NSERC – Discovery Horizon (pilot) – Application

Deadlines

Academic Unit: Inquire within unit

Memorial Deadline: Friday 13th, October 2023

External Deadline: Wednesday 18th, October 2023

Description

PLEASE NOTE: This competition is by invitation only. To obtain an invitation an LOI must have been completed.

The Discovery Horizons program provides NSERC’s entry-point to the tri-agency interdisciplinary peer-review mechanism. It supports Discovery research projects that would significantly benefit from being assessed by a tri-agency interdisciplinary peer review committee, and aims to:

– answer NSE research questions that are best addressed through interdisciplinary approaches
– advance NSE disciplines through cross fertilization and new ways of thinking about research questions; ideas and frameworks; approaches and methods; platforms, tools and infrastructure; people, partners and trainees
– provide leading-edge NSE training for highly qualified personnel (HQP) in interdisciplinary research environments

Application procedure

The Discovery Horizons application process has two stages: the LOI stage and the full application stage.

Letter of intent

Deadline: June 16, 2023

The LOI is mandatory and includes a brief summary (2,500 characters max) and responses to the four points below. Reviewers will assess program fit, to identify a limited number of LOI applicants who will be invited (no later than August 16) to submit a full application.

Explain how your project would benefit from being assessed by a tri-agency interdisciplinary peer review committee, as opposed to a joint review by NSERC’s Discovery Grants evaluation groups (1,000 characters max)
Demonstrate that the interdisciplinary approach is essential to achieving the project goals (1,000 characters max)
Describe how the interdisciplinary approach enriches HQP training (1,000 characters max)
Demonstrate that the interdisciplinary elements are integrated and inseparable (i.e., not sub-projects that could be reviewed on their own merit) (1,000 characters max)

See the instructions for completing a letter of intent for more details.

Full application

Deadline: October 18, 2023

Selected applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal and will receive further guidance on application requirements with that invitation. Full applications will need to address the selection criteria listed below in a 10-page (max) research proposal.

The full application instructions provide more details. (updated in August 2023)