The nomination periods for NSERC’s top research prizes are underway. Show us where to shine the spotlight and nominate your peers and colleagues for their outstanding research partnership.

Synergy Awards for Innovation

By working together to develop new and better products and improve process, universities, colleges, polytechnics and companies help to make our world a better place. Together they collaborate to shape Canada’s future, allowing us to be at the forefront of the world's emerging knowledge-based economy.

The updated literature for the Synergy Awards for Innovation has been posted on the NSERC website. The awards recognize university-industry research and development (R&D) partnerships in the natural sciences and engineering. In addition to the three categories for universities, the awards include a category for colleges and polytechnics to highlight the impact and lasting benefits of their applied R&D collaborations with industry partners. April 15, 2019 is the submission deadline for this year’s nominations. For increased inclusion and advancement of women and other under-represented groups, the nominator must outline how diversity was considered in the nomination process.

Winning university researchers receive a $200,000 NSERC research grant while colleges receive up to $100,000 for an Applied Research Tools and Instruments Grant. Industry partners receive vouchers valid towards the cash portion of their contribution in a future partnerships grant.

The ENCQOR 5G Academic Technology Development Program partners researchers at Ontario-based post-secondary institutions with ENCQOR 5G Anchor Firms on 5G technology development projects. Areas of research interest are defined by Challenge Statements submitted to OCE by the ENCQOR 5G Anchor Firms and posted to the OCE website on a rolling basis.

To be notified of ENCQOR 5G SME and Academic Development Program Challenge Statements as they launch sign up for the ENCQOR 5G Ontario mailing list.

The ENCQOR 5G Academic Technology Development Program supports collaborative technology development projects to develop, integrate, test or validate pre-commercial technologies for the iPaaS testbed.

OCE is pleased to let you know that intake is now open for new ENCQOR 5G Academic Technology Development Challenge Statements.

Launched earlier this year, the ENCQOR 5G Academic Technology Development Program Partners researchers at Ontario-based post-secondary institutions with ENCQOR 5G Anchor Firms on 5G technology development projects. Areas of research interest are defined by Challenge Statements submitted to OCE by the ENCQOR 5G Anchor Firms and posted to the OCE website on a rolling basis.

New challenge statements are listed in the table below.  

The Career Guidance for Trainees (CGT) program provides grants of $30,000 to $50,000 over a one-year period to support demonstration projects that will model affordable, transferable approaches to improving trainees’ readiness for stable, fulfilling careers.  

Please note:  This program does not support biomedical research projects proposed by individual investigators.

Discovery Frontiers grants support a limited number of large international activities, opportunities or projects that are of high priority in the context of advanced research in Canada. These are led by world-class Canadian researchers and comprise multi-institutional team that generate substantial impact, for the benefit of Canada. Approaches used will emphasize new ideas, perspectives and solutions and interdisciplinary thinking with potential for long-term impacts. International linkages are required.

This fifth call for proposals will bring together groups of researchers in new ways to address a major research challenge in Antimicrobial Resistance in the environment. Discovery Frontiers will support a program that will be paradigm-shifting, trans-disciplinary in nature, open new fields or integrate existing fields in new ways, involve international collaboration, and accelerate the establishment of expertise and capacity.

The objective of the Idea to Innovation (I2I) Grants is to accelerate the pre-competitive development of promising technology originating from the university and college sector and promote its transfer to a new or established Canadian company. The I2I Grants provide funding to college and university faculty members to support research and development projects with recognized technology transfer potential. This is achieved through defined phases by providing crucial assistance in the early stages of technology validation and market connection.

The objective of the WSIB Grants Program is to enhance workers’ compensation system outcomes by supporting innovative proposals that are aligned to the WSIB's strategic mandate. Highly practical research and training proposals are accepted. Proposals funded through the program will strengthen the Ontario's workers' compensation system now and in the future.

Grant Priority Areas

The central areas of focus of the 2019 WSIB Grants Program support the WSIB’s Strategic Plan to:

1)         Make Ontario a safer place to work

2)         Improve return-to-work and recovery outcomes

3)         Meet our customers’ needs and expectations

The Grants Program is committed to supporting the WSIB’s strategic priority of being financially responsible and accountable through the operating practices of the program on an ongoing basis.

Applicants are encouraged to submit proposals that align to the priority areas and topics of interested identified. More detailed information about these priority areas is available on the WSIB website.

For more information about the program and the application process, please visit our website.

The Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme promotes dialogue and practical cooperation between NATO member states and partner nations based on scientific research, technological innovation and knowledge exchange. The SPS Programme offers funding, expert advice and support to tailor-made, security-relevant activities that respond to NATO’s strategic objectives.

The Responsive grants program enables The Law Foundation of Ontario to fund ideas generated by nonprofit community groups to improve access to justice. The responsive grants program includes one round of major grants (two streams: up to $100,000 and from $100,000 to $250,000) and two rounds of small grants (up to $15,000).

Responsive grants aim to encourage new ideas, approaches, and relationships that can help address emerging needs and connect more people to legal information and supports, especially people who are not currently being reached. These grants have provided seed funding for hundreds of innovative initiatives across Ontario.

This program is seeking proposals to reduce the reliance of rural and remote communities on diesel fuel for heat and power. The program, which plans to support a suite of diverse projects across Canada, will be evaluated against a range of criteria. Proposals will need to demonstrate local community support and outline the community benefits of the project, particularly for Indigenous communities. The project must fit into one of the following streams:

Program streams:

• BioHeat to reduce fossil fuel use through the installation, retrofit or investigation into the feasibility of biomass heating or combined heat and power systems for community and/or industrial applications.
   
• Innovative demonstrations to reduce diesel use through the validation of novel renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage, and smart-grid technologies and applications.
   
• Deployment of renewable energy technologies for electricity including hydro, wind, solar, geothermal, and bioenergy. Heat may also be produced, but the primary purpose of the project must be electricity production.

Today, December 19, 2018, the Alberta Ministry of Labour is announcing its sixth year of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Futures – Research Funding Program. OHS Futures formalizes the way researchers, institutions, industry, and labour organizations across Canada access funding for OHS research. The program links government with experts for the purpose of enhancing OHS knowledge and capacity within the province.

 

OHS Futures is accepting Notices of Intent for projects that support the prevention of occupational injury, illness and disease in Alberta workplaces. The notice of intent submission period opens today (the Notice of Intent fillable form is available on the OHS Futures website) and closes January 28, 2019.

 

• Please note that if you do not submit a Notice of Intent you will not be eligible to apply for OHS Futures grant funding.
• Once the Notice of Intent is submitted, it will be reviewed to ensure that it is complete, that the proposed research project meets the eligibility criteria and research priorities, and that the proposed research is pertinent to workers and workplaces in Alberta.
• Success at this stage will result in an invitation to submit an application. The invitation to submit a full application form does not guarantee funding. A completed application is required, and will be adjudicated accordingly.
• OHS Program staff are here to provide feedback on your Notice of Intent and to mentor you through the application process. Meetings will be set up to discuss your research idea prior to you completing the full application, should you be invited to apply.

Please visit the OHS Futures website for information on research priorities, the grant agreement, applicant eligibility, the review process, data sharing, and the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act under which the information you provide is being collected.

 

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Karina Thomas at OHSFutures@gov.ab.ca