Research Services Office
2500 University Drive NW
3rd Floor MacKimmie Library Tower
Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 1N4
rsogrants@ucalgary.ca
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
Engage Grants | 2016
General Information
Objectives
Engage Grants are designed to give innovative companies that operate from a Canadian base access to
the unique knowledge, expertise and capabilities available at Canadian universities and colleges. These
grants are intended to foster the development of new research partnerships by supporting short-term
research and development projects aimed at addressing a company-specific problem; that is, a problem
related to the company’s core competencies or activities. The simplified application and decision
processes enable researchers to quickly undertake new research collaborations that extend academic
expertise to these problems. The mutually beneficial collaborations are expected to result in economic
benefits to the company and to Canada.
Award Amount and Duration
 $25,000 for 6 months
Eligibility
 Applicant:
o General rules of NSERC eligibility apply: you must hold an academic appointment of at
least 3 years;
o Must have been granted an individual or small team (principal investigator and up to
two co-applicants) peer-reviewed grant from NSERC within the last six years (OR
received “Strong” or higher for the criterion of “Excellence of the Researchers” in their
most recent Discovery Grant competition within the last six years);
o May only be awarded one new Engage grants per fiscal year (April 1 – March 31);
o May not have applied for or held an Engage grant with the same company;
o May not have a co-applicant.
 Industry partner:
o No existing or past relationship with the applicant, for example:
 a previous research collaboration with the company or any of its divisions;
 current or past involvement on the part of the applicant in the company;
 joint participation in a research network;
 an existing association with the company or its principals;
 other evidence that an Engage Grant is not needed to foster a new research
collaboration.
o Capable of exploiting the research results (must meet both criteria):
 Minimum of two full time employees, AND
 In operation for a minimum of two years.
o Canadian-based company that derives the majority of its revenues from the sale of good
or services and not government aid:
 Multinationals may be eligible if the project results will be exploited in Canada;
 A single company or industry association;
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
 Public utilities may be eligible.
o Must make an eligible in-kind contribution to the project.
o See Guidelines for Organizations Participating in Research partnerships Programs.
Project:
o Aims to solve a company-specific problem through the generation of new knowledge or
the application of existing knowledge in an innovative manner.
o Focused on specific short-term objectives and address a research challenge that lies
within the natural sciences and engineering fields.
o Any point in the R&D spectrum that is consistent with the university's research, training
and technology transfer mandate.
o The proposed project must focus on research, and cannot focus on related activities such
as commercialization, application of existing technology, routine analysis, data
collection, performance testing, market research, establishing an institute, or equipment
acquisition.
Application Submission Process to Research Services Office:
1. NSERC will accept Engage Grant applications at anytime; prepare and submit the application
electronically, via the NSERC On-line system.
2. Submit the Research Funding Application Approvals form to the RSO (rsogrants@ucalgary.ca)
with signatures of PI, Department Head, and Dean or Associate Dean (Research), at least two
business days prior to the desired date of submission to NSERC.
a. As an optional service, if you wish to receive a detailed administrative review, with the
opportunity for feedback, please submit your complete and final application, and the
Research Funding Application Approvals form, two weeks prior to the desired date of
submission to NSERC.
The detailed administrative review includes a detailed review of the application,
checking for eligibility and UofC commitments and risk, compliance with program
guidelines, completeness of application, and the opportunity for feedback to improve the
application.
The basic administrative review involves a minimal check of the application for eligibility
and any UofC commitment or risk.
3. Submit an original signed copy of the letter of support from the supporting organization to
RSO.
Additional Information:
 Program Guidelines
 Guidelines for Organizations Participating in Research partnerships Programs
 Application Instructions
 Instructions for the Personal Data Form (Form 100)
 NSERC On-line system
 Application Checklist and Proposal Template
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Application Checklist
Overview: Application Forms and Attachments
Form 101 (Application for a Grant)
Budget Justification (attachment)
Contributions from Supporting Organizations (attachment)
Proposal (attachment)
References (attachment)
Relationship to Other Research Support (attachment)
Appendix A (Environmental Impact) – if required (attachment)
Form 100 (Personal Data Form)
Contributions (attachment)
Appendix A (Personal Data)
Appendix B (Eligibility Questionnaire) – if required
Appendix C (Description of Applicant’s Activities) – if required
Form 183A (Information Required from Organizations Participating in Research Partnerships Programs)
Letter of Support from each supporting organization (attachment)
Company Profile (attachment)
Statement of Ownership – if applicable (attachment)
1. Form 101 (Application for a Grant)
Application profile
Areas of research
Certification requirements

Environmental Impact: Appendix A must be completed if research will take place outdoors.
Summary of proposal (text box)

The summary is intended to explain the proposal in language that the public can understand. Using simple terms, briefly describe
the nature of the work to be done. Indicate why and to whom the research is important, the anticipated outcomes, the relevance to
the company and how Canada will benefit.
Proposed expenditures
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Before completing this page, read the instructions and consult the “Use of Grant Funds” in the Tri-Agency Financial Administration
Guide.
Additional restrictions on expenditures apply to the Engage Program:
o
No conference registration fees
o
No regular/annual conference attendance
o
No publication costs
o
Office supplies are eligible up to a maximum of $250
o
Consultancy - maximum of 20% of request
Student salaries should be pro-rated for 6 months
Contributions from supporting organization
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List the resources the supporting organization will provide to support the proposed activities including:
the cash contribution to direct costs of research. This amount will be transferred to the appropriate line on the Proposed
Expenditures page;
o
Note that a cash contribution is not required for an Engage Grant, and any such contribution will be viewed by NSERC
as a clear indication that support from the Engage program is not required.
the in-kind contribution to direct costs of research (donations of services, materials and equipment). This amount will be transferred
to the Proposed Expenditures page (if applicable);
the in-kind contributions to indirect costs. This amount is not transferred to the Proposed Expenditures page; and
an indication of the amount paid to the institution for overhead (0% for NSERC partnerships; see University of Calgary Policy &
Procedures)
Formatting of all attachments meets NSERC presentation standards for free-form attachments

Margins must be a minimum of ¾”; text is single-spaced; font is 12 pt. Times New Roman; pages are numbered sequentially; the
applicant’s name is in the top right-hand corner of each page; images are in black and white (colour images will be reproduced in
black and white for reviewers).
Proposal (maximum of 2 pages) (attachment)

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Before completing this page, review the Application Checklist and Proposal Template for more details.
Describe your proposal using the following headings:
o
Overview of the company-specific problem: Describe the company-specific problem to be addressed and the extent to
which the company will benefit from scientific, engineering or technical advances, and the innovative techniques,
processes or products that will be developed in the proposed project.
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o
o
o
o
Research project: Describe the research challenge to be addressed through the project. Briefly outline the underlying
challenges, the scientific issues or engineering issues, research problems or technical complexities associated with solving
the company problem.
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Paragraph 1. Outline the methodology proposed to resolve the problem.

Paragraph 2. Explain the innovative nature of the methodology.
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Paragraph 3. Identify the milestones and deliverables, and provide a work plan in approximately one
paragraph. A bar chart may be provided. Reserve additional details for “Budget Justification” attachment.

Paragraph 4. Describe how the company will be involved in the project. (The company’s direct, in-kind
contribution and how its total value was determined, should be itemized separately, in a one-page
attachment. See the “Contributions of the Supporting Organizations” section of the Instructions.)
Research competence: Explain how the knowledge and experience of the applicant relates to the expertise needed to
accomplish the project objectives. Explain how the contributions of the team members (including, if applicable, the
company personnel) will be integrated into the project’s objectives.
Contribution to the technology transfer: Describe how communication between the university research group and the
company staff will occur and be managed. Describe what regular interactions between the university research team,
specifically the principal investigator, and the company representative(s) are planned (e.g., include a summary of planned
project review meetings). Explain how the technology will be transferred to the company (i.e., specify how the finalized
project deliverables will be packaged, e.g., final technical report, algorithms, software, physical prototype, etc.) and
incorporated into the company’s operations. Briefly describe plans (if any) for follow on research.
Benefit to Canada: Outline the key benefits to be accrued to the industrial partner when these results are implemented
into the company’s operations. Add any additional economic social and environmental benefits that could be realized in
Canada within a reasonable time (e.g., within three to five years).
References (maximum of 1 page) (attachment)
o
o
Do not refer readers to Web sites for additional information on your proposal
Do not introduce hyperlinks in your list of references
Budget justification (attachment)
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Before completing this page, read the instructions and consult the “Use of Grant Funds” in the Tri-Agency Financial Administration
Guide.
Additional restrictions on expenditures apply to the Engage Program:
o
No conference registration fees
o
No regular/annual conference attendance
o
No publication costs (unless the publication is clearly shown to be industry orientated)
o
Office supplies are eligible up to a maximum of $250
o
Consultancy - maximum of 20% of request
Provide a breakdown and detailed explanation and justification for each budget item identified in the Proposed Expenditures page.
Salaries and stipends: Give the names (if known), categories of employment and proposed salaries (with explicit indication of the
non-discretionary benefits) of students, postdoctoral fellows, and research staff. Briefly describe the responsibilities for each
position and indicate the percentage of time they will be spending on this project over its life span.
Student funding rates should be consistent with the typical levels of funding in your Department;
Stipend should be pro-rated for 6 months;
Human Resources advises that benefits for AUPE staff generally fall in the range of 20%-25% of salary;
Justification for Post-doctoral Fellows, Research Associates, and technicians should indicate how this person can be secured for the
short duration of an Engage Grant and how their remaining tenure at the University of Calgary will be paid (e.g., from other grants).
Equipment or Facility: Indicate the value of individual items and the total value for this category. Provide details on models,
manufacturers, prices, and applicable taxes. Justify the need for each item requested. Only small equipment needed to perform the
research and not readily accessible by the researcher will be considered.
o
Fees to be paid for the use of equipment or a facility should be described (e.g., hours and rate). Equipment obtained
from the industrial partner must be considered an in-kind contribution. NSERC and the industrial partner’s funds (if any)
cannot be used to buy equipment, products or services from the industrial partner.
Materials and supplies: Indicate the value of individual items and the total value for this category. Provide details and explain major
items. Materials and supplies obtained from the industrial partner must be considered an in-kind contribution. NSERC and the
industrial partner’s funds (if any) cannot be used to buy equipment, products or services from the industrial partner.
Travel: Explain briefly how each activity relates to the proposed research and indicate the names of the expected travellers. Only
travel needed to conduct the research and to transfer the technology to company representatives is allowed. Give a breakdown of
how travel expenditures were estimated, including the number of trips, transportation and lodging costs, per diem rates, etc. Travel
for company staff to meet with the university researchers is not an eligible expense. This cost must be incurred by the company as
an in-kind contribution.
o
the University of Calgary per diem rates are $45/day for domestic travel, $63/day for international travel
Dissemination: expenditures related to the dissemination of research results.
Technology Transfer activities: expenditure for field trials, building prototypes, scale-up costs, demonstration projects, workshops,
and other miscellaneous expenses.
Contributions from supporting organizations (attachment)
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IMPORTANT: Your supporting organization must be engaged in the research. The valuation of the in-kind contributions should
clearly illustrate this.
Provide an explanation of the cash and/or eligible in-kind contributions committed by the supporting organization(s).
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o
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Salaries for scientific and technical staff: list the name of each staff member, their role at the company and their specific
expertise, details as to what they will be providing to the project (link to milestones if possible), the number of hours they
will devote to the project, and their hourly rate.
o
Donation of equipment, software: list each item of equipment and/or software being donated to the project, explaining
how it will be used and its importance to the success of the project; provide details on how the cost of the
equipment/software was calculated.
o
Donation of material: describe the materials to be provided, their importance to the project and how the cost of the
materials was calculated.
o
Field work logistics: describe the importance of the proposed field work to the project and provide details on how the
cost of the field work was calculated.
o
Provision of services: provide details on the services to be provided, the importance of these services to the success of
the project and how the cost of providing these services was calculated.
o
Other: provide sufficient details on items listed in this category, their importance to the project and the calculation of
associated costs.
Consult the Guidelines for Organizations Participating in Research Partnership Programs to determine the eligibility and value of inkind contributions (e.g., for contributions of the time of staff, NSERC will recognize a maximum of $100/hour).
Relationship to other research support (maximum of 1 page) (attachment)
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Explain any financial and conceptual overlap with other active or applied for sources of research funding (from NSERC or otherwise).
For each grant currently held or applied for, clearly describe the main objective, and provide a brief outline of the methodology,
budget details and details on the support of highly qualified personnel. In addition, the relationships to the NSERC application must
be explained. Such information may be provided, for example, in the form of a brief summary of the necessary details for each
grant.
Appendix A (Environmental Impact) – if required (attachment)
2. Form 100 (Personal Data Form)
Person profile
Current employment
Address
Academic background
Academic, research and industrial experience
Areas of expertise (research subject codes and keywords)
Research support

List all sources of support (including NSERC grants and university start-up funds) held in the past four (4) years, currently held, or
applied for, as an applicant or as a co-applicant.
Contributions (maximum five pages) (attachment)
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Before completing this section, read the full instructions.
Using the headings below and a maximum of five (5) single-sided pages, describe your contributions to research, industrial R&D and
highly qualified personnel training over the last six (6) years up to the deadline date for the submission of the current application.

Most Significant Contributions to Research and/or to Practical Applications;
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Research Contributions and Practical Applications;
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Other Evidence of Impact and Contributions;
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Delays in Research Activity;
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Contributions to the Training of Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP).
ROLE IN EVALUATION: This attachment and all the data of the Form 100 is assessed under Criterion 4 – Quality of the Applicants as
Researchers, in conjunction with the Proposal attachment.
Data on Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) Training

Provide data bout the HQP that you currently, or over the past six years, have supervised or co-supervised.
Appendix B (Eligibility Questionnaire) (if required)
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Complete this section if you are an applicant holding a position at a Canadian university that is not a tenured, tenure-track or life time professor emeritus position at the time of application. The information you provide must be for the position you will hold at
the time the grant is awarded. If you are not currently in that position, you must have a written offer.
IMPORTANT: If you complete Appendix B, it must be signed by your Department Head, and the signed form must be provided
with the hard copy of your application to Research Services.
Appendix C (Description of Applicant's Activities) – if required

Complete this appendix if :
A) you hold a part-time academic appointment at a Canadian post-secondary institution. This includes applicants or co-applicants
holding an adjunct professor, professor emeritus, or part-time position; or
B) you hold an academic appointment at a Canadian post-secondary institution which is not a tenured or tenure-track
appointment.
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3. Form 183A (Information Required for Organizations Participating in Research Partnerships
Programs)
The supporting organization must attach a completed Form 183A, Letter of support and any other required documents
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To allow a supporting organization the ability to link a Form 183A to your application in the NSERC On-line system, use the Access
Manager page of Form 101. For details on how to use this function, refer to the Access Manager instructions.
For applicants who are filling out the Form 183A on behalf of the participating organization, use the Link Manager page of the Form
183A (in the NSERC On-line system) to link to your application. For details on how to use this function, refer to the Link Manager
instructions.
General information on the organization

Enter the name and title of the person at the organization whom NSERC should contact, if necessary, regarding the application and
subsequently, if a grant is awarded, regarding the administration of the award.
Addresses
Research and Development activities

Indicate if your organization has an R&D department, the number of R&D staff in Canada, and the annual R&D expenditures.
Applicant Information
Contributions
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Indicate the organization’s contributions applied to the direct costs of research, as well as the name of the organization’s authorized
representative.
The Form 183A must be signed by a representative of the organization who is authorized to commit resources. This signature
certifies agreement with the content of the application and commitment to provide the listed resources, and agreement to release
the public summary of the award and publication of the organization’s name as a supporter of the project.
o
For government organizations, the Letter of Support must be signed by the Director General, or equivalent level.
Statement of ownership – if required (attachment)

If an applicant or co-applicant has ownership in a sponsoring company, include a statement that demonstrates how the relationship
complies with the NSERC guidelines for researcher-owned companies.
Letter of support (attachment)
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The letter of support from the organization must be attached to Form 183A and must outline:
o
evidence of a corporate objective to grow through the development, in Canada, of innovative, technology-driven new or
improved products, services or processes;
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the nature of the company-specific problem;
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the efforts to date that the company has invested towards addressing this problem;
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the reasons for being involved in the proposed collaboration;
o
how the company expects to integrate the research results into its operations;
o
the further effort the company will invest to advance the results in Canada;
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what benefits the anticipated outcomes will bring to the company and to the Canadian economy, as well as the relevant
timeframe for achieving those benefits;
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the anticipated interaction of the company’s personnel with the applicant during the project; and
o
the company’s support for, contribution to, and agreement with the proposal submitted to NSERC
Letters of support that do not adequately address these points will be considered insufficient, and the application will be
rejected.
The letter must be signed by a representative of the organization who is authorized to commit resources. This signature certifies
agreement with the content of the application and commitment to provide the listed resources, and agreement to release the
public summary of the award and publication of the organization’s name as a supporter of the project.
The original letter, bearing signatures, must be retained at the institution and made available to NSERC upon request. The letter
must be on the organization's letterhead and signed by an authorized representative of the organization.
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IMPORTANT: Please forward an original copy of the letter of support, bearing an ink signature, to Research Services.
Company profile (attachment)
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Provide a concise profile of the company (not exceeding ½ page) and attach it to the application. Describe the nature of its
operations (including production, manufacturing, provision of services, or similar commercial activities) in Canada and its existing or
planned capacity to use project results. Please note that reference to the company’s Web site is not acceptable in lieu of the ½ page
company profile.
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REVIEW CRITERIA
Engage Grant applications are not peer-reviewed. They are evaluated by NSERC staff according to the following criteria:
1.
Technical merit: The proposal must describe the research challenge to be addressed through the project. The project must
be scientifically sound, technically feasible and promise either to apply knowledge in an innovative manner or to lead to
new knowledge. The project plan must be appropriate and sufficiently detailed. It must outline the tasks that will be
undertaken and the associated research challenges.
2.
Industrial relevance and potential for innovation impact: The proposal must clearly identify and describe the companyspecific problem. It must also identify how the company will be involved; how the work will lead to improved products,
processes, procedures or service delivery that benefits the company; and how the company will exploit the project results
within a reasonable timeframe. Timelines for realizing innovation impact should be specified in the application. These
considerations must also be clearly reflected in the company’s support letter, as indicated in the Application Procedures
section, above.
3.
Industrial participation and plan for technology transfer: The proposal must identify how the company will be involved
and how the university (specifically the principal investigator) or college research team and the company's
scientific/technical staff will work together to ensure that the knowledge/technology will be transferred effectively to the
company.
4.
Benefit to Canada: As well as the economic benefit to the company described under the Industrial Relevance criterion
above, the proposal must briefly outline any additional economic, social and environmental benefits that could be realized
in Canada.