# Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada is an other based in Ottawa, Canada.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** other
- **Headquarters:** Ottawa, Canada
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- **Founded:** 1978
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** nserc-crsng.gc.ca

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) supports Canada's science and engineering research community. The agency funds approximately 30,000 post-secondary students and post-doctoral fellows annually. NSERC also funds around 12,000 professors and collaborates with over 2,800 Canadian companies on research projects.

## Sectors

- Education
- Industrial Tech
- Energy Transition & Renewables
- AI/ML
- Health-related Research

## People

- Alejandro Adem — President

## Questions

### Is NSERC an investment fund?

No. NSERC is a federal granting agency — it does not invest for financial return. It awards competitive grants and scholarships to university researchers and students in the natural sciences and engineering, funded solely by annual appropriations from the Government of Canada.

### How does NSERC's funding compare to other Canadian research councils?

NSERC is the largest of the three federal research granting councils by total grant volume, alongside the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Together they form the 'Tri-Agency' framework that coordinates Canada's university research funding.

### Who controls NSERC's funding decisions?

Granting decisions are made through peer-reviewed committees comprising active scientists and engineers from universities and industry. The 20-member NSERC Council (appointed by the Government of Canada) provides strategic direction but does not approve individual grants.

### What are NSERC's main funding programs?

The three core streams are: Discovery Grants (basic research), Research Partnerships (collaborative projects with industry), and Scholarships and Fellowships (graduate student and postdoc support). A fourth stream, the 'Alliance' program, was launched in 2023 to consolidate several partnership grant types.

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- [Alcon Labs](https://altss.com/profile/alcon-labs)
- [Markforged](https://altss.com/profile/markforged)

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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