My goals today

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• My goals today
• Quick overview of NSERC
• Highlight NSERC programs that can help you with
  your Research and Development work.
• Answer your questions

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What We Do at NSERC

• We invest more than 1 billion every year in
  people, discovery and innovation
• Over 250 K

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Innovation Programs Budget 2009-10
Total 255M
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Research Partnership Programs (RPP)

• Maximize the value of public investments in
  university research by
• Supporting creation and transfer of knowledge
• Ensuring people are trained to create and use
  that knowledge
• Stimulating public-private RD partnerships
• A key focus for our regional offices

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RPP Tool Box

• Strategic Partnerships
• (targets national priorities)
• Strategic Projects
• Strategic Networks

• Industry-Driven
• (Industry participation)
• Collaborative RD
• Industrial Research Chairs
• Industrial Scholarship and Fellowship Program

• Regional Offices
• Priorities, trends
• Information from region
• Networks connections
• Assist in matchmaking
• Interaction and Engage
• Strategic Workshops

• Technology Transfer/Commercialization
• Idea to Innovation
• College and Community
• Innovation

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Diversity of Projects and Programs

• Innovation Projects
• Strategic Projects
• Strategic Networks
• Collaborative RD Grants
• Research Partnership Agreements
• Building Critical Mass
• Chairs
• Technology Transfer
• Idea to Innovation
• College Community Innovation

CCI
ChairsIRCs
Research ? Development
Industry Participation ?
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Attract Highly Qualified People (HQP)

• Industrial Undergraduate Student Research Awards
• NSERC award - 4,500 for a 16-week work term
• Company Contribution - Minimum 1,125
• Industrial Postgraduate Scholarships (IPS)
• NSERC award - 15,000 per year (2 yrs.)
• Company Contribution - Minimum 6,000
• Industrial RD Fellowships (IRDF)
• NSERC award - 30,000 per year (2 yrs.)
• Company Contribution Minimum 10,000

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• Interaction Grant
• Objective
• Allow academic researchers to meet with potential
  industrial partners to discuss and identify a
  challenge specific to the company, that could be
  addressed by a subsequent RD partnership
• Timeline maximum 3 months
• Deliverables
• Up to 5,000 from the ROF to cover for travel,
  accommodation and venue, for the applicant, UILO
  and/or company staff if justified

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• Engage Grant
• Objective
• Allow academic researchers to do the necessary
  research to address the identified company
  specific problem (try out see if it works
  consider the value/pertinence of subsequent
  collaboration)
• Timeline 6 months
• Deliverables
• Up to 25,000
• Direct cost of research
• HQP, user fees, equipment, consumable,
  publication field travel,

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Strategic Workshops Grants (SWP)

• Brings together academic researchers with
  non-academic end users to create new partnerships
• Priority given to targeted areas of research,
  but other areas not excluded
• Address research and technology needs that are
  identified by the user community
• Generate new collaborations that will lead to
  funding proposals
• Awards up to 25,000 to cover travel and
  accommodations of academic workshop participants

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Collaborative RD Grants (CRD)

• Support for university-based industry-oriented
  research projects with defined milestones and
  deliverables
• Typical project duration of 2 to 3 years,
  although grants can range from 1 to 5 years
• Average grant 55,000 per year, awards range from
  10,000/year up to more than 400,000/year

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Collaborative RD Grants (CRD)

• Projects are driven by partner needs
• Process development optimization
• Product design and development
• Environmental impact studies/remediation
  technologies
• Novel materials
• Upstream biomedical technologies
• Project milestones and deliverables to partners
  are clearly identified and feasible given
  available resources and time
• Knowledge transfer plans are defined

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Key Advantages for Applicants

• Combined partner and NSERC cash results in
  elevated project budgets
• (gt 500,000/year)
• CRD can support short-term projects or segments
  of longer-term research programs
• Applications received at anytime
• 80-85 success rate
• Flexibility on aspects of program administration
• Involvement of NSERC staff

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Key Advantages for Partners

• Significant savings in research costs
• Projects are based on partners requirements
• Access to high levels of expertise and research
  facilities in universities
• HQP are potential future employees

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Key Advantages for Industry

• Built-in quality control through NSERC
  peer-review system
• Access to IP
• Most company contributions are eligible for the
  SRED tax credit

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NSERC-Prairies - How We Can Help
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NSERC-Prairies Team IRENE MIKAWOZ, Research and
Innovation Development Officer FRANK NOLAN,
Communications and Promotion Officer ROXANNE
BALCAEN, Administrative Officer 435 Ellice
Avenue, Suite 430 Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B
1Y6 204-984-6462 or nserc-prairies_at_nserc-crsng.gc.
ca www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca
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Strategic Project Grants (SPG)

• Early stage university research with the
  potential to lead to breakthrough discoveries in
  the future (5-10 yrs)
• Average grant 130,000/year for 3 years
• Support for up to 3 years for students,
  post-docs, consumables,

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Seven Strategic Target Areas

• Advanced Communications and Management of
  Information
• Biomedical Technologies Competitive
• Manufacturing and Value-Added Products and
  Processes
• Healthy Environment and Ecosystems
• Quality Foods and Novel Bioproducts
• Safety and Security
• Sustainable Energy Systems

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Strategic Project Grants (SPG)

• Active involvement of non-academic participants -
  no cash required
• Often involves several team members, from the
  same or different institutions
• Some grants with single applicant
• Researchers from the partners organisation
  sometimes are members of the team (as
  collaborators)
• 25-30 success rate

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Collaborative RD Grants (CRD)

• Selection Criteria
• Scientific merit
• Research competence of team
• Industrial relevance
• Private-sector support
• Contribution to training
• Benefits to Canada

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Collaborative RD Grants (CRD)

• Industrial partner must have strong presence in
  Canada
• Company headquarters may be abroad, but
  company must have Canadian operations beyond a
  sales or client support office
• Research results must be exploited in Canada
• Project may include activities abroad, but
  results must clearly be relevant to the partners
  Canadian operations
• Research results must have economic, societal or
  environmental benefit to Canada

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Collaborative RD Grants (CRD)

• CRD grants leverage Private Sector cash and
  in-kind contributions. Contributions from Public
  Sector partners are common and strengthen
  proposals, but are not leveraged by NSERC.
• Flexible cash leverage ratios, but industry cash
  and in-kind must equal NSERC award.
• Minimum industry cash ½ NSERC award
• In-kind contributions must be for direct support
  of the research and must be specific to the
  project

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Diversity of CRD projects

• From fundamental research
• Uranium in the Thelon and Otish Basins, Dr.
  Kurt Kyser, Dept. of Geological Sciences -
  Queens University, with Cameco Corp and Uravan
  Minerals
• Project objective Fundamental understanding of
  geological processes leading to the genesis of
  uranium-bearing fluids in the earths crust, and
  the precipitation of U metal in sedimentary
  formations
• Project outcome Development of general mineral
  exploration strategies

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Diversity of CRD projects

• to product development
• Development of a Manipulation System and
  Nano-grippers for Use Inside Scanning Electron
  Microscopes, Dr. Yu Sun, Dept. of Mechanical and
  Industrial Engineering - University of Toronto,
  with Hitachi Canada.
• Project objective Development of micron-scale
  manipulators for high-precision assembly of
  nano-devices during electron microscope imaging
• Project outcome Commercialization by a U of T
  spin-off upon completion of project, and licence
  to Hitachi

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Industrial Research Chairs (IRC)

• Prestigious appointment of a distinguished
  researcher
• Industry provides 50 of cost in cash
• Initial appointment is for 5 years (renewable)
• Currently over 180 active faculty
• positions
• A significant university research
• program is established or enhanced in
• area of interest to industry

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Strategic Network Grants (SNG)

• Multi-university, multi-partner pan-national
  Networks (typically more than 10 universities and
  10 partner organizations)
• Up to 1M per year for 5 years
• Non-renewable awards
• Requires a governance structure, with BoD and
  Scientific Committee

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Technology Transfer Programs
Idea to Innovation (I2I)

• Support research and development projects with
  identifiable technology transfer potential
• To reduce technical risk and to demonstrate the
  commercial potential of university discoveries
• University ILO must commit to the project work
  with the researcher/partners

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Idea to Innovation (I2I)

• PHASE I, PROOF-OF-CONCEPT
• Designed to advance promising scientific concepts
  or technologies to attract early stage investment
  and/or to build intellectual property (IP)
• Funding available up to 12 months, max 125,000
• Proposals require a plan describing how a
  partnership will be established with a Canadian
  based company that has the capacity to
  commercialize the research results

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Idea to Innovation (I2I)

• PHASE II, TECHNOLOGY ENHANCEMENT
• Designed to provide scientific or engineering
  evidence of the technical feasibility and market
  definition of the technology, process or product
• Project can be with early stage investment
  partner or Canadian based company
• Partners must share in costs

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Questions?

• Irene R. Mikawoz, P.Eng.
• Irene.mikawoz_at_nserc-crsng.gc.ca
• Research and Innovation Development Officer
• NSERC Prairies Regional Office
• Regional Development Division
• Research Partnerships Programs Directorate