NSERC CREATE Program 2024

Program Overview 

The Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) program supports the training and mentoring of teams of highly qualified students and postdoctoral fellows from Canada and abroad through the development of innovative training programs.

The programs must:

  • encourage collaborative and integrative approaches, and address significant scientific challenges associated with Canada’s research priorities
    facilitate the transition of new researchers from trainees to productive employees in the Canadian workforce
     
  • These innovative programs must foster the acquisition and development of important professional skills among students and postdoctoral fellows that complement their qualifications and technical skills, and improve their job readiness for careers in industry, government, non-governmental organizations, and/or academia.
 
Award Value
Up to $150,000 in the first year and up to $300,000 for up to five subsequent years, for a maximum of $1.65M over 6 years.

 
Important Program Changes (2024 competition)

NSERC has provided a summary of planned changes to its 2024 CREATE program competition, as follows:

  1. NSERC CREATE is an institutional program requiring institutional support, with institutions limited in the total number of LOIs and full applications that may be submitted. NSERC has communicated that the institutional quota is now 3 for all eligible institutions.
  2. The Letter of Intent (LOI) stage will now be non-competitive, meaning that the LOIs are not adjudicated by the selection committee and proceed directly to the application stage. LOI submissions are still required by the May 1 deadline, but the information to be provided will be reduced. 
  3. The Industrial stream has been eliminated. Industrial participation in CREATE initiatives is encouraged, but the extent and nature of industrial participation are determined by the applicants and their industrial partners. Teams can now apply under two streams for the 2024 competition:
        i) Regular stream (institutional quota applies)
        ii) International stream (no institutional quota)
  4. Mobility experiences are now mandatory for all M.Sc. and Ph.D. trainees, with a minimum duration of 1 month for M.Sc. and 2 months for Ph.D.

The changes to the LOI instructions and other program elements will be communicated in more detail by NSERC at an information session for potential applicants, which will be held on Feb 7, 2024. NSERC's CREATE program website will be updated in March 2024.

 

Application Process 
  • Faculty members who would like to participate in the 2024 competition must submit an Expression of Interest using the Internal EOI template by March 8, 2024.  
  • EOI Notice of Decision goes out in late March, and applicants will submit their Letter of Intent (LOI) to NSERC on May 1.
    NSERC LOI Notice of Decision is June 30.
  • If invited by NSERC to proceed to the application stage, the internal deadline to submit the proposal draft and RPF on the Bridge is September 2.
    NSERC deadline for full application submission is September 22
     
Additional Resources

 

Contact Information

Esther Ekpe Adewuyi, PhD
Research Facilitator (Natural Sciences & Engineering)
Office of Research & Innovation Services
Phone: (403) 329-3101
Email: oris.nserc@uleth.ca 

 

Agency Name
NSERC
Contact Name
Esther Ekpe Adewuyi
Agency URL
http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Professors-Professeurs/Grants-Subs/CREATE-FONCER_e…
Grant Amount
Value: Up to $150,000 in the first year and up to $300,000 for up to five subsequent years, for a maximum of $1.65M over 6 years.
Grant Location
External
External Deadline
Internal Deadline
Grant Type
Research
Grant Area
Natural Science
Grant Eligibility
Faculty