Description: The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Grants Program supports ongoing programs of research in the areas of Natural Sciences and Engineering with long-term goals rather than a single short-term project or collection of projects. Discovery Grants are considered “grants in aid” of research, as they provide long term operating funds and can facilitate access to funding from other programs, but are not meant to support the full costs of a research program.

Deadlines:
Notice of Intent (NOI-Mandatory): Aug. 1, 2024 by/before 8:00PM (ROLA not required at NOI)
Faculty Research Office: one week prior to agency deadline (for internal review of draft application allow 2-3 weeks – send to Research Officer)
Western Research: Oct 18, 10 a.m.; ROLA & complete draft application & CCV in the Research Portal. (Applications are administratively reviewed in the order they’re received in the Research Portal. They can be returned, as necessary, to applicants for further editing).
NSERC: Nov. 1, 2024 by/before 10:00 AM *Note: When you submit your Application in the Research Portal, it will be routed to Grants Management & Services for review and final submission to NSERC.

Eligibility: Western applicants must hold an eligible academic research appointment at Western. NSERC’s Eligibility Criteria for Faculty.

More Information…

• Information and useful links about the NSERC Discovery Grant Competition are available on the Western Research Website.
• Applications are submitted through the Research Portal.
• Detailed NSERC program information is available in the Program Overview, the NOI Instructions, and the Application Instructions.
• Discovery Grant NOI Information
• Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Decolonization is an important component of your NSERC Discovery Grant evaluation. Western offers general EDID resources as well as NSERC DG specific resources to support you in the development of your application.

NSERC offers live Q&A sessions to assist applicants at both the LOI and Full Application stage. Attendees are asked to view the pre-recorded videos for the relevant stage (NOI and Full Application) prior to attending a Q&A session as the material presented in the videos won’t be repeated. A full listing of French and English sessions from NSERC can be found here.

If you have any questions about this competition, please email Western’s Grants Management & Services team.

Please contact your ADR and Research Officer if you intend to apply.