Deadlines: 1 May 2023, 22 September 2023

Duration	Up to six years
Value	Up to $150,000 in the first year and up to $300,000 for up to five subsequent years, for a maximum of $1.65M over six years
Application deadlines	Letter of intent: May 1, 2023, by 8:00 pm (ET) Application (if invited to apply): September 22, 2023, by 8:00 pm (ET)
How to apply	Letter of intentForm 100 – Personal data form, for the applicantForm 187 – Letter of intent to apply for a Collaborative Research and Training Experience programApplication (if invited to apply)Form 100 – Personal data form, for the applicantForm 100 or Canadian Common CV (CCV), for up to ten co-applicantsForm 102 – Application for a Collaborative Research and Training Experience program grantTo create or access an application, log in to the online system. For more information, go to the PDF forms and instructions page.

Objectives

The Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) program supports the training and mentoring of teams of highly qualified students and postdoctoral fellows from Canada and abroad through the development of innovative training programs that:

• encourage collaborative and integrative approaches, and address significant scientific challenges associated with Canada’s research priorities
• facilitate the transition of new researchers from trainees to productive employees in the Canadian workforce

These innovative programs must foster the acquisition and development of important professional skills among students and postdoctoral fellows that complement their qualifications and technical skills, and improve their job readiness for careers in industry, government, non-governmental organizations and/or academia.

In addition, these programs should encourage the following as appropriate:

• student mobility, nationally or internationally, between individual universities and between universities and other sectors
• interdisciplinary research within the natural sciences and engineering (NSE), or at the interface between the NSE and health or between the NSE and the social sciences and humanities—however, the main focus of the training must still lie within the NSE
• increased collaboration between industry and academia

For the industrial stream, an additional objective is to support improved job readiness within the industrial sector by exposing participants to the specific challenges of this sector and training people with the skills identified by industry.

Description

The CREATE program is designed to improve the training and mentoring environment for the Canadian researchers of tomorrow by improving training in areas such as professional skills, communication and collaboration, as well as by providing mentoring and experience relevant to both academic and non-academic research environments. Initiatives do not necessarily have to involve development of new professional skills training courses but can take advantage of existing training (offered at the university, provincially or by other organizations such as Mitacs). The CREATE program promotes and furthers the development of new researchers within the NSE disciplines, or at the interdisciplinary frontier between the NSE and the areas covered under the umbrella of the two other federal granting agencies—the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)—if, by combining the strengths of the various disciplines, a greater impact is achieved for the trainees. Where appropriate, proposed initiatives could also encourage interaction with the users of research and future employers of the trainees, or contribute to providing additional opportunities for students to participate in exchanges at the national or international level. The training initiative should be focused on providing a value-added experience to the university training environment to better prepare research trainees for their future careers in industry, government or academia.

Successful applicants will consist of a group of accomplished researchers who will work collaboratively to offer a defined research training program to a group of trainees. This environment will provide trainees with experience relevant to both academic and non-academic careers. The research training experience should focus on providing an enriched training and mentoring experience for graduate (master’s and doctoral) students. Undergraduate students can be supported and integrated into the training program as potential future graduate students, but a proposal that is focused solely on support of undergraduate students will not be considered. Postdoctoral fellows may also be supported, as it is recognized that they often play an integral part in the training and mentoring of graduate and undergraduate students. If postdoctoral fellows are included, the application must clearly elaborate on their contributions to the training program and the enhanced benefits this group can realize by being involved. Successful applications will be those best able to demonstrate the benefits of their proposed research training experience to their targeted trainees.

Supported training programs will be recognized nationally for:

• their innovative nature to create a rich research training and mentoring environment
• the excellence of the researchers, and their success in training and mentoring highly qualified personnel (HQP) for future employment in all sectors including industry, government and academia
• their capacity to raise the standard for best practices in research training, mentoring and development of professional skills of new researchers
• encouraging student mobility, as appropriate, between different Canadian universities, between the universities and potential workplaces or among participating Canadian and international institutions, thus promoting international awareness

In addition, industry-supported training programs will be recognized for their capacity to support improved job readiness within the industrial sector by exposing participants to the specific challenges of the private sector, and to support training in skills that have been identified as needed for a career in industry, such as leadership, business management, entrepreneurshipAt all times, Canadian researchers are encouraged to exercise appropriate levels of due diligence when managing their research and establishing and/or continuing partnerships with national, international and multinational organizations. Resources to do so are provided by the Government of Canada on the Safeguarding Your Research portal, including the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships. NSERC reserves the right to request additional information, as needed, before making a final funding decision. and marketing.

Note: NSERC and Mitacs have formalized their existing relationship. Applicants are encouraged to take advantage of Mitacs programs that support internships in industry as well as other opportunities to increase the number of trainees.

Special opportunities

The CREATE program offers three different streams: regular, industrial and international collaboration. The additional requirements pertaining to the industrial and international streams are below.

For the industrial stream

The objective of this stream is to place additional qualified candidates within Canadian companies. With the focus on developing skills that will be useful for the transition to the workplace, the CREATE program is a great asset to industry—which requires not only technical skills but professional skills.

It is expected that linkages between industry and academia will be enhanced. Also, Canada’s People Advantage, as envisaged in the federal science and technology strategy, will be improved by increasing the supply of HQP who are “employer-ready” and can generate immediate results after graduation, improving job readiness as an immediate benefit to the industrial employer.

Up to 50% of the CREATE grants will be dedicated to the industrial stream.

Eligible industrial collaborators

• In general, an industrial collaborator is defined as a Canadian-based business that provides products or services and that derives the majority of its revenues from the sale of these products and services and not from government aid
• Such partners must be willing and able to exploit the research results for the economic benefit of Canada
• Multinationals may be eligible if they have commercial activities that take place in Canada, such as research and development or manufacturing related to the proposed research, and if the funded activity will result in significant economic benefit to Canada

In order to be considered industrial, a proposal must include the following:

	Program committee (PC)	Internships	Confirmation from industrial collaborators
Phase 1: Letter of intent	Confirm willingness of one industrial member to participate in the PC. If no confirmed name, indicate the position of the person.	The intent of the industrial collaborator to host internships must be indicated.	One email or one letter must be included.
Phase 2: Application	Provide one or more confirmed and named industrial member(s) on the PC.	Confirm that all the CREATE trainees will hold at least one (industrial) internship; and internships within the collaborating industry(ies) for three to four months for M.Sc. and seven to eight months for PhD. Arrangements should be in place at the time of application and should be guaranteed if the proposal is funded.	Maximum of three letter(s) confirming a commitment to both conditions must be included.

Notes:

1. It is expected that all CREATE graduate trainees complete an industrial internship of the appropriate duration. Postdoctoral fellows are encouraged to complete an industrial internship (e.g., three to four months).
2. Trainee internships outside of the collaborating industries (e.g., government institutions, non-government organizations, etc.) are permitted; however, these do not count toward fulfilling the industrial internship requirement.
3. The same company can host internships and also have a representative on the PC, as long as the representative does not directly benefit from the internships. Applicants are encouraged to consider Mitacs programs to assist in meeting the internship requirements.
4. Due to conflict-of-interest considerations, trainee internships at companies owned wholly or in part by the applicant or by a co-applicant are prohibited. Trainees are permitted to conduct internships at companies owned wholly or in part by a collaborator.

For the international collaboration

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

An agreement between NSERC and the German research foundation, the  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), has been concluded to establish a formal mechanism for supporting a bilateral training program that involves an exchange of students between Germany and Canada.

To be considered for this opportunity, Canadian candidates should follow these steps:

• Canadian researchers should first establish a collaboration with German researchers
• Since the DFG International Research Training Groups (IRTG) process requires more time than the NSERC application process, the German researchers must start by submitting a pre-proposal to the DFG
• Applicants with a successful DFG IRTG pre-proposal can proceed directly to submitting a full application to NSERC without the need for a full letter of intent (LOI). Applicants must provide the basic information in their LOI (a title for the initiative that includes a reference to the DFG) as it is used to generate a Form 102
• Proposals will be evaluated through the agencies’ (NSERC and DFG) respective peer review processes. The CREATE application should stand alone and contain all the necessary details about the Canadian side of the collaboration
• CREATE grant applications involving a collaboration with researchers applying to the DFG IRTG program compete with the applications of the other applicants invited to submit a CREATE grant application in the same competition
• DFG IRTG/NSERC CREATE proposals will be funded only if both are successful in their individual competitions 
• If funded, the duration of the CREATE grant can be extended to match the partner DFG IRTG grant, which is nine years, but the total NSERC CREATE grant value remains $1.65 million

Note: In the international stream, all CREATE graduate trainees are required to complete an international exchange.

Eligibility

Eligibility conditions for applicants, co-applicants and institutions apply. CREATE grants are tenable only at NSERC-eligible Canadian universities, and the applicant must hold an eligible position at that university. Researchers at non-eligible organizations may participate as collaborators. Ensure that you consider the eligibility requirements for applicants, co-applicants and collaborators described on NSERC’s website under Eligibility criteria for faculty. Please note that the 1-year COVID-19 extension to CREATE grants is added to the grant duration and affects the eligibility of applicants or co-applicants for new applications to the CREATE program.

Note to multi-university applicants: All universities that will be involved in the application must have at least one co-applicant listed in the proposal. This ensures access to CREATE funds for all students/fellows involved at that university. The funds will be administered by the co-applicant on behalf of all the students/fellows whether they are under the co-applicant’s direct supervision or not.

The following conditions apply to all applications:

• In the case of multi-organization collaborations (academic, industrial, government or not-for-profit sectors), the applicant must be from an NSERC-supported field at an NSERC-eligible university
  • One person must be designated to administer the grant; this person is the “applicant” and is responsible for completing and submitting the LOI and the application (if invited) on behalf of the group
  • The applicant’s university will be the lead university
• Only trainees supervised by collaborators at one of the grantee institutions are eligible for CREATE stipends and expenses
• At least 70% of the group of co-applicants must be from NSE fields, but co-applicants at the interdisciplinary frontier between NSE and the areas covered under the umbrella of SSHRC and CIHR may be incorporated into proposals
  • Applicants submitting proposals at the interdisciplinary frontiers of the granting agencies may be required to justify why NSERC is in fact the most appropriate funding agency for their training proposals
• The focus should be on new training initiatives; existing initiatives must justify the incremental value that will accrue from the CREATE program
• A yearly quota has been established for each university, and only those researchers selected at their university can submit LOIs
  • In addition, a researcher may only be the applicant on one CREATE initiative annually—there is a limit on participation in multiple CREATE initiatives: NSERC limits the participation of an individual researcher in a maximum of two CREATE initiatives as either an applicant or co-applicant (active or applied for)
• Each training program will have a program committee responsible for overseeing the progress of the program and its future directions; the chair of the program committee cannot be the CREATE lead applicant nor any co-applicant, direct collaborator (e.g., financial stakeholder, internship host, trainee supervisor, research collaborator or joint author), the program coordinator or a trainee
• The program committee chair must approve each progress report
• Additional requirements are as follows:
  • Researchers who currently hold or participate in an active CREATE grant must clearly describe their distinct contribution to and justification for their participation in the proposed training program
  • Researchers who are applying in a research area already supported by other active CREATE grants must clearly describe how this application differs from those already funded
  • Previous CREATE grantees and co-grantees must clearly describe how this application differs from those already funded

Descriptions required above should appear in either the Excellence of proposed team of researchers or the Merit of the proposed training program section, as applicable. Please refer to form 187 instructions for details. The onus is on the applicant to provide sufficient information to enable the selection committee to evaluate the relationship with other CREATE initiatives. Currently funded CREATE grantees can be found in the competition results.

Award information

Funding of $150,000 in the first year (± $50,000) and $300,000 (± $50,000) annually for up to five subsequent years will be provided by NSERC for up to $1.65 million over six years. It is expected that funds will be spent on an annual basis. The grantee will be able to choose either an April or a September start. Also, CREATE initiatives are expected to be self-sustaining by the end of six years. Note that there is no automatic extension for the use of funds, and renewal of funding beyond six years is not possible.

Collaborators may contribute additional funds. The application must provide a detailed justification of all expenses.

All project expenditures are subject to the principles and directives governing the appropriate use of grant funds as outlined in the Tri-agency guide on financial administration.

Source / Full information: Official Website HERE.