This communication is intended to provide University of Guelph Faculty and Administrators with important information on NSERC’s Eligibility Criteria for Faculty. This communication further clarifies University of Guelph Office of Research requirements related to the completion of the OR-5 Form.

NSERC’s eligibility criteria have not changed; however, to make the criteria clearer, NSERC has recently restructured the information related to eligibility on NSERC’s webpage [1].

Highlights regarding NSERC’s eligibility criteria:

• Only Applicants and Co-applicants are eligible to apply for and hold NSERC funds.
• Eligibility for applying for/holding an NSERC grant:
  • Hold (or have a firm offer) for an academic appointment at an eligible Canadian university at the time of application. This can be a tenured, tenure-track or lifetime prof emeritus position; or a paid or unpaid term or contract position of no less than three years;
  • The position must require the individual to engage in research that is not under the direction of another individual; and
  • The position must authorize the individual to supervise or co-supervise the research of students registered in an undergraduate or graduate degree program, or postdoctoral fellows (e.g. thesis supervision and not supervision of regular course or laboratory assignments).
• IMPORTANT: Conferring Adjunct appointments that meet the above-noted criteria will result in the person holding the Adjunct appointment being ineligible to be paid a stipend/salary from NSERC and any matching industrial funding that is part of the application to NSERC (if applicable).
• Collaborators and Participants are eligible to participate in a research team (but not apply for and hold NSERC funds).
• Certain programs may have specific requirements or restrictions in addition to these criteria.
• Only the conditions of appointment at the time of making an application will be considered by NSERC; revisions to appointments made after making an application will not be accepted by NSERC.
• NSERC provides a detailed list of all conditions which must be in place for eligible appointments.
• For awarded grants, grantees must meet NSERC’s continuing eligibility requirements [2].

For additional and more comprehensive information, please consult NSERC’s webpage [1].

By signing the OR-5 Form, the Associate Dean/Dean confirms that the NSERC Applicant has an eligible appointment as outlined by NSERC. In the event an Applicant is deemed to be ineligible after submission to NSERC, the application will be withdrawn and removed from the competition. The University is not permitted to make changes to the Applicant’s appointment to comply with the eligibility criteria once the application has been submitted to NSERC. For more information on the meaning of the signatures on the OR-5 Form, please refer to the Research Services Office.

Prior to an application deadline, if you have questions regarding interpretation of NSERC’s eligibility criteria as they pertain to individual programs, please:

• Contact the NSERC Secretariat at SECTR@NSERC-CRSNG.GC.CA [3]
• Consult NSERC’s Contact List [4] (organized by program), or
• Contact the Office of Research, Research Support Services [5].