I am a university researcher. What additional criteria do I have to meet to be eligible for the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Engage program?

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Last updated: 19-Nov-2025

As a university researcher applying for funding on the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Engage, additional eligibility required are:

• Eligible to receive NSERC funding
• Has received an individual or small team peer-reviewed grant from NSERC within the past six years
• Holds a faculty position at an eligible Canadian institution
• First-time collaboration with the company. No existing or past association between the researcher and the industry partner is permitted. Evidence of an established relationship between the researcher and industry partner includes:
  • a previous research collaboration between the researcher and the company or any of its divisions or parent;
  • researcher’s current or past involvement in the company;
  • joint participation in a research network;
  • researcher’s existing association with the company or its principals, including (1) whether the company principals or staff serve as a professor, adjunct professor or other colleague in the same university department as the applicant, or (2) in the case of a small company, whether a former trainee of the applicant now holds a key position in the company);
  • past or current supervision of a graduate student who is supported by an industrial scholarship or internship with the proposed partner; and
  • other evidence that an Engage grant is not needed to foster a new research collaboration.

Participation of collaborating researchers or co-applicants is not permitted.

Please visit the NSERC website for more details on NSERC eligibility criteria.