John C. Polanyi Award

Eligibility

Eligibility

Candidates may be nominated by any individual or group. Self-nominations will not be accepted. In the case of individual candidates, posthumous nominations will also not be accepted. Current NSERC Council members are not eligible for nomination.

The research that led to the advance described in the nomination must be in a field of natural sciences or engineering.

Candidates can be at any stage in their career.

For individual nominations, the nominee must be eligible to hold NSERC grant funds.

For team nominations, at least one of the team members must be eligible to hold NSERC grant funds.The team can be part of an international effort, but the majority of the nominated team members must be employed at a Canadian university or public or private organization. Members of the team may be from academia, government or industry, and may be research associates, postdoctoral researchers or students. If a team is awarded a prize, the team spokesperson will receive the funds on behalf of the team. This spokesperson must be eligible to hold NSERC grant funds. NSERC recognizes that teams may change between the time of the specific research achievements and the time of nomination. Nominations will be accepted when changes have occurred, but only where the core of the team remains intact.

NSERC reserves the right to determine the eligibility of nominations and nominees.

An individual or team may be nominated for the NSERC John C. Polanyi Award and other NSERC Prizes (Herzberg, Brockhouse, McDonald, Synergy or Strickland) in the same year but can receive only one prize per year. Nominees cannot receive more than one of the following prizes for the same achievement: Brockhouse, Polanyi or Strickland.

NSERC is acting on the evidence that achieving a more equitable, diverse and inclusive Canadian research enterprise is essential to creating the excellent, innovative and impactful research necessary to advance knowledge and understanding, and to respond to local, national and global challenges. This principle informs the commitments described in the Tri-agency Statement on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. NSERC strongly encourages nominators and university officials to address barriers to equity, diversity and inclusion in their nomination processes.

Summary

The NSERC John C. Polanyi Award was created to recognize and support a university researcher or team of researchers whose work has led to a recent outstanding Canadian advance in a field of the natural sciences or engineering. The research leading to the advance must have been funded at least partially by an NSERC grant. The award is open to all researchers, regardless of their career stage.
As part of the award, the winning individual or team will receive a research grant of up to $250,000.

Nomination Package

The nomination package must include

1. a letter of nomination (signed by the nominator[s]; three pages maximum; use the following points as headings) that clearly describes the recent outstanding advance, outlining the nature of the advance, its significance and impact; the letter must also include a summary of the advance for public release
    
2. up to four documents relating to the recent, outstanding advance that provide evidence of its significance and impact on the scientific and engineering community
    
   • At least one of these must be a peer-reviewed article
      
   • The other documents may include testimonials and publications like journal articles, workshop papers/posters, communications, pre-prints, monographs, memoirs or special papers, review articles, conference/symposia proceedings and abstracts, government publications, and reports documenting contributions to engineering practice, among others
      
3. the names and email addresses of six researchers who, in the opinion of the nominators, could be approached by NSERC to conduct an impartial review of the nomination
    
   • The proposed referees should not be in conflict of interest (see  Conflict of interest and confidentiality policy of the federal research funding organizations)
      
   • NSERC strongly recommends that nominators suggest a cross-section of reviewers with expertise in the nominee’s area of research (i.e., Canadian and/or international researchers; from a range of career stages; members of under-represented and marginalized groups, including women; researchers at a variety of academic and non-academic institutions)
      
   • Nominees must not contact suggested external reviewers in advance; please note that NSERC reserves the right to select all or none of the suggested reviewers
      
4. for team nominations only, a brief letter from the team identifying one of the members as the spokesperson of the group; this spokesperson must be eligible to hold an NSERC grant and will be the contact person for NSERC on any matter related to the outcome of the competition (refer to NSERC's Eligibility criteria for faculty)
    
5. a terms and conditions form for nominees signed by each nominee
6. a terms and conditions form for nominators signed by each nominator

Application deadlines

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

Nomination process

Eligible candidates may be nominated by any individual or group. Because nominations are reviewed by a multidisciplinary selection committee, the nomination material should be written for non-specialists.

The nomination package must include:

1. A letter of nomination signed by one or more nominators. The letter must be no more than four pages if written in English and five pages if written in French. It must also include a title describing the advance. The letter must clearly describe the recent advance using the following points as headings:
   • the nature of the advance
   • the novelty and quality of the advance (refer to selection criteria above)
   • the impact and significance of the advance within its field (refer to selection criteria above)
   • a summary of the advance for public release
2. Up to four documents related to the recent, outstanding advance that provide evidence of how it meets the selection criteria
   • at least one of these must be a peer-reviewed article
   • the other documents may include testimonials and publications such as journal articles, workshop papers or posters, communications, preprints, monographs, memoirs or special papers, review articles, conference or symposia proceedings and abstracts, government publications, and reports documenting contributions to engineering practice, among others
3. The names, organizational affiliations and email addresses of six researchers who could be contacted by NSERC to conduct an impartial review of the nomination
   • reviewers must not be in conflict of interest (see the Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policy of the federal research funding organizations)
   • NSERC strongly recommends that nominators suggest a cross-section of reviewers with expertise in the nominee’s area of research, such as:
     • Canadian or international researchers from established to early-career stages
     • individuals from underrepresented groups, including women
     • researchers in academic and non-academic settings
   • Nominees must not contact suggested external reviewers in advance
   • NSERC reserves the right to select all or none of the suggested reviewers
4. A brief letter from the team identifying one of the members as the spokesperson (for team nominations only). This individual must be eligible to hold NSERC grant funds and will serve as the contact person for NSERC for matters related to the outcome of the competition (see NSERC's eligibility requirements for faculty to apply for or hold grant funds). The letter must also include the name, title, affiliation and email address of each team member
5. A terms and conditions form for nominees signed by each nominee (do not use the encrypted digital signature function). It is the nominee’s responsibility to retain a copy of the agreed terms and conditions for their records
6. A terms and conditions form for nominators signed by each nominator (do not use the encrypted digital signature function). It is the nominator’s responsibility to retain a copy of the agreed terms and conditions for their records

SUPPORT DEADLINE: October 15, 2025

See SUPPORT Review Requirements here.