BUILDING CAPACITY THROUGH LEARNING DVELOPPEMENT DE CAPACITS TRAVERS LAPPRENTISSAGE

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News from the Granting Agencies
-NSERCPresented by Pamela MossDirector,Scholar
ships Fellowships DivisionOctober 16, 2008
CAGS/ACES 2008 Edmonton
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Federal Budget 2008

• Granting Councils (additional 80M per year)
• 34 million per year for NSERC
• for collaborative research that
• directly contributes to the knowledge
• and innovation needs of Canadas
  automotive, manufacturing, forestry and fishing
  industries.
• Handled mainly through Strategic grants
  and Discovery Accelerator supplements

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Federal Budget 2008

• Canada Graduate Scholarships program
• 25 million per year to support 500 top Canadian
  and international doctoral students per year
• Canada Excellence Research Chairs
• 21 million for 20 new Chairs with each Chair
  receiving up to 10 million over seven years
• Canadian Light Source (CLS)
• 5 million per year, for the next two years, to
  strengthen its operations
• Indirect Costs of Research
• additional 15 million per year.

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Sub-priority areas announced by STIC

• ST priority Environmental science and
  technologies Sub-priorities
  Water (health, energy, security) cleaner methods
  of extracting, processing and using hydrocarbon
  fuels, including reduced consumption of these
  fuels
• ST priority Natural resources and
  energySub-priorities Energy production in the
  oil sands Arctic (resource production, climate
  change adaptation, monitoring) biofuels, fuel
  cells and nuclear energy
• ST priority Health and related life sciences
  and technologiesSub-priorities Regenerative
  medicine neuroscience health in an aging
  population biomedical engineering and medical
  technologies
• ST priority Information and communications
  technologiesSub-priorities New media, animation
  and games wireless networks and services
  broadband networks telecom equipment
• Science, Technology and Innovation Council

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International review of Discovery Grants Program
(DGP) - Conclusions

• The DGP is an effective and efficient way to
  support research
• The attractiveness of the DGP from the
  researchers perspective makes Canada more
  competitive in the war for talent
• The breadth of support provided by the DGP
  reflects Canadas regional realities without
  sacrificing excellence

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International review of Discovery Grants Program
(DGP) - Conclusions

• The success rate is not incompatible with, and in
  fact encourages, a high degree of research
  excellence across a broad range of fields
• The best researchers are able to use support of a
  Discovery Grant to lever an internationally-compet
  itive level of funding from other sources
• The broad base of DGP grants contributes
  significantly to meeting the nations needs for
  research results and HQP
• The DGP is an exceptionally productive investment
  and deserves additional funding to ensure that
  the value of its grants keeps pace with the
  growing opportunity

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Restructuring of Discovery Grant Selection
Committees

• Current discipline-based GSC structure may have
  difficulties handling new and interdisciplinary
  areas of research
• To handle increasing workload, GSCs are
  sub-dividing and becoming more specialized,
  exacerbating the problem
• Survey results - 31 of the 4,500 respondents
  believe there are established or emerging areas
  that are not handled well by the current system
• Create a dynamic and flexible structure that
  responds to a changing research environment

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SF Division

• Overall budget 145M
• Students supported 2007-08

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Additional funding -USRA and PGS-M Summer 2008

• additional 5.1M in USRA support to more than
  1,100 undergraduates in this fiscal year.
• an exceptional opportunity to fund deserving
  students who otherwise would not have
  participated in the program.
• the 2009 university quotas for USRA will not be
  affected by this event and NSERC does not
  anticipate increases of this extent in the
  future.
• as for the PGS M program, this one-time
  opportunity will allow NSERC to support about 200
  additional graduate students at a cost of 3.4M
  offered funding to meritorious candidates who
  were not previously offered a PGS M due to budget
  limitations.

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New SF Programs

• CREATE (Collaborative Research and Training
  Experience) Program
• Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships
• CGS Foreign Study Supplement

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NSERCs CREATE Program

• CREATE (Collaborative Research And Training
  Experience)
• Support the training of teams of outstanding
  students and PDF through innovative training
  programs that
• encourage collaborative and integrative
  approaches, and address significant scientific
  challenges and
• facilitate the transition of new researchers from
  trainees to productive employees in the Canadian
  workforce.
• Encourage one or more of the following
• acquisition and development of important
  professional skills (complement their
  qualifications and technical skills)
• student mobility and
• interdisciplinary research

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NSERCs CREATE Program

• Update
• Over 160 Notifications of Intent to Apply
  received July 15, 2008.
• Note limit of 4 applications per university.
• 139 full applications received on September 22,
  2008.
• Selection committee to meet end of January 2009.
• Up to 20 awards by March 2009.

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Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship

• 50,000 per for either 2 or 3 years PhD level
  only
• Tri-council evenly divided
• 166 this year ramping up to 500
• Canadian and international students eligible
• High standards of excellence nominated by
  university where they plan to attend quota

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Canada Graduate Scholarship Foreign Study
Supplement

• 6000 to offset the costs of doing a research
  study period in another country
• Open only to current CGS or Vanier CGS holders
  who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents
• Deadline date December 10th
• Travel can occur within one year of announcement
  of award only one per student

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Industrial programs

• IPS program now open to international students
  who wish to work with a Canadian company.
• Plans to continue to expand IIS to other
  provinces (currently in Quebec /MITACS agreement)
  
• Effective September 1, 2008, NSERC will accept
  NSERC/MITACS nominations for qualified foreign
  students.

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Other SF Programs

• University Faculty Awards (UFA)
• the 2008 UFA competition was the final one.
• NSERC is developing new programs aimed at
  addressing the under-representation of women and
  Aboriginals in the natural sciences and
  engineering.
• New Aboriginal Ambassadors in the Natural
  Sciences and Engineering Supplement Program
• promoting interest and participation in the NSE
  by visiting Canadas Aboriginal communities and
  schools.

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• Thank you!
• Contact info
• Pamela Moss
• Director, Scholarships Fellowships, NSERC
• pamela.moss_at_nserc.gc.ca
• [phone]