NSERC Eligibility Criteria for Faculty

Sponsor

Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC)

Program

All NSERC Programs

For More Information

NSERC eligibility requirements for faculty

Revisions to individual eligibility requirements to simplify and harmonize

Description

This communication is intended to provide Researchers and Administrators with important information on NSERC’s eligibility requirements for grant holders. This communication further clarifies the Research Services Office requirements related to the completion of the OR-5 Form.

Following consultation with stakeholders (e.g., eligible institutions), NSERC has revised the eligibility requirements for grant holders. These revisions will take effect as of August 1, 2025, and will apply to the 2025 Discovery Grant competition. These changes are described in bold below.

Eligibility

• Only Applicants and Co-applicants are eligible to apply for and hold NSERC funds.
• Eligibility for applying for/holding an NSERC grant:
  • Hold (or have a firm offer for) an academic appointment at an eligible Canadian university at the time of application. This can be a tenured, tenure-track or lifetime prof emeritus position; or a paid or unpaid term or contract position of no less than three years;
  • The position must require the individual to engage in research that is not under the direction of another individual; and,
  • The position must authorize the individual to supervise or co-supervise the research of students registered in an undergraduate or graduate degree program, or postdoctoral fellows (e.g., thesis supervision and not supervision of regular course or laboratory assignments).
• Notes on Adjunct professors:
  • Conferring Adjunct appointments that meet the above-noted criteria will result in the person holding the Adjunct appointment being ineligible to be paid a stipend/salary from NSERC and any matching industrial funding that is part of the application to NSERC (if applicable).
  • Adjunct professors who meet NSERC’s eligibility criteria and whose primary place of employment is at an eligible Canadian university may apply to NSERC grants programs. Those whose primary place of employment is outside the university sector (e.g., government, industry or colleges) are eligible to apply for a Discovery Grant as principal applicant, as well as to other NSERC grants as co-applicants. NSERC awards funds to adjunct professors working outside the university sector only for the direct support of students (salaries or stipends and student travel costs); all other costs must be covered through other sources of funding.
• Collaborators and Participants are eligible to participate in a research team (but not apply for and hold NSERC funds).
• Certain programs may have specific requirements or restrictions in addition to these criteria.
• Only the conditions of appointment at the time of making an application will be considered by NSERC. Revisions to appointments made after making an application will not be accepted by NSERC.
• NSERC provides a detailed list of all conditions which must be in place for eligible appointments.
• For awarded grants, grantees must adhere to the Tri-agency guide on financial administration.

For additional and more comprehensive information, please consult the NSERC eligibility requirements for faculty.

The following changes to NSERC's eligibility requirements for grant holders will take effect August 1, 2025. The changes will not be applied retroactively.

1. Replacing reference to the term “faculty” with “individual” to broaden the accessibility to NSERC funding for individuals who are not researchers by western standards and/or those that hold traditional knowledge instead.
2. Removing the reference to “academic” appointment, to avoid any potential barriers with respect to other types of appointments (e.g., Indigenous scholars). Specific requirements regarding independent research and student or postdoctoral fellow supervision remain.
3. Separating the requirement to conduct research in the Natural Sciences and Engineering (NSE) from the eligibility requirement to conduct independent research to remove barriers for interdisciplinary research (i.e., Discovery Horizons grant) participants. Conducting research to advance knowledge in NSE remains a requirement verified by Program staff and aligns with CIHR and SSHRC processes.
4. Clarifying the role of collaborator by removing the requirement that collaborators should undertake research independently to harmonize the definition more closely with SSHRC. Instead, the requirement states that the collaborator is expected to contribute to the intellectual direction of the research project, program of research or training.

These revisions do not change the requirement themselves but rather propose broader wording and clearer definitions. The following two revisions (#5 and #6) change the rules of eligibility from status quo to more closely harmonize with CIHR and SSHRC.

5. Removing the rule on the “contract duration of no less than three continuous years”.

The three-year requirement was removed to harmonize with CIHR and SSHRC. NSERC is the only agency with a specific rule around the duration of the term or contract, which applies at the time of application. The rule caused extra work around the administration of contract extension at institutions and increased ongoing monitoring by NSERC because of the burden of verification. The requirements state that a term or contract can be renewed during the grant term if the eligible appointment is not established for the full grant term. Institutions only need to contact NSERC if the eligibility status changes (i.e., the applicant is no longer eligible).

6. Clarifying the eligibility of Adjuncts from outside of Canada.

Adjunct will be explicitly defined as a part-time position. The eligibility of Adjuncts will be restricted to those whose primary affiliation is in Canada for the duration of the grant.

By signing the OR-5 Form, the Associate Dean/Dean confirms that the NSERC Applicant has an eligible appointment as outlined by NSERC. In the event an Applicant is deemed to be ineligible after submission to NSERC, the application will be withdrawn and removed from the competition. The University is not permitted to make changes to the Applicant’s appointment to comply with the eligibility criteria once the application has been submitted to NSERC.

Special Notes

Please see the program-specific eligibility criteria in addition to the general criteria outlined above.

Please note: If you will be taking a leave during the tenure of your award, please contact the Office of Research Services at research.services@uoguelph.ca.