Sponsor

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada

Program

Synergy Awards

Description

The annual Synergy Awards for Innovation recognize examples of collaboration that stand as models of effective partnership between partner organizations and colleges or universities.

Eligibility

The nominated partnership must be for research in natural sciences or engineering. It must have also been supported, in whole or in part, by at least one NSERC research partnerships grant, i.e., Engage, Collaborative Research and Development, Strategic Partnerships (Projects or Networks), Industrial Research Chairs, Idea to Innovation, Alliance or Calls for Collaborative Research Projects.

In addition, the partnership must be between at least one Canadian university professor, or group of professors, and one or more partnering organizations from the private, public (non-academic) or not-for-profit sectors. One member of the academic team must be designated as the nominee and all others, as applicable, as co-nominees. All academic team members must meet NSERC’s Eligibility requirements for faculty to apply for or hold grant funds (at the time of the nomination).

Partnering organizations must be recognized for cost-sharing based on the guidelines established for Alliance grants. Refer to the Role of partner organizations page for more details. Partnering organizations must also be at arm’s length from the nominee, co-nominee(s) and academic institution(s). Refer to the Conflict of interest guidelines for partner organizations for more details.

Prize

The winners (principal nominees) will each receive a $200,000 NSERC research grant.

Partner organizations will each receive a $50,000 voucher valid for the cash portion of their required contribution to a new research partnerships project (Alliance grants, College and Community Innovation program, or Idea to Innovation grants — please refer to the relevant funding opportunity description for applicable rules.) Applications using the voucher must be received within three years of the Synergy Award for Innovation being awarded. The value of the voucher can be divided and applied across multiple years of the new project. The intent is to offer one voucher to each partner organization that is included in a winning nomination; however, NSERC reserves the right to limit the value of the vouchers for nominations in which multiple partners are involved.

Research grant funds paid to winners of this prize are subject to the Tri-agency guide on financial administration.

How to Apply

The Vice-President (Research) encourages nominations for this prestigious award, and will serve as nominator for one nominee recommended by the Honours and Awards Advisory Committee. If you wish to nominate a colleague or to be considered for VPR nomination:

1. We recommend discussing your interest in this award with your College Research Manager and Associate Dean (Research).
2. Submit an Expression of Interest and a CV to ailsakay@uoguelph.ca and copy your College Research Manager by the internal deadline.

Career interruptions due to parental leave, family care, extended illness or community responsibilities will not negatively impact the committee’s assessment of a candidate’s research productivity. These will be taken into consideration when EOIs are assessed.

If your nomination will be submitted by a nominator other than the VPR, please submit the nomination directly to the sponsor by the external deadline. Please also submit a copy of the full nomination and OR-5 to research.services@uoguelph.ca. 

Self-nominations (either by a nominee, co-nominee or one of the partnering organizations) will not be accepted.

For More Information

For more information, please contact ailsakay@uoguelph.ca or visit the NSERC -Synergy Award website.