2024 NSERC Discovery Horizons Grants

Eligibility

*Upcoming webinars*

NSERC webinars for the third edition of the NSERC Discovery Horizons pilot program:

French session: May 21^st, 10:00 - 11:30 am (Ottawa time)

English session: May 21^st, 12:00 - 1:30 pm (Ottawa time)

Academic appointment eligibility

You must hold or have a firm offer of an academic appointment at the University of Calgary. The appointment can be:

• a tenured, tenure-track or professor emeritus position, or
• a term or contract position of no less than three continuous years

Your position at the University of Calgary must:

• require you to engage in natural sciences and engineering research that is not under the direction of another individual, and
• permit you to supervise or co-supervise the research of postdoctoral fellows or students registered in an undergraduate or graduate degree program

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. NSERC’s eligibility requirements for faculty can provide more information on the role of applicants and co-applicants. 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.

Note that the applicant may add or remove invitations to co-applicants and collaborators at both phases of the application process (LOI and full application).

Collaborators

Collaborators contribute to the execution of research activities but do not have access to grant funds.

Any individual whose contributions to the project will be supervised by a member of the research team and/or by another collaborator cannot be considered a collaborator.

Applicant categories

Applicants and co-applicants to the Discovery Horizons program are categorized as either early career researchers or established researchers. Refer to the Discovery Grants applicant categories page for more information. Applicant categorization is the responsibility of NSERC staff and is done based on the information provided in the application.

Subject matter eligibility

An eligible proposal must meet both of the following criteria:

1. Its primary objective must be to advance knowledge in the NSE
2. It must integrate or transcend disciplines in ways that would significantly benefit from peer review by a tri-agency interdisciplinary committee

Note that proposals that solely rely on the use of existing NSE methods and/or tools, while not advancing knowledge within an NSE field are not eligible for Discovery Horizons.

The tri-agency interdisciplinary peer review committee will assess projects submitted to all three federal granting agencies. Applications should be submitted to the agency that is responsible for the dominant research discipline(s) or area(s). Refer to Selecting the appropriate federal granting agency and the Addendum to the guidelines for the eligibility of applications related to health for further information.

Indigenous research

Research involving Indigenous Peoples and communities is especially welcome in projects supported by Discovery Horizons grants. NSERC specifies Indigenous research as research in any field or discipline related to the natural sciences or engineering that is conducted by, grounded in, or meaningfully engaged with First Nations, Inuit, Métis or other Indigenous Peoples and Nations, communities, societies or individuals, and their wisdom, cultures, experiences or knowledge systems, as expressed in their dynamic forms, past and present.

Resources

NSERC webinar slides

Eligibility FAQs

Summary

Objectives

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 a tri-agency interdisciplinary peer review committee, and aims to:

1. answer NSE research questions that are best addressed through interdisciplinary approaches
2. 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
3. provide leading-edge NSE training for highly qualified personnel (HQP) in interdisciplinary research environments

Application procedure

The Discovery Horizons application process has two stages: the LOI stage and the full application stage.

Letter of intent Submission instructions 

Step 1A: NSERC LOI submission 

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 (no later than August 16) 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)

See the instructions for completing a letter of intent for more details.

STEP 1B: RMS record

1. Letters of Intent must also be submitted for institutional approval through the University of Calgary's Research Management System (RMS) by the RSO internal review deadline of 12:00pm MT, June 11, 2024.
2. Complete a "Pre-Award/Letters of Intent" record on RMS (login at https://research.ucalgary.ca/rms).
3. Use the “2024 NSERC Discovery Horizons Grants” funding opportunity and once completed - “Submit for academic approvals” (Under Save & Progress) in good time to allow for approvals from your Department Head and/or ADR prior to the Research Services deadline.  

Full application

Selected applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal and will receive further guidance on application requirements with that invitation. 

The full application instructions provide more details. (updated in August 2024)

Overhead

N/A

Pre-application deadlines

RSO internal deadline

Pre-application program deadline

Application deadlines

RSO detailed review deadline

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

NOTE: Consult your Faculty Associate Dean (Research) (ADR) regarding Faculty-specific deadlines and submission processes.

Principal Investigators: Complete a Research Management System (RMS) record, including a copy of your complete application, and submit this for approvals in RMS.

Approvals: The University of Calgary requires that all funding applications be approved prior to submission. Approval requires signatures via either RMS or the RFAA Trainee form, in the following order:

• Principal Investigator
• Department Head
• Faculty ADR/Dean
• Research Services (on behalf of the Vice-President Research)

Read the Meaning of Grant Signatures policy to understand what your approval means. Please see the agency guidelines for details about which signatures are required on your application, as it may differ from internal requirements.

Late submissions: Late submissions will only be accepted in cases of medical or family emergencies, or other exceptional circumstances. If you submit your RMS record to Research Services after the internal deadline has passed, you must secure additional approvals. Please read: Late Applications Process.