. This includes applicants or co-applicants holding an adjunct professor, professor emeritus, or part-time position; or
• you hold an academic appointment at a Canadian post-secondary institution which is not a tenured or tenure-track appointment.

The information must be for the position you will hold at the time the grant is awarded. It must include a full and accurate description of the position and of your research activities at the institution.

This information is collected to provide peer reviewers with additional information on your activities at the postsecondary institution and at your primary place of employment (if applicable).

Description of activities at Canadian postsecondary institution

You must outline your participation in each of the following activities:

• research;
• teaching;
• training;
• administrative;
• other.

Indicate the time typically spent on location at the postsecondary institution on each of these activities (e.g., 1 day every week, 2 weeks every 4 months).

Description of activities at place of employment other than Canadian postsecondary institution (if applicable)

Outline the nature of your research program and other activities at your other place of employment. Describe the relationship between your research program at this organization and the proposed research. Refer to the institution's involvement in research and development, if possible.

Appendix D – Consent to Provide Limited Personal Information about Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP)

Note: Appendix D is automatically generated through the On-Line System. For information on filling out Appendix D, please refer to the HQP Personal Data section.