Natural Sciences & Engineering

Applications are now being accepted until February 15, 2023, for projects that will start in 2023 and that will finish before March 31, 2024.  

In 2020, the Government of Prince Edward Island established a $1-million annual Climate Challenge Fund (CC Fund). The CC Fund is intended to support the development of innovative solutions to the threat of climate change. 

The goal of the CC Fund is to empower people of different backgrounds, experiences, and expertise, who work across sectors and in different communities throughout the Island, to contribute to climate action in PEI. Projects supported by the CC Fund will contribute to climate action by adapting to the projected impacts of climate change, and/or reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing opportunities for sequestration (the removal and storage of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere).  

The Government of Prince Edward Island is committed to recognizing, respecting and safeguarding the rights of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) communities and the need to address social and racial equity as a fundamental response to climate change. Priority will be given to initiatives that actively redress inequities and discrimination intensified by the negative impacts of climate change or that may remove an unfair barrier to mitigation efforts. This includes, but is not limited to, race, gender, sexual orientation, socio‐economic status, ability, geographic location, income level, education level, first language, marital status, immigration status or other populations who will be disproportionately experience the negative impacts of climate change and face barriers to mitigation efforts. 

Funding 

CC Fund contributions will be limited to a maximum of $100,000 per project. For academic institutions, the CC Fund will contribute funding of up to 70% of eligible expenditures. Successful applicants may use in-kind resources, or other Federal or Provincial funds as their share of the eligible costs, subject to the stacking rules or policies inherent to other programs.   

Overhead costs must be included in the budget at a rate of 5% of the total Climate Challenge Fund request.   

The Climate Challenge Working Group may give preference to applicants who have not received previous funding. 

Eligibility 

The CC Fund will support projects that align with the goals and objectives of the 2040 Net Zero Framework and the Building Resilience: Climate Adaptation Plan (October 2022).  

For more information, visit https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/service/apply-pei-climate-challenge-fund 

Additional information on eligible and ineligible projects and expenditures is provided in the PEI Climate Challenge Fund Guidelines and Criteria document.  

UPEI Application Process and Deadlines 

1) Complete your application using the UPEI Template Application Form* (attached) and CCF Timeline and Budget Worksheet, along with any other attachments (e.g., partner support letters). 

2) Submit these documents for UPEI approval using the UPEI Romeo Researcher Portal. Deadline for receipt of the application by Research Services: February 10, 2023 

3) Upon receipt of UPEI approvals, you will be notified to proceed with the submission of your application in the CCF online application form. 

The Mitacs Elevate Fall 2022 call for proposals is now open. Mitacs Elevate is a postdoctoral fellowship with an exclusive professional development curriculum component. Fellows address complex challenges through: 

- A two-year research project with a partner organization in need of high-level expertise 

- A professional development curriculum that prepares Elevate fellows for success as leaders in research and industry 

The Elevate Fall 2022 call will offer 2 award options: Standard ($60k) and Thematic ($80k). 

Standard: The award is valued at $60,000 per year with a minimum stipend of $55,000  

• Partner organization contributes $30,000 per year  

Thematic: The award is valued at $80,000 per year with a minimum stipend of $70,000 for projects addressing at least one of the following key priority sectors: agriculture and food, artificial intelligence, biomanufacturing, clean technology, entertainment and media, quantum science, or social innovation  

• Partner organization contributes $40,000 per year 

The Indigenous Pathways offering will remain available. Indigenous Pathways supports Indigenous partner organizations and interns. Partners contribute only 25% of the cost of the project.  

Key deadlines: 

January 11, 2023 — If applicable, deadline to submit not-for-profit eligibility check or conflict of interest declaration to Mitacs 

February 8, 2023 — Deadline to submit final application  

For more information, please consult the Mitacs website or contact elevate@mitacs.ca. 

UPEI application process 

1) Complete the application using the Mitacs Portal. Details on how to apply can be found on the Mitacs website here. 

2) The supervisor must submit the application and supporting documents for UPEI approval using the Romeo Researcher Portal. Instructions for using the Researcher Portal can be found here.  Applicants are requested to submit by February 1, 2023, ensuring that the application is received by Research Services by February 3, 2023.   

Note: the supervisor is responsible for obtaining approvals from each university for which there is an academic supervisor on the project. 

3) Upon receipt of UPEI approvals, the application may then be submitted to Mitacs.  The deadline for submission is February 8, 2023. 

Please see below for a message from the Government of Canada regarding new funding to support Black scholars. For the 2023 NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA) competition, applicants who self-identify as Black may be considered above the institution's application limit. Additionally, funding for CIHR and SSHRC USRAs will be administered through the USRA program and will be available for Black undergraduate student researchers (a quota of one CIHR USRA and one SSHRC USRA is anticipated for UPEI). The tri-agency USRA program will launch in January 2023 and further details will be circulated at that time. Please note that CIHR and SSHRC USRAs are currently exclusively for Black student researchers.

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On November 16, 2022, at the Canadian Science Policy Conference, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced new funding for Black scholars.

As announced in Budget 2022, the funds, which will be implemented from 2023–24, include $40.9 million over five years and $9.7 million ongoing to increase the number of awards available to Black scholars. The funds will be offered by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

These funds will help address the disproportionate underfunding of Black scholars at all stages of their careers; will contribute to making Canada’s research culture more equitable, diverse and inclusive; and will strengthen Canada’s innovation potential.

The new funding will allow the agencies to support approximately 400 additional Black scholars annually via existing scholarships and fellowships programs. These include the Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA), the Canada Graduate Scholarships – Master’s (CGS M) program, the Canada Graduate Scholarships – Doctoral (CGS D) program and agency some specific postdoctoral fellowships programs.

As of November 10, 2022, the funding limit request for Alliance Option 2 projects will increase to $1,000,000 annually.  Additionally, there will no longer be a limit on the number of applications researchers can submit.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch with alliance@nserc-crsng.gc.ca.

NSERC has launched the Chairs for Inclusion in Science and Engineering<https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Professors-Professeurs/CFS-PCP/CISE-CWSE_eng.asp> (CISE) program as a two-year pilot program in the Atlantic region.

The goal of the CISE pilot is to support a team of researchers in the Atlantic region who contribute to a culture of inclusion in the natural sciences and engineering fields by catalyzing networks of supporters of this work, promoting equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the research ecosystem, and undertaking activities to enhance awareness and understanding of barriers and inequities faced by members of underrepresented groups in these fields.

Chairs are expected to contribute up to 50% of their time to the activities of the Chair and the remaining time to their professor/researcher activities at the university. Therefore, Chairs should be released from teaching and administrative tasks in proportion to the stated percentage of time spent on the activities of the Chair.

Eligibility

  *   Candidates must apply as a team of three. One person must be designated as the applicant; however, all team members are expected to contribute meaningfully to the application and proposed activities. All three members of the successful team will be considered Chairs.
  *   Team members must be from at least two different NSERC-eligible universities within the Atlantic region to amplify the impact of the Chairs? program and build a base for networking across the region.
  *   Each team member must meet NSERC?s regular eligibility criteria<https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/NSERC-CRSNG/Eligibility-Admissibilite/faculty-corpsprof_eng.asp> to apply for or receive NSERC funding.
  *   Each team member must hold a current NSERC research grant as the principal applicant or be awarded one prior to taking up the Chair (exceptions may be granted when a strong justification is provided).
  *   At least one of the team members must self-identify as a woman (please note that this is a minimum requirement; teams entirely composed of women are also eligible).
  *   At least one aspect of the team?s proposal must be focused on the participation and retention of women in science and engineering.

Funding
NSERC will contribute an initial $130,000 in project funds per year to be shared by the team. In addition, NSERC will match cash and in-kind contributions from the host universities and supporting organizations up to a maximum of $70,000 per year, for a total of $200,000 in project funds per year for the team. In-kind contributions can consist of staff time, salaries, equipment and any other resources provided by the supporting organizations.

To help the chairholders maintain their research activity at a high level during their tenure as CISE Chairs, NSERC will also match cash contributions of at least $20,000 from host universities with $25,000 to support a postdoctoral fellow (PDF) or research engineer for each team member.

UPEI Information and Application Process
The UPEI VPAR?s office will contribute $20,000 toward PDF/Research Engineer support and provide funds for up to two annual course releases per application (commitments will be conditional upon a successful application). Further support required from UPEI must be coordinated with the appropriate Chair/Dean, and potentially using NSERC CISE funds for salary/backfill where warranted.

Research Services must receive a draft copy of the application by March 1, 2023, in order to confirm commitments from host universities and supporting organizations and assist with the preparation of a UPEI letter of support. Submit documents by email to researchservices@upei.ca.
Deadline for submission in the UPEI Romeo Researcher Portal<https://upei.researchservicesoffice.com/Romeo.Researcher/>: NSERC has launched the Chairs for Inclusion in Science and Engineering<https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Professors-Professeurs/CFS-PCP/CISE-CWSE_eng.asp> (CISE) program as a two-year pilot program in the Atlantic region.

The goal of the CISE pilot is to support a team of researchers in the Atlantic region who contribute to a culture of inclusion in the natural sciences and engineering fields by catalyzing networks of supporters of this work, promoting equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the research ecosystem, and undertaking activities to enhance awareness and understanding of barriers and inequities faced by members of underrepresented groups in these fields.

Chairs are expected to contribute up to 50% of their time to the activities of the Chair and the remaining time to their professor/researcher activities at the university. Therefore, Chairs should be released from teaching and administrative tasks in proportion to the stated percentage of time spent on the activities of the Chair.

Eligibility

  *   Candidates must apply as a team of three. One person must be designated as the applicant; however, all team members are expected to contribute meaningfully to the application and proposed activities. All three members of the successful team will be considered Chairs.
  *   Team members must be from at least two different NSERC-eligible universities within the Atlantic region to amplify the impact of the Chairs? program and build a base for networking across the region.
  *   Each team member must meet NSERC?s regular eligibility criteria<https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/NSERC-CRSNG/Eligibility-Admissibilite/faculty-corpsprof_eng.asp> to apply for or receive NSERC funding.
  *   Each team member must hold a current NSERC research grant as the principal applicant or be awarded one prior to taking up the Chair (exceptions may be granted when a strong justification is provided).
  *   At least one of the team members must self-identify as a woman (please note that this is a minimum requirement; teams entirely composed of women are also eligible).
  *   At least one aspect of the team?s proposal must be focused on the participation and retention of women in science and engineering.

Funding
NSERC will contribute an initial $130,000 in project funds per year to be shared by the team. In addition, NSERC will match cash and in-kind contributions from the host universities and supporting organizations up to a maximum of $70,000 per year, for a total of $200,000 in project funds per year for the team. In-kind contributions can consist of staff time, salaries, equipment and any other resources provided by the supporting organizations.

To help the chairholders maintain their research activity at a high level during their tenure as CISE Chairs, NSERC will also match cash contributions of at least $20,000 from host universities with $25,000 to support a postdoctoral fellow (PDF) or research engineer for each team member.

UPEI Information and Application Process
The UPEI VPAR?s office will contribute $20,000 toward PDF/Research Engineer support and provide funds for up to two annual course releases per application (commitments will be conditional upon a successful application). Further support required from UPEI must be coordinated with the appropriate Chair/Dean, and potentially using NSERC CISE funds for salary/backfill where warranted.

Research Services must receive a draft copy of the application by March 1, 2023, in order to confirm commitments from host universities and supporting organizations and assist with the preparation of a UPEI letter of support. Submit documents by email to researchservices@upei.ca.
Deadline for submission in the UPEI Romeo Researcher Portal<https://upei.researchservicesoffice.com/Romeo.Researcher/>: March 14, 2023
Applicants must submit to NSERC by the deadline of March 28, 2023.

Note: the UPEI application process must be followed, regardless of whether the application is led by UPEI or another institution.
 

The Internal SoTL Research Grant (ISRG) program supports research pursuits in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) through the funding of fully developed research proposals. Researchers are encouraged to provide high-quality student training opportunities and to propose collaborations with others from different but complementary disciplines.  

VALUE: up to $1,500 for a two-year term, ISRG proposals for lesser amounts will be considered favourably.  

APPLICATION DEADLINE: December 13, 2022, by 4 pm.  

ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS:  Tenured, Tenure Track, Term and Sessional UPEI Faculty in Arts, AVC, Business, Education, IKERAS, Nursing, Science, or Sustainable Design Engineering, Librarians, and Lab Instructors who are employed by UPEI at the time of application and for the duration of the award. A professor emeritus or adjunct professor may apply as a co-applicant with a tenure/tenure-track UPEI faculty member. Please review the general information in the Guidelines for other eligibility considerations. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Program guidelines and application instructions can be found here: https://www.upei.ca/research-services/resources-and-tools/internal-funding.

Apply using the UPEI Romeo Researcher Portal.

ACENET workshop: Introduction to MATLAB

Tuesday, November 1, 2022, 1:00 pm
Virtual
Free

Through live demonstrations and examples, learn how MATLAB can be used to visualize and analyze data, perform numerical computations, and develop algorithms. Topics will include accessing data from many sources; using interactive tools for iterative exploration, design, and problem solving; automating and capturing your work in easy-to-write scripts and programs; and sharing your results with others by automatically creating reports. This session is designed for those new to MATLAB, or more experienced users, as it will include some tips and tricks.

For details and registration, go to https://mathworksmeeting.webex.com/mathworksmeeting/j.php?RGID=r37b01e8b86a4572649ef47d7db531552