Amount: from $25,000 (Catalyst grants) up to $100,000 per year

Alliance International grants will provide support for researchers in Canada to work with leading international researchers from the academic sector, and to establish and grow international research collaborations and projects that have a high potential for impact in NSE disciplines. The overall objectives are to:

  1. allow Canadian researchers to initiate the development of international collaborations; and
  2. provide support for Canadian researchers participating in international collaborative projects of global importance and benefit to Canada.

Two grant types are offered: Catalyst grants and Collaboration grants.

Alliance International Catalyst grants

Catalyst grants will provide funding for one year to support Canadian researchers in initiating international research collaborations in the NSE disciplines. These grants will allow Canadian researchers to identify and initiate the first stage of collaboration with the intent of

  • supporting exploratory research activities
  • initiating exchanges for Canadian personnel where appropriate

Alliance International Collaboration grants

Collaboration grants will allow Canadian researchers to participate in international projects and leverage the best international expertise in the NSE disciplines to help address research challenges of impact and benefit for Canada. International academic collaborators are expected to have already secured funding from their own national funding agency for the collaborative project and identified the Canadian academic researcher(s) in their proposal.

Each collaborator must actively play a role in the project. Such involvement must be achieved by doing at least one of the following:

  • Actively participating in the project’s research activities
  • Providing an enriched training experience for Canadian research trainees
  • Utilizing the project’s research results to help achieve its desired outcomes

Eligibility requirements

A Canadian university researcher who is eligible to receive NSERC funds can apply on their own or as a team with co-applicants who are also eligible academic researchers.

Eligible applicants:

  1. must hold or have a firm offer of an academic appointment at an eligible post-secondary institution.
  2. their position at the eligible post-secondary institution must:
    1. For university faculty:
      1. require them to engage in natural sciences and engineering research that is not under the direction of another individual, and
      2. permit them to supervise or co-supervise the research of postdoctoral fellows or students registered in an undergraduate or graduate degree program
    2. For college faculty:
      1. permit them to engage in research-related activities that are not under the direction of another individual
  3. their faculty appointment must not be conditional on obtaining NSERC grants or other non-NSERC sources of support, including salary support.
  4. their salary must not be paid by NSERC, SSHRC, or CIHR grant funds. Exceptions include: scientific directors of Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) and those under the agencies’ salary support programs.

Funding

NSERC will provide 100% of the funding for Alliance International Catalyst grants, up to $25,000 for one year.

NSERC will provide up to $100,000 per year, for up to three years, to support the costs of participation in the international project. To secure the maximum amount ($100,000 per year) international academic collaborator(s) must obtain at least $100,000 per year from their national funding agency.

Timeline

To ensure the continued impact and relevance of this funding opportunity, NSERC is pausing the intake of Catalyst grants as of October 16, 2024 at 8:00 pm (ET) until further notice to review and refine the objectives and optimize processes. The Alliance International Collaboration grants funding opportunity will remain open.