Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
Encyclopedia
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) is a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 government agency that provides grants for research in the natural science
Natural science
The natural sciences are branches of science that seek to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world by using empirical and scientific methods...

s and in engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

. Its mandate is to promote and assist research.

NSERC supports postsecondary students and postdoctoral fellows in their advanced studies. The agency promotes discovery by funding research conducted by postsecondary professors and students and fosters innovation by encouraging Canadian companies to participate and invest in postsecondary research and training.

History

NSERC came into existence on May 1, 1978. University-based research had previously been supported through the National Research Council. It is a separate employer of the Government of Canada
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...

 and reports to Parliament
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 through the Minister of Industry
Minister of Industry (Canada)
The Minister of Industry is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the federal government's economic development and corporate affairs department, Industry Canada. The Minister of Industry is also the minister responsible for Statistics Canada...

. It is governed by a Council composed of the president and up to 18 members appointed from the private and public sectors.

The current President is Suzanne Fortier
Suzanne Fortier
Suzanne Fortier is a Professor of Chemistry at Queen's University. She is also cross-appointed to the Queen's School of Computing, and is currently the Vice-Principal ....

 of Queen's University
Queen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...

.

Professors

NSERC offers research grants for a wide range of programs and projects, covering every discipline of the natural sciences and engineering. Some of its most popular grants include:
  • Discovery Grants Program
    NSERC’s flagship grant program. Discovery Grants support ongoing programs of research. These grants recognize the creativity and innovation that are at the heart of all advances in research, whether made individually or in teams. Researchers are free to work in the mode most appropriate for the research area.
  • Discovery Accelerator Supplements Program
  • Collaborative Health Research Projects Program
  • Collaborative Research and Training Experience Program

Students and Fellows

NSERC offers scholarships and fellowships for every stage of study, from undergraduate to postdoctoral. Some examples are:
  • Undergraduate Student Research Awards
  • Canada Graduate Scholarships
  • Industrial Postgraduate Scholarships
  • Postgraduate Scholarships – Master’s and Doctoral
  • Postdoctoral Fellowships
  • Industrial R&D Fellowships Program


Institutions and Colleges

  • College and Community Innovation (CCI) Program
  • Idea to Innovation (I2I) Program

Partnership programs

NSERC has Research Partnerships Programs to help foster collaborations between university researchers, colleges and other sectors (including government and industry) to develop new knowledge and expertise, transfer it to Canadian-based organizations and meet the objectives of the Government of Canada’s Science & Technology Strategy, including:
  • Collaborative Research and Development Grants
  • Interaction Grants
  • Engage Grants
  • Industrial Research Chairs Program
  • Strategic Network Grants
  • Strategic Project Grants


Awards

NSERC celebrates exceptional examples of research excellence with a wide range of prizes. Individual awards focus on accomplishments that range from innovative discoveries by young researchers to lifetime achievement and influence. These include:
  • Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering
  • Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering
  • Synergy Awards for Innovation
  • E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowships
  • Howard Alper Postdoctoral Prize
  • NSERC André Hamer Postgraduate Prizes
  • NSERC Doctoral Prizes
  • Innovation Challenge Awards
  • NSERC Awards for Science Promotion


See also

  • Lithoprobe
    Lithoprobe
    Lithoprobe is a Canadian national geoscience research project funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. Its aim is to research and map the lithosphere structure and composition. Lithoprobe derives from "probing the lithosphere"....

    , geoscience research project funded by the council
  • Canadian government scientific research organizations
    Canadian government scientific research organizations
    Expenditures by federal and provincial organizations on scientific research and development accounted for about 10% of all such spending in Canada in 2006...

  • Canadian university scientific research organizations
    Canadian university scientific research organizations
    Expenditures by Canadian universities on scientific research and development accounted for about 40% of all spending on scientific research and development in Canada in 2006....

  • Canadian industrial research and development organizations
    Canadian industrial research and development organizations
    Expenditures by Canadian corporations on research and development accounted for about 50% of all spending on scientific research and development in Canada in 2007....

  • Higher education in Canada
    Higher education in Canada
    Higher education in Canada describes the constellation of provincial higher education systems in Canada and their relationships with the federal government, provinces, and territories.-Higher education systems in Canada:...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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