A Unique 3-Way Partnership

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A Unique 3-Way Partnership
A Unique 3-Way Partnership

• The College and Community Innovation - Pilot
  Program
• Janet Walden, Vice-President, NSERC
• Terry Anne Boyles, Vice-President, ACCC
• Jeff Brownlee, Director of Communications, CME

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What is NSERC?

• The national instrument for making strategic
  investments in Canadas capability in science and
  technology
• Canadas largest university research funding body
• Invests over 700M p.a. in academic research
• Funding based upon excellence and peer review

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Prosperity and high quality of life for Canadians
Vision and Mission
Science and EngineeringResearch Canada
We invest in
innovation
discovery
EXCELLENCE
Competitive research in science and engineering,
providing access to new knowledge from around the
world
Productive use of new knowledge in all sectors of
the economy and society
people
Highly skilled, well educated and capable of
lifelong learning
Our goal is Canadianexcellence in
WORKING IN ALL AREAS OF SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY Scholarships and fellowships for
undergraduate and postgraduate students,
postdoctoral fellows and some university faculty
USING NEW KNOWLEDGE Partnerships of universities
with industry and other sectors for project
research
CREATING KNOWLEDGE Research Grants for basic
research in the universities
We do this throughpeer-reviewedcompetitionsin
three programs
NSERC also works towards its goals by exerting
INFLUENCE beyond our program reach
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NSERC Vision The new actions

• People help to improve science and math
  education (pilot)
• Discovery develop and validate a national
  framework for Big Science and support regional
  capacity building in research (pilot)
• Innovation support community colleges, build
  innovation at the community level (pilot)

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NSERC Vision The new actions

• To be effective in doing these new things...
• develop a regional presence across Canada
• strive for public recognition by doing business
  under a new label
• Why Pilot?
• need to prove the approach AND no new yet

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Research Partnerships Programs Goal...
Universities(Colleges as co-applicants)
Colleges and Universities
Industry
Government
Industry
Government
People and ideas
People and ideas
Historically
Today

• To stimulate and build research relationships
  with potential economic and / or social benefits
  for Canada

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NSERC Partnerships? a flexible continuum
IPM

• Innovation Projects
• Strategic Projects
• Research Networks
• Collaborative RD Grants
• Research Partnership Agreements
• Building Critical Mass
• Chairs
• Technology Transfer
• Idea to Innovation
• Intellectual Property Management Networked
  Training
• College Community Innovation Pilot

ChairsIRCs
Research ? Development
Industry Participation ?
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NSERC and The Colleges

• Innovation Strategy
• need to increase RD performance training
  across all sectors
• 2002 NSERC Management visit colleges across
  Canada -- finding
• Not research as NSERC knows it, BUT a vibrant
  range of innovation activity contributing
  significantly to local regional economic
  development
• ACCC and NSERC initiate college pilot program

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NSERC and ACCC

• ACCC facilitated NSERC college visits
• ACCC Task Group on Applied Research and the
  Innovation Agenda (2002-03)
• ACCC survey on RD activity in colleges
• ACCC NSERC form Advisory Committee
• to help develop the College and Community
  Innovation Pilot Program
• ACCC encourages colleges to apply for eligibility
  to administer NSERC grants

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A unique 3-way partnership

• ACCC
• College needs, opportunitiesand linkages
• NSERC
• Peer review, excellenceand funding
• Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters
• Program promotion
• Commitment to work with colleges

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College and Community Innovation Pilot Program

• Objective
• To increase the capacity of colleges to support
  innovation at the community and/or regional
  level
• Pilot
• To prove the feasibility of the approach using
  existing NSERC funds

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Anticipated Impacts

• Colleges working with local businesses and
  industries
• Students trained in innovation activities
• Local companies adopting new technologies, launch
  new and improved products and processes

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College Eligibility Requirements

• College faculty engage in innovation activities
  related to the natural sciences and engineering
• Institutions provide facilities and absorb the
  indirect costs of research
• Institutions understand their role and
  responsibilities in managing federal grants
• Institutions have appropriate policies in place
• research ethics and integrity

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Funding Available

• 3.6M over three years
• Up to six awards of 100,000/year for three years
• for activities supporting innovation in an area
  where the college has recognized expertise that
  meets community needs
• Opportunity to leverage funding from partners in
• year two (up to an additional 100,000 from
  NSERC) and
• year three (up to an additional 200,000 from
  NSERC)

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Request for Proposals

• Deadline May 28
• Peer Review Committee July August
• Results announced by August 30
• Funding starts by end of September

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Proposals

• Be concise
• Must describe
• proposed activities and how they relate to
  colleges strategic plan
• involvement of local companies
• impact on local community
• incentive-driven budget requirements
• performance measures (tailored)

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Activities Supported

• Flexible guidelines accommodate a variety of
  activities and needs
• Examples
• Teaching release time for faculty
• Supporting student involvement
• Outreach to companies in the community
• Prototype development technology evaluation

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Selection Criteria

• Potential to contribute to local and/or regional
  innovation
• Quality of the proposal
• Demonstrated need for resources
• Pilot
• a learning experience, thereforewill support
  excellence and reflect the diversity of the
  college community

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More Information

• NSERC Web site www.nserc.ca for
• complete description
• application instructions
• Contact NSERC
• Anne Alper
• Tel. [phone]
• E-mail anne.alper_at_nserc.ca

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Thank you