Research Admin Offices:

• MILO

Opportunity Type:

• Grant

Value:

Individual proposals can request between $20,000 and $30,000 from NSERC and between $20,000 and $30,000 from OCI, with a corresponding $20,000 to $30,000 from the industry partner (up to 50% of this contribution may be in kind) for a project up to 12 months.

Disciplines:

• Natural Sciences and Engineering

Sponsors:

• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)

Deadlines:

Description:

The combined OCI C2C-NSERC Alliance grant will support post-secondary R&D collaborations with the highest potential for regional economic development and commercialization in Ontario. Projects are expected to result in economic benefits to the company and to Ontario and build impactful longer-term collaborations between the researcher and the partner company.

Eligibility:

• Applicant must be eligible to hold tri-council funding
• Applicant must be faculty from an eligible Ontario-based university
• Applicant must have an active OCI or NSERC peer reviewed grants
• Industry partner must be a for-profit SME organization with Canadian R&D and/or manufacturing operations related directly to the project, and have the capability to exploit the research results to create economic benefits
• Industry partner must have 5-499 full-time employees and have been in operation for at least 2 years

Application/Nomination Process:

The combined C2C Alliance grant has a streamlined joint application and decision process.

1. To start the application process for C2C Alliance, the industry partner must connect with their regional OCI business development and commercialization manager (BD);
2. Researchers will then work with the BD to vet the project through OCI. If it passes this vetting session, then the researcher may proceed to the full application through the NSERC Alliance website (requiring a Form 100A, Form 101, and the new joint proposal template (max 6 pages);
3. Applications will go to NSERC for a full review. If NSERC does not fund the application, OCI will also not fund the application (even if it passed the vetting under point 2 above).

Note on Spending Ahead: Generally, OCI does not allow you to spend company funds you intend to leverage until the application is approved by both NSERC and OCI. If there is an urgency to get the project started before the NSERC decision is made, you’ll have to provide the OCI BD with an argument for the expense being essential for the completion of the project. Based on that information, OCI will determine if they agree to the urgency. If there is no such urgency, company funds you intend to leverage cannot be spent until approval is in place from both NSERC and OCI.

Contact:

Thinking of applying? Contact the McMaster Industry Liaison Office for guidance documents and next steps: 

Amber Metham, Associate Director (Research Contracts): metham@mcmaster.ca

Faculty of Engineering: Ross Huyskamp, Research Contracts Advisor: huyskar@mcmaster.ca

All other Faculties: Leanna Fong, Research Contracts Advisor: fongl@mcmaster.ca