Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (Canada)

In Canada, government funding for university-based research in the natural sciences and in engineering is administered by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). NSERC awards “discovery grants” for basic research, encourages collaborative research between universities and industries, provides advanced training for newly professional scientists and engineers, and funds and supports university students, postdoctoral fellows, and professors.

In November 2001, the NSERC Nano Innovation Platform was established to link Canadian university researchers in a multidisciplinary network dedicated to developing and coordinating nanotechnology research within a coherent national strategy that includes other government organizations such as the National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) and NanoQuebec. The Nano Innovation Platform has three objectives: to develop Canada's nanotechnology research strategy in collaboration with universities, funding agencies, venture capitalists, research councils, Canadian cities, and provinces; to develop research awards that support innovative, “high risk, high return” projects in nanoscience and nanotechnology; and to create interdisciplinary communities of networked researchers. Its project grants have supported research particularly on the physicochemical properties of nanomaterials, including studies on the environmental, biological, and toxicological impacts of nanomaterials and nanoparticles.

NSERC has also played a role in establishing a direction for Canadian nanomedicine research, in partnership with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). One of the projects to emerge from such strategic planning is the Regenerative Medicine and Nanomedicine Initiative (RMNI) which integrates the fields of physics, engineering, materials science, and computer science with the health sciences in order to address the prevention of degenerative disease through nanoscience research.

Since 2007, NSERC has partnered with the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and the NRC in a Nanotechnology Initiative that grants project funds to commercialize the fruits of nanoscience and nanotechnology research. This partnership highlights the Canadian government's emphasis on the need to keep pace in terms of innovation, technology transfer, and commercialization of publicly funded research, particularly in regards to nanotechnology. The Nanotechnology Initiative has stated three key areas in which Canada should focus on becoming a leader: clean energy, environmental sustainability, and information and communication technologies.

NSERC developed out of the NRC, which has also established some of Canada's other major research granting agencies such as the Canadian Space Agency, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and Atomic Energy Canada. Governed by a president and directed by a council of 21 members drawn from the private and public sector, NSERC reports to Parliament through the Minister of Industry.