Connect Grant and College Collaborations Tricia Meaud and Kathleen Lorenzo December 2, 2016

Building R&D Partnerships Through NSERC Connect Engage Collaborate

Connect Grants Help companies and academic researchers meet to define priorities for future joint R&D projects.

Connect Grants Key Features Connector Manual Eligibility Industrial Participation Application Process

Connect Grants

Connect Grant Eligibility Level 1 No existing or past relationship between the applicant or any researcher listed in the application and the company targeted. Must be used within 3 months. No deadline. Travel funding for up to $5,000 Eligible expenses include travel and subsistence costs of the participants from Can. Post-secondary institutions.

Connect Grant Key Features Connector Manual: Available to assist with planning a successful event.

Connect Grant Eligibility Level 2 Can be submitted by researchers or administrators at NSERC eligible universities or colleges, or staff at not-for-profit, non- government organizations (including industry or producer associations). No deadline – however, encouraged to submit applications at least 12 weeks in advance. Contact your regional office to discuss potential projects. What to include in applications – ie. Agenda, in-kind contributions, next steps – “seed funding”

Connect Grant Eligibility Level 3 Can be submitted by researchers or administrators at NSERC-eligible universities or colleges. Universities: subject matter must be in natural sciences or engineering field Colleges: subject matter may be in any discipline Participants must include academic researchers and members of non-academic end-user organizations. Contact your regional office to discuss potential projects. What to include in applications – ie. Agenda, in-kind/other contributions, next steps – “seed funding” Applications are required to demonstrate how the proposed workshop will address topics such as: research priorities and knowledge gaps from the perspectives of industry, government and post-secondary institutions; current research capacity and future needs; highly qualified personnel training and skills needs; knowledge/technology transfer potential; funding challenges and opportunities; existing and potential new collaborations; and next steps for proceeding toward collaborative activities. Applications should provide a rationale for the workshop, plans for the workshop, including a tentative agenda, list of invitees, and expected outcomes.

Connect Grant Level 3 A letter of support for the workshop from the principal non-academic partner organization, a resume from the non-academic applicant and should be included.

Connect Grant Industrial Participation Canadian private-sector profit-based company Clear intentions and capacity to further develop and apply any technology within Canada Have a minimum of 2 full-time employees or be in operation for a minimum of 2 years

Connect Grant Application Process Submit A Connect Grant Application Form (Form 401) limited to 2 pages. Endorsed by authorized signing authority A personal data form (Form 100 or 103CV) or a PDF of the NSERC Researcher CV Type of the CCV A Terms and Conditions Form signed by the applicant

Questions? Tricia Meaud Tricia.meaud@nserc-crsng.gc.ca (204) 984-6301 Research Partnerships Promotion Officer NSERC Prairies Regional Office

College and Community Innovation (CCI) Program – Objectives Increase innovation at the community and/or regional level by enabling Canadian colleges to strengthen their capacity to work with local companies, particularly SMEs Support applied research and collaborations that facilitate commercialization, as well as technology transfer, adaptation and adoption of new technologies

CCI Budget - 2008-2015 Budget 2015 increase Tip: the budget continues to be tight this year.

The CCI Program - conceptually Awards Various Project grants: 6 month to 3 year duration; projects may include universities Technology Access Centres Student Internships Capacity Building Grants, Equipment, Research Chairs * All grants require industry partners

CCI Suite of Grants CCI Program Capacity-building grants Applied Research Tools & Instruments (ARTI) Innovation Enhancement (IE) Technology Access Centres (TAC) College-University Idea to Innovation (CU-I2I) Capacity-building grants Project grants College Industrial Research Chairs (CIRC) Engage, Engage Plus Applied Research & Developm’t (ARD) Program Id Year of Inception # of appl r'cvd # of awards Success Rate Total Funding Engage 2010 934 767 82% $19 117 040 ARD2 2010 215 101 47% $12 851 425 ARD3 2010 19 7 37% $2 425 179 ARTI 2010 343 184 54% $21 487 978 IE 2008 366 77 21% $175 509 039 IE-EL 2009 66 29 44% $6 177 478 IRCC 2011 92 24 26% $23 575 253 TAC 2011 152 25 16% $29 893 895 CU-I2I 2011 49 21 43% $11 386 776

CCI Program Connect Grants (3 levels) Synergy awards Experience Awards College University Idea to Innovation (CU-I2I) Grants Up to $250/year for 3 years. The maximum grant for either participant is $125K (Partner contributions are required) Innovation Enhancement (IE) Grants Five-Year Grants up to $2.3M and Entry-Level Grants up to $200K for two years Applied Research and Development (ARD) Grants up to $75,000 per year or Grants between $75,000 and $150,000 per year Applied Research Tools and Instrument (ARTI) Range from $7K to $150K Technology Access Centre (TAC) Grants Up to $350K/year for 5 years Québec: Up to $100K for 5 years Industrial Research Chairs for Colleges (IRCC) Range from $100K to $200K Grants for 5 years (Partner contributions are required) Engage Grants for Colleges (EG) Grants up to $25,000 for up to six months (new partnership) Engage plus Grants Grants up to $12,500 for up to six months (Partner contributions are required) Program Id Year of Inception # of appl r'cvd # of awards Success Rate Total Funding Engage 2010 934 767 82% $19 117 040 ARD2 2010 215 101 47% $12 851 425 ARD3 2010 19 7 37% $2 425 179 ARTI 2010 343 184 54% $21 487 978 IE 2008 366 77 21% $175 509 039 IE-EL 2009 66 29 44% $6 177 478 IRCC 2011 92 24 26% $23 575 253 TAC 2011 152 25 16% $29 893 895 CU-I2I 2011 49 21 43% $11 386 776

College-University Idea to Innovation (CU-I2I) CU-I2I grants are intended to develop and strengthen research links between colleges, universities and businesses to accelerate the development of promising technologies and promote their commercialization into the Canadian marketplace. Must have at least one participant of each: College, University, eligible company partner(s). Applicant can be College or University. The other institution will be the co-applicant. Grants will be transferred to applicant institution. Applicant institution will then transfer funds to co-applicant institution in accordance with the application budget.

CU-I2I Funding Grants can be up to $250K annually Duration of grants can be up to 3 years Eligible expenditures include: Faculty course load reduction (college only), technical/research assistants, postdoctoral fellows (university only) and students Equipment (up to 20% of grant) Overhead (up to 20% of grant for college only) Other (Operating costs, material, project travel, etc.) Tips: Colleges and Universities have separate budgets, but project needs to be a collaboration ARD-CRD opportunity (brief description) We are looking at updating these tools to provide: Open competition Single application with two budgets Attractive leverage but including some cash CU I2I deadline was Oct. No $ amount minimum but is preferable to have cash

Questions? colleges@nserc-crsng.gc.ca Can a college hire a univ student for an Engage or ARD project? Yes, but will not count as a student in the budget or performance metrics. Accept them but consider them research assistants or technical professional Can a university professor and a college be co-applicants on an I2I application? Yes Is there any plan to allow colleges to apply for Strategic Project Grants? Can colleges currently be co-applicants? As main applicant no, but can be co-applicant on a University application