• DACRRI: Department direct costs of research charge

• Advice on NSERC Discovery, 2014, by Alla Sheffer DiscoveryAdvice2014

• Student stipend/support figures: Student stipend numbers for your budgeting pleasure.
• New faculty should talk to Sandra Redekop when applying for their first grant.

• Joanna McGrenere, Fall 2011:

Internal Grant Review timeline for 2013

• Jun: submit suggested names (2 close and 2 not-so-close potential reviewers) to Michiel (ah-fac@csDELETEthisTEXT.ubc.ca)

• Aug: selection of 2 internal grant reviewers
• Sept 30: submission of first draft to internal grant reviewers
• Oct 7: comments back on first draft
• Oct 14: submission of second draft to internal grant reviewers
• Oct 18: comments back on second draft
• Oct 24: application due in the morning, UBC CS (CS requires 2 business days). Your GA knows the process.
• Oct 28: application due, UBC ORS research services (ORS requires 3 business days)

• UBC SPARC resources and templates web page

• Nassif's blog page with not just rants but crucial hints about how to deal with CCV ridiculousness: http://nghoussoub.com/2013/07/25/canadian-common-cv-nserc-vs-linkedin/#comments

• Nando de Freitas, Fall 2011:

• Joanna McGrenere, Fall 2011: F100 F101 reviews
• Robert Bridson, Fall 2012: F100 F101 F180

• UBC Office of Research Services (ORS) signature procedures can be found at http://www.ors.ubc.ca/contents/ubc-signature. Please note that the caveat, “The Dean’s signature is not required on proposals originating in the … Faculty of Science…” on that page applies to all departments and divisions within this Faculty.
• Specific NSERC e-submission policies are at http://www.ors.ubc.ca/contents/nserc-disc-grant-esubmission.
• UBC ORS contact info, for questions arising, is at http://www.ors.ubc.ca/contents/signature-contacts.

• Oct 24: application due, UBC CS (CS requires 2 business days). Your GA knows the process.

• Oct 26: application due, UBC ORS research services (ORS requires 3 business days) (update: Oct 29 is ok for hitting submit)

• Oct 24: application due, UBC CS (CS requires 2 business days)
• Oct 26: application due, UBC ORS research services (ORS requires 3 business days)

• Nando de Freitas, Fall 2012: F180 F100 F101

Of course, the down side of deferring is in some sense I lose a year's worth of money.

Scarily enough, I've heard informally that they could even do a clawback (take money you already have in your account back), and the rough number I heard was if you're over 2x the annual amount. I may well still be over that mark by the time they deliberate in this year's competition. And that would be a loss of two years of existing money, so that's even worse. Plus, it might be hard to convince them to give me lots of new money. So I'm leaning towards deferral. But my big question is whether I'm being too paranoid or appropriately prudent.

Questions: a) is clawback a real possibility? b) has anybody else faced this problem before? if so what did you do?

-- TamaraMunzner - 18 July 2012

Internal Grant Review timeline for 2012

• now: submit suggested names (2 close and 2 not-so-close potential reviewers) to Michiel (ah-fac@csDELETEthisTEXT.ubc.ca)
• June 30: selection of 2 internal grant reviewers: List of assigned reviewers

• Oct 24: application due, UBC CS (date to be verified)
• Oct 26: application due, UBC ORS research services (date to be verified)

• 2012 per-bin funding amounts for CS, in k$/year: 14 17 22 28 34 42 52 62 78

• DACRRI: Department direct costs of research charge This is important to include in your budget.
• new faculty should talk to Sandra Redekop when applying for their first grant.

Examples: researcher-proposal-HQP

• Rachel Pottinger, Fall 2009: VS-M-S F100 F101
• Rachel Pottinger, Fall 2010: S-VS-VS F100 F101

• June 30: selection of 2 internal grant reviewers: List of assigned reviewers

• UBC SPARC (Support Programs to Advance Research Capacity) NSERC
  • Discover Grants workshop: Wed June 29, 2:30pm-4:30pm, Life Sciences Centre (slides below)
    
  • contact: Nicole Bennett – nicole.bennett@ubcDELETEthisTEXT.ca 604-822-5386 www.sparc.ubc.ca
  • SPARC internal review: contact Nicole Bennett

• UBC SPARC info session slides
  • Slides 42-46 paraphrase the Peer Review Manual - Section 6.8.1 - Selection Criteria. Use the statements and questions on these slides to help guide your application towards addressing the merit indicators.
• NSERC Discovery Peer Review Manual, Ch 6: more details in the peer review manual
• Assessment of Contributions to Research and Training: understanding what NSERC defines as "quality" and "impact"
• NSERC Discovery CS evaluation committee: NSERC DG committee composition

-- MichielVanDePanne - 29 Jun 2011

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• Michiel van de Panne, Fall 2009: O-VS-VS F180 F100 F101 comments
• Wolfgang Heidrich, Fall 2009: F180 F100 F101
• Kellogg Booth, Fall 2009: O-M-O F180 F100 F101
• Kellogg Booth, Fall 2010: O-VS-O F180 F100 F101

• comments.txt:

• 2011 per-bin funding amounts for CS, in k$/year: XX 14 20 24 29 33 42 49 60

• F180-booth-2009.pdf: Kellogg Booth F180, Fall 2009 (O-''M''-O)
• F100-booth-2009.pdf: Kellogg Booth F100, Fall 2009 (O-''M''-O)
• F101-booth-2009.pdf: Kellogg Booth F101, Fall 2009 (O-''M''-O)
• F180-booth-2010.pdf: Kellogg Booth F180, Fall 2010 (O-''VS''-O)
• F100-booth-2010.pdf: Kellogg Booth F100, Fall 2010 (O-''VS''-O)
• F101-booth-2010.pdf: Kellogg Booth F101, Fall 2010 (O-''VS''-O)

Request: For those who had applied in 2010 or 2011 - anyone minds posting not only the application but also the review/NSERC responses? This can perhpas give a sense of what NSERC looks for...

-- AllaSheffer - 24 Jun 2011

Q1: You cannot explain all of your activities in enough depth to be persuasive, so you need to have enough focus to provide a balance between depth and breadth. You can certainly leave out entirely some threads of your research if they are not relevant to the main arguments you present. It is probably still a good idea to indicate (in either your F100 or the F101) all of the areas in which you have worked (as evidenced by publications, students supervised, or funds expended). Having a bunch of publications in an area you never mention would be weird, as would thesis titles or students known to be in areas not covered. But this can be just a few sentences. The degree to which you focus depends on your career trajectory (past and present). There is no perfect degree of focus.

Q2: Common sense suggests that you put the time in over the summer to figure out a title so the F180 and F101 have the same title. As far as I know, the external reviewers never seen the F180, and the committee members may not see it either, after the stage of assigning external reviewers. The title used on the F180 will influence who is asked to review your application, so it makes sense to have it match the final title.

A related issue: Should you change the title each time you apply? I have changed the title of my DG maybe three times over 30+ years. Other people I have asked change the title every time they apply. It is not clear to me the title matters at all, except for helping to assign reviewers. Certainly I would hope that this is the case.

Q3: Absolutely you need a mix of (a)-(c). I think (d) is subsumed by (c), although perhaps the small institution angle is something to consider (on the assumption these people might be more likely to accept a request to review). I have never even thought of (d) before, but I always look for a mix of (a)-(c). Specifically, you should have one from the U.S., one not from the U.S., and one from Canada who you think knows your work and is familiar with the NSERC system. (NOTE: Just being a long-time Canadian researcher with lots of NSERC funding does not mean one "knows" the system. Some "stars" are clueless about the politics of NSERC because they are above it by virtue of being a star.) The other two slots (assuming a total of five requests -- some grants allow seven or more) will probably depend on your circumstances. I tend to list at least two Canadians, both because they are more likely to understand the NSERC system, but also because they are more likely to accept a request to review.

-- KelloggBooth - 24 Jun 2011

Links and Documents

• NSERC Discovery Grant Program web page
• NSERC DG Tips video tips video
• DG_Merit_Indicators_eng.pdf: Merit Indicators -- important!! These serve as guidelines for reviewers.
• nserc-discovery-and-rti.pdf: Advice on NSERC Discovery and RTI in CS, by Robert Bridson, 2010

• DG-Competition-Model.pdf: How to succeed in the new competition model (2011)
• glasgow-grant.pdf: How to get (and keep) a research grant, by Witten & Glasgow (1990, 1996)
• DGStat-SDStat_eng.pdf: 2011 competition statistics

• now: submit suggested names (2 close and 2 not-so-close potential reviewers) to Michiel (van@csDELETEthisTEXT.ubc.ca)

Examples

• F180-vandepanne-2009.pdf: Michiel van de Panne F180, Fall 2009
• F100-vandepanne-2009.pdf: Michiel van de Panne F100, Fall 2009
• F101-vandepanne-2009.pdf: Michiel van de Panne F101, Fall 2009
• F180-heidrich-2009.pdf: Wolfgang Heidrich F180, Fall 2009
• F100-heidrich-2009.pdf: Wolfgang Heidrich F100, Fall 2009
• F101-heidrich-2009.pdf: Wolfgang Heidrich F101, Fall 2009

Discussion

Advice wanted by some faculty:
Q1: Is it best to describe all one's research activities, or focus in one area?
Q2: Does it matter if one changes the title and summary after having submitted the F180?
Q3: What is a best practice for listing reviewers? Should we select: (a) prominent people worldwide (b) prominent Canadians in our own fields (c) Canadians who know us well, regardless of prominence? (d) less-prominent Canadians from smaller institutions who might not know us well?

-- MichielVanDePanne - 24 Jun 2011

• Merit Indicators: important! These serve as guidelines for reviewers.
  

• 2011 NSERC Discover Grant Workshop at UBC: Wed June 29, 2:30pm-4:30pm, Life Sciences Centre, room announced to registrants
  REGISTRATION is required through the VPRI Event Site: http://research.ubc.ca/vpri/workshops-events.
  Space is limited and prioritized to Faculty who are applying to the 2012 NSERC DG competition.
  More information and direct registration link: http://research.ubc.ca/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=32
  QUESTIONS: Nicole Bennett – SPARC - NSERC / SSHRC Internal Review Officer: nicole.bennett@ubcDELETEthisTEXT.ca 604-822-5386 www.sparc.ubc.ca

• 2011 per-bin funding amounts for CS, in k$/year: 14 20 24 29 33 42 49 60
• 2010 per-bin funding amounts for CS, in k$/year: 15 18 20 25 31 34 43 51 60
• Advice document by Robert Bridson (2010): https://bugs.cs.ubc.ca/twiki/pub/Faculty/FundingInfo/nserc-discovery-and-rti.pdf
• Discovery-2011-05-26.pdf: Slides from Michiel's short presentation to UBC CS on May 26, 2011
• DG-Competition-Model.pdf: How to succeed in the new competition model

Internal Grant Review timeline

• as soon as possible (recommended June 24): names of 2 close and 2 not-so-close potential reviewers
• June 30: selection of 2 internal grant reviewers
• Aug 1: Notification of Intent due (Form 180)
• Sept 28: submission of first draft to internal grant reviewers
• Oct 5: comments back on first draft
• Oct 12: submission of second draft to internal grant reviewers
• Oct 25: application due, UBC CS
• Oct 27: application due, UBC ORS research services
• Nov 1: application due, NSERC final deadline

NSERC Discovery Grants

• Merit Indicators: important! These serve as guidelines for reviewers http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/_doc/Professors-Professeurs/DG_Merit_Indicators_eng.pdf
• 2011 competition statistics: http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/_doc/Funding-Financement/DGStat-SDStat_eng.pdf
• 2010 Advice document by Robert Bridson: https://bugs.cs.ubc.ca/twiki/pub/Faculty/FundingInfo/nserc-discovery-and-rti.pdf

-- MichielVanDePanne - 09 Jun 2011