Donna Strickland Prize for Societal Impact

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 outstanding research that led to the exceptional benefits described in the nomination must be primarily in the 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 team member 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 at a public or private organization in Canada. 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.

Summary

The NSERC Donna Strickland Prize for Societal Impact of Natural Sciences and Engineering Research is awarded annually to an individual or team whose outstanding research, conducted in Canada in the natural sciences and engineering, has led to exceptional benefits for Canadian society, environment or economy.

Nomination Package

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 include a title describing the research achievement.

   Structure your letter using the following points as headings:

   • description of the research that has led to the exceptional benefits
   • summary of the impact the research has had within its field (see NSERC’s guidelines on the assessment of contributions to research, training and mentoring for more information)
   • description of the strategy for knowledge mobilization that was used to achieve the benefits
     • Include information about the challenge and the approach taken to involve the appropriate users or beneficiaries in the research and knowledge mobilization activities.
     • “Users” refers to entities who will interact directly with the product of the research. “Beneficiaries” are entities whose lives improve as a result of the research. In some cases, these are one and the same. Entities may include communities, community organizations, specific designated or underrepresented groups of Canadians, members of the general public, companies, students, patients, schools, clients, manufacturers, engineers, other researchers or businesses.
   • summary of the significance of the benefits to Canadian society (societal impact)
     • “Significance” means the interaction between the magnitude of benefits and their extent or range.
     • The benefits must be demonstrated and realized (see the section Review below for additional examples of societal impact).
   • explanation of how the research made a specific, demonstrable and essential contribution to the benefits described above. This should show that the benefits would not have occurred or would have been significantly reduced without the contribution of that research
2. A description of each nominee’s involvement in the research or the knowledge mobilization activities (maximum 250 words per nominee if written in English or 300 words if written in French).
3. Up to four documents (no more than 10 pages total) providing evidence of:
   • knowledge mobilization (for example, tool kits, infographics, fact sheets or plain language reports created and distributed in consultation or collaboration with users, beneficiaries or both; workshops, conferences or meetings with stakeholders, users or beneficiaries)
   • societal impact (for example, letters of impact or case studies). These documents should contain information about the individuals or groups who benefit and the realized benefits
4. 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 should be able to assess the research contributions, the knowledge mobilization activities or the societal impact.
   • 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.
5. 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.
6. Identification of any eligible leaves of absence (optional, maximum one page if written in English and 1.5 pages if written in French), in line with the Interruptions in research, training and mentoring section in NSERC’s guidelines on the assessment of contributions to research, training and mentoring. For medical leave, it is not necessary to describe the illness or treatment, but rather its impact on your research activity. Please:
   • provide the duration of the interruption
   • describe its impact on research and knowledge mobilization activities
7. A terms and conditions form for nominees  filled out and signed by each nominee (do not use the encrypted digital signature function).
8. A terms and conditions form for nominators  filled out and signed by each nominator (do not use the encrypted digital signature function).

Pre-application deadlines

RSO internal deadline

Application deadlines

Program application deadline

No institutional approvals are required for this award nomination. 

The RSO Pre-Application deadline listed as noon, October 19, 2026 is for an optional review by the SUPPORT: Research Awards Committee.

SUPPORT: Research Awards Committee

The SUPPORT: Research Awards committee is available to review and provide feedback to strengthen nominations for this award. This committee is comprised of distinguished University of Calgary faculty who have won major national awards and sat on national award selection committees.

Your Faculty or Associate Dean (Research) must submit the request for review to researchawards@ucalgary.ca.

1. Draft letter from the nominator (see item 1, above)
2. A description of each nominee’s involvement in the research or the knowledge mobilization activities (see item 2, above)
3. Up to 4 Documents with Supporting Evidence for the nomination (see item 3, above)

If additional components of the nomination package are available by the SUPPORT deadline, the committee would be pleased to review all available materials.

SUPPORT Nomination Review Deadline (optional): October 19, 2026 by 12pm.

All feedback from the SUPPORT: Research Awards committee will be compiled and shared with the nominee and faculty by November 6, 2026.