NSERC Discovery Horizons - 2025 Call for Proposals

Sponsor

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

Program

Discovery Horizons

For More Information

For full program details, please visit the NSERC Discovery Horizons web-page.

Description

Discovery Horizons grants support investigator-initiated individual and team projects that broadly integrate or transcend disciplines to advance knowledge in the natural sciences and engineering (NSE). Full applications submitted to this NSERC program will be reviewed by a Tri-agency interdisciplinary peer review committee (TAIPR).

Established in 2021 by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Tri-agency Interdisciplinary Peer Review Committee is dedicated to the review of interdisciplinary research. This jointly administered Tri-agency peer review committee will assess all full applications submitted to NSERC’s Discovery Horizons pilot program, as well as relevant applications submitted to SSHRC’s Insight Grants and Insight Development Grants and CIHR’s Project Grants programs.

In the context of this funding opportunity, the term “interdisciplinary” should be understood to fully encompass all research that connects, crosses or falls in between the traditional disciplines of the three agencies, including transdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, convergence research and other approaches at the interface.

The Discovery Horizons program provides NSERC’s entry point to the Tri-agency interdisciplinary peer review mechanism. It supports Discovery research projects that would significantly benefit from being assessed by the Tri-agency Interdisciplinary Peer Review Committee, and aims to:

• answer NSE research questions that are best addressed through interdisciplinary approaches;
• advance NSE disciplines through cross fertilization and new ways of thinking about research questions; ideas and frameworks; approaches and methods; platforms, tools and infrastructure; people, partners and trainees; and,
• provide leading-edge NSE training for highly qualified personnel (HQP) in interdisciplinary research environments.

Eligibility

Applicants and Co-applicants

Both individuals and teams may apply to the Discovery Horizons program. The applicant and any co-applicants must all be eligible to hold NSERC funding. One person must be designated to administer the grant; this person is the “applicant” and is responsible for completing and submitting the full application on behalf of the team.

Consult the Eligibility requirements for faculty to apply for or hold grant funds (Sections 1.1, 2.1, 3 and 4 for university faculty) to ensure that you can participate in this grant program as an applicant or a co-applicant. If you are an adjunct professor, see the Note on Adjunct Professors section.

While the research team is expected to have significant expertise in NSE research, not all members need to engage in research in the NSE. College faculty members who meet the relevant eligibility criteria can participate in Discovery Horizons as co-applicants. For an adjunct professor, the same eligibility requirements apply as the Discovery Grants program.

There are no requirements with respect to team size or composition. However, individuals are only allowed to hold or apply for one Discovery Horizons grant as either an applicant or co-applicant. Additionally, individuals participating in a Discovery Horizons grant as an applicant or co-applicant cannot hold both a Discovery Grant and Discovery Horizons grant.

Funding Availability

Discovery Horizons grants are expected to be valued from $50K–$100K per year and will be commensurate to the size of the research team. NSERC will award approximately 10–20 grants.

Maximum Project Value

The maximum yearly value for a project is based on the team composition, as follows:

• Single applicant – $50k
• Applicant and one co-applicant – $75k
• Applicant and two or more co-applicants – $100k

Indirect Costs

0%

Project Duration

Up to five (5) years

Special Notes

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

NSERC is acting on the evidence that achieving a more equitable, diverse and inclusive Canadian research enterprise is essential to creating the excellent, innovative and impactful research necessary to advance knowledge and understanding, and to respond to local, national and global challenges. This principle informs the commitments described in the Tri-agency Statement on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI).

Considering equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the research process promotes research excellence by making research outcomes more ethically sound, rigorous, reproducible, and useful. It is important to consider EDI through each stage of the research process, including, but not limited to, the research questions, design, methodology, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of results, and integrate these considerations where relevant. Consult Equity, diversity and inclusion considerations at each stage of the research process for more information.

Applicants are expected to increase the inclusion and advancement of underrepresented groups in the NSE as one means to enhance excellence in research and training. Equity, diversity and inclusion considerations should be developed into the rationale for the composition of research teams, including trainees. For more information, applicants should refer to the application instructions and the NSERC guide on integrating equity, diversity and inclusion considerations in research.

All applicants to any Tri-agency program are asked to voluntarily provide self-identification information to aid efforts to strengthen equity, diversity and inclusion in Canada’s research sector. Discovery Horizons applicants and co-applicants will also be asked to provide consent for NSERC to potentially use their self-identification information to improve equity and diversity in funding decisions. Priority may be given to letters of intent and/or applications from those who self-identify as members of underrepresented groups, amongst similarly ranked LOIs and applications.

Research Security

To ensure that the Canadian research ecosystem is as open as possible and as safeguarded as necessary, the Government of Canada has introduced the Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC Policy). For more information about research security at the granting agencies, refer to the Tri-agency guidance on research security.

Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern

The STRAC Policy addresses risks related to Sensitive Technology Research Areas performed with research organizations and institutions that pose the highest risk to Canada’s national security. The STRAC Policy applies to this funding opportunity as of May 1, 2024.

To comply with this policy, applicants must identify whether the grant application aims to advance a Sensitive Technology Research Area. If so, the submission of attestation forms will be required from researchers with named roles (for this funding opportunity, these are the applicants, co-applicants and collaborators) to certify that they are not currently affiliated with, nor are in receipt of funding or in-kind support from, a Named Research Organization (NRO).

Researchers should review the list of Sensitive Technology Research Areas and the list of Named Research Organizations carefully to understand which versions of the lists apply to this competition.

The Tri-agency guidance on the STRAC Policy provides more information on new applicable procedures and requirements, including responsibilities of researchers and institutions.
 

How to Apply

The Discovery Horizons application process has two stages: the letter of intent (LOI) stage and the full application stage.

Letter of Intent (Deadline: June 16)

The LOI is mandatory and includes a brief summary (2,500 characters max) and responses to the four points below. Reviewers will assess program fit to identify a limited number of LOI applicants who will be invited (by August) to submit a full application.

1. Explain how your project would benefit from being assessed by a tri-agency interdisciplinary peer review committee, as opposed to a joint review by NSERC's Discovery Grants evaluation groups (1,000 characters max)
2. Demonstrate that the interdisciplinary approach is essential to achieving the project goals (1,000 characters max)
3. Describe how the interdisciplinary approach enriches HQP training (1,000 characters max)
4. Demonstrate that the interdisciplinary elements are integrated and inseparable (i.e., not sub-projects that could be reviewed on their own merit) (1,000 characters max)

Please see the instructions for completing a letter of intent for more details.

Full Application (Deadline: October 20)

Selected applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal and will receive further guidance on application requirements with that invitation. Full applications will need to address the selection criteria listed below in a ten-page (max) research proposal.

Please see the full application instructions for more details (will be updated in August 2025).