Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) - Discovery Grants (DG)

Important information

  •  (Updated March 2025)
  •  (Updated June 2023)
  •  (Updated March 2025)

Timeline for Queen's Applicants

Date and/or Time Description

Monday, June 23, 2025
1:00 - 2:00 pm,
Chernoff Hall 211

Panel Discussion and Q&A Session with Queen’s researchers who have experience on a Discovery Grant Evaluation Group (in-person event)

Register

Wednesday, July 9, 2025
10:00 - 11:30 am

NSERC Discovery Grant, Session 1: Notification of Intent Boot Camp


This boot camp is intended for early career researchers, first-time applicants and any other researcher interested in re-familiarizing themselves with the NSERC Discovery Grant (DG) application process. We will provide an overview of the DG program and the application timeline. We will also walk you through the steps needed to fill out the Notification of Intent (NOI) and the Canadian Common CV (CCV).

Presenters:

  • Adam Jeziorski, NSE Grants Research Projects Advisor
  • Bei Cai, NSE Grants Research Projects Advisor
  • Merline Fonkwe, NSE Grants Research Projects Advisor

8:00 pm on Friday,
August 1, 2025

NSERC Discovery Grants NOI deadline. Applicants have to submit their NOI including a Canadian Common CV (CCV) on the NSERC portal. The NOI is mandatory for you to submit a full application.

Wednesday, August 6, 2025
10:00 - 11:00 am

NSERC Discovery Grant, Session 2: Budget, Relationship to Other Funding, Summary and Sample Papers

This session will cover all the required components of an NSERC Discovery Grant (DG) application. We will discuss DG budget requirements, Relationship to Other Research Support, Summary of the Proposal and Samples of Research Contributions.

Presenters:

  • Adam Jeziorski, NSE Grants Research Projects Advisor
  • Bei Cai, NSE Grants Research Projects Advisor
  • Merline Fonkwe, NSE Grants Research Projects Advisor

Wednesday, August 13, 2025
10:00 - 11:00 am

NSERC Discovery Grant, Session 3: Proposal

This information session will focus on the proposal attachment required for an NSERC Discovery Grant (DG) application. We will discuss in detail all the important sections in your proposal including Recent Progress, Objectives, Literature Review, Methodology and Impact.

Presenters:

  • Adam Jeziorski, NSE Grants Research Projects Advisor
  • Bei Cai, NSE Grants Research Projects Advisor
  • Merline Fonkwe, NSE Grants Research Projects Advisor

Wednesday, August 20, 2025
10:00 - 11:00 am

NSERC Discovery Grant, Session 4: Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization (EDII)

This information session will be presented by Aleksandra Bergier, the Research Advisor on EDII in the Vice-Principal Research Portfolio. There are 4 places in an NSERC Discovery Grant (DG) application where EDII considerations are relevant: Most Significant Contributions to Research, Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) Training Plan, Past Contributions to the Training of HQP and the Proposal. Aleks will provide expert advice on how to address the EDII requirements in each of these sections.

Presenter:

  • Aleksandra Bergier, Research Advisor on EDII

Wednesday, August 27, 2025
10:00 - 11:00 am

NSERC Discovery Grant, Session 5: Contributions to Research and Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP)

Our final information session will focus on contributions to research and HQP sections of an NSERC Discovery Grant (DG) application, including Most Significant Contributions to Research, Additional Information on Contributions, HQP Training Plan and Past Contributions to the Training of HQP.

Presenters:

  • Adam Jeziorski, NSE Grants Research Projects Advisor
  • Bei Cai, NSE Grants Research Projects Advisor
  • Merline Fonkwe, NSE Grants Research Projects Advisor

Before Wednesday,
October 1, 2025

The subÑý¼§Ö±²¥ period for in-depth review by a Research Projects Advisor (RPA): please send a draft of your CCV, proposal and application sections to the following:

Applicants from Faculty of Health Sciences and Smith School of Business: send the draft to Merline Fonkwe at  merline.fonkwe@queensu.ca.

Applicants from Smith Engineering: send the draft to Bei Cai at  beicai@queensu.ca

Applicants from Faculty of Arts & Science: send the draft to Adam Jeziorski at  adam.jeziorski@queensu.ca

Applicants are also highly encouraged to send their draft to several peers for review of the technical aspects of their proposal.

Tuesday, October 14, 2025

TRAQ DSS file subÑý¼§Ö±²¥ deadline. Applicants must create a TRAQ file for their Discovery Grant application.

Instructions for submitting a TRAQ DSS for a Discovery Grant Proposal

Before 9:00 am on Wednesday,
October 29, 2025

Mandatory SubÑý¼§Ö±²¥ Deadline: all applicants must submit their application on the NSERC Portal by that date, the earlier the better. Research Services has to do extensive checks on all proposals, and we need enough time so that applicants can still fix any issues that our checks uncover.

8:00 pm on Monday,
November 3, 2025

NSERC deadline for Discovery Grants applications.

  • Guidelines for . Read very carefully to ensure you understand which research areas are eligible for NSERC vs. CIHR vs. SSHRC funding.

Content will be updated regularly, as new information from NSERC becomes available.

Queen's Research Services Resources:

NSERC Guidelines and Information:

NSERC Grant Review Materials:

  •  - NSERC's scoring rubric for Discovery Grants

NSERC Support:

For Discovery Grants inquiries: Email:  resgrant@nserc-crsng.gc.ca

For NSERC Research Portal inquiries: Email:  webapp@nserc-crsng.gc.ca | Telephone: 1-855-275-2861

For CCV: Email:  support-soutien@cihr-irsc.gc.ca | Telephone: 613-954-1968 | Toll Free Telephone: 1-888-603-4178 


Queen's Contact Information for Discovery Grant applicants:

Bei Cai
Research Projects Advisor
for researchers in Smith Engineering
 beicai@queensu.ca 

Adam Jeziorski
Research Projects Advisor
for researchers in the Faculty of Arts and Science 
 adam.jeziorski@queensu.ca

Merline Fonkwe
Research Projects Advisor
for researchers in all other faculties/schools
 merline.fonkwe@queensu.ca