Alliance Society

Funding your research project

You and your co-applicants may receive funds from multiple sources to cover the costs of your research project.

These sources of funds could include:

• Alliance grant funding from NSERC to cover the direct costs of the research
• cash provided by the partner organization(s), the university or external sources, such as other funding agencies

The funds from NSERC must be paid to eligible universities and cannot be used to buy equipment, products or services from any partner organization, or to cover any part of the travel and travel-related subsistence expenditures for partner organization personnel.

NSERC funds can only be applied to expenses incurred after an award is approved.

You and your co-applicants may receive funds from other sources to cover the direct costs of your project. These sources of funds could include cash contributions provided by the university or other funding agencies. Such funds would add to and complement those requested from NSERC. You must include all of the project's direct costs funded by sources other than NSERC in the budget table. All costs must be explained in the proposal and will be considered in the merit assessment of your proposal.

In-kind contributions are important for the success of the project. All partner organizations participating in the project must play an active role in it and make in-kind contributions through such involvement. In-kind contributions are considered in the merit assessment of your proposal (see Evaluation criteria).

---

Eligible expenses

You can include only NSERC-eligible direct costs of research in your project budget, such as:

• salary support for research trainees (undergraduates, graduates and postdoctoral fellows) to perform research and related training
• salary support for technicians and research professional personnel
• materials and supplies
• activities that support collaborations and knowledge mobilization related to the project
• activities to develop and grow the research collaborations with the partner organizations

Refer to the guidelines on the use of grant funds in the Tri-agency guide on financial administration.

You can also include the costs of equipment, provided that the equipment is:

• essential to achieving the objectives of the research project
• incremental to the equipment already available at the university or at the partner organization’s location

If your total expected equipment cost (including operation and maintenance) exceeds $400,000 over your project’s duration, then you should apply for an alternate source of funding, such as the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund. NSERC and CFI have developed a joint application and review procedure for these cases. You may contact NSERC or CFI for more details.

For projects involving multiple partner organizations and/or universities, you may also include project management costs, up to 10% of the total direct research costs (see Guidelines for research partnerships programs project management expenses).

---

Extension of grants

Following the initial period of your grant, NSERC will automatically extend your grant for one year to allow you to complete your planned activities. No additional funding is provided for this automatic one-year extension.

If you need additional extensions due to justifiable extenuating circumstances, you can apply for these using a grant amendment form. Such extensions are up to one year at a time and do not include additional funding.

What's next?
How to apply