HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC; , CRSNG) is the major federal agency responsible for funding natural sciences and engineering research in Canada. NSERC directly funds university professors and students as well as Canadian companies to perform research and training. With funding from the
Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...
, NSERC supports the research of over 41,000 students, trainees and professors at universities and colleges in Canada with an annual budget of CA$1.1 billion in 2015. Its current director is Alejandro Adem. NSERC, combined with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the
Canadian Institutes of Health Research The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR; ; IRSC) is a federal agency responsible for funding health and medical research in Canada. Comprising 13 institutes, it is the successor to the Medical Research Council of Canada. CIHR supports ...
(CIHR), forms the major source of federal government funding to post-secondary research. These bodies are sometimes collectively referred to as the "Tri-Council" or "Tri-Agency".


History

NSERC came into existence on 1 May 1978 under the ''Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Act'', which was passed in an omnibus manner by the government of Pierre Elliot Trudeau. University-based research had previously been supported through the
National Research Council of Canada The National Research Council Canada (NRC; ) is the primary national agency of the Government of Canada dedicated to science and technology research and development. It is the largest federal research and development organization in Canada. Th ...
. It reports to
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
through the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. It is governed by a Council composed of its president and up to 18 members appointed from the private and public sectors and an executive team of eight persons.


President

Past presidents include Gordon M. MacNabb (1978-1986), Arthur W. May (1986-1990), Peter Morand (1990-1995), Tom Brzustowski (1995-2005), Suzanne Fortier (2006-2013), and B. Mario Pinto (2014-2018). On 25 June 2019, Alejandro Adem was appointed President of NSERC, effective October 1, 2019.


Grants and awards


Professors

NSERC offers research funding for programs and projects covering every discipline of the sciences and engineering. In 1989, NSERC started a Chairs for Women in Science and Engineering (CWSE) program, with Dr. Monique Frize selected as the first Chair.Government of Canada (July 2021)
Evaluation of the Chairs for Women in Science and Engineering Program
p. 4.
In 1996, the program was restructured to support one Chair in each of the following five regions: Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, Prairies, and British Columbia/Yukon and in 2006 a CWSE National Network was created, which facilitates collaborations among the sitting Chairs. The NSERC Chair for Women in Science and Engineering for the B.C./Yukon region operates under the name Westcoast Women in Engineering, Science, and Technology (WWEST). Past CWSE Chairs include Dr. Elizabeth Cannon (1997), Dr. Claire Deschênes (1997), Dr. Monique Frize (1997), Dr.
Maria Klawe Maria Margaret Klawe ( ; born 1951) is a Canadian-American computer scientist and served as the fifth president of Harvey Mudd College from 2006 to 2023. Born in Toronto in 1951, she became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2009. She was previously ...
(1997), Dr. Florence-Mary Williams (1997), Dr.
Anne Condon Anne Elizabeth Condon, is an Irish-Canadian computer scientist, professor, and former head of the UBC Computer Science Department, Computer Science Department of the University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on computational complexi ...
(2002), Dr. Valerie Davidson (2002), Dr. Cecilia Moloney (2002), Dr. Julita Vassileva (2004), Dr. Nadia Ghazzali (2006), Dr. Elizabeth Croft (2010), Dr. Annemieke Farenhorst (2011), Dr. Catherine Mavriplis (2011), and Dr. Lesley Shannon (2015). As of 2023, the current regional CWSE Chairs are Dr. Tamara Franz-Odendaal (Atlantic), Dr. Eve Langelier (Quebec), Dr.
Shohini Ghose Shohini Ghose is a quantum physicist and Professor of Physics and Computer Science at Wilfrid Laurier University. She has served as the president of the Canadian Association of Physicists (2019-2020), co-editor-in-chief of the Canadian Journal of ...
(Ontario), Dr. Laleh Behjat (Prairies), and Dr. Jennifer Jakobi (B.C./Yukon). NSERC's newest program, launched in 2023, is Chair for Inclusion in Science and Engineering (CISE). Beginning in Atlantic Canada, the current A-CISE co-chairs are Dr. Svetlana Barkanova, a physicist with Grenfell Campus,
Memorial University Memorial University of Newfoundland, or MUN (), is a Public university, public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook ...
, Dr. Stephanie MacQuarrie, Professor of Organic Chemistry
Cape Breton University Cape Breton University (CBU) is a public university located in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the only post-secondary degree-granting institution within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality and on Cape Breton Island. The university is enabl ...
, and physicist Dr. Kevin Hewitt of
Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...
. These Atlantic Chairs "aim to reach a broad range of underrepresented groups, including women and gender minorities, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, racialized groups and members of LGBTQ communities, with a particular focus on First Nations and French communities, African Nova Scotians and remote and rural areas."


Students and fellows

NSERC provides awards, scholarships, and fellowships to graduate and undergraduate students for scientific research.


Partnership programs

NSERC has Research Partnerships Programs to help foster collaborations between university researchers, colleges and other sectors (including government and industry) to develop new knowledge and expertise, transfer it to Canadian-based organizations and meet the objectives of the Government of Canada’s Science & Technology Strategy on innovation. In February 2021, ''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'' reported that NSERC partnered with
Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei" sometimes stylized as "HUAWEI"; ; zh, c=华为, p= ) is a Chinese multinational corporationtechnology company in Longgang, Shenzhen, Longgang, Shenzhen, Guangdong. Its main product lines include teleco ...
in which the company contributed over CAN $4.8 million in funding for research. NSERC is also a sponsor of Women in Science and Engineering Atlantic Region (WISEatlantic) "primarily engaged in inspiring youth to consider science, technology, engineering and math (
STEM Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...
) careers and making them aware of the diversity that exists within these fields" and Women in Science and Engineering Newfoundland and Labrador (WISE NL).


See also

*
Canadian government scientific research organizations Expenditures by federal and provincial organizations on scientific research and development accounted for about 10% of all such spending in Canada in 2006. These organizations are active in natural and social science research, engineering research, ...
* Canadian university scientific research organizations * Canadian industrial research and development organizations *
Higher education in Canada Higher education in Canada includes provincial, territorial, Indigenous and military higher education systems. The ideal objective of Canadian higher education is to offer every Canadian the opportunity to acquire the skills and knowledge necessa ...
*
Women in STEM fields Many scholars and policymakers have noted that the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have remained predominantly male with historically low participation among women since the origins of these fields in the 18th ce ...


References


External links


NSERC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Natural Sciences And Engineering Research Council Federal departments and agencies of Canada Funding bodies of Canada Natural Resources Canada Scientific organizations based in Canada Higher education in Canada 1978 establishments in Canada Government agencies established in 1978 Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada