To be eligible to apply, institutions must have registered with the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat (TIPS) by 8:00 p.m. (eastern), January 21, 2026.

Important: The Convergence Portal for the full application will open on January 22, 2026. The full application must be submitted to the Convergence Portal by 8:00 p.m. (eastern), March 18, 2026.

No changes can be made after the application deadline. No applications will be accepted after the deadlines outlined above and no extensions to the deadlines will be provided.

Nominating institutions and nominees are expected to follow all presentation instructions specified below. This will allow peer reviewers to provide a fair and balanced assessment of the application. TIPS will undertake an administrative review of all materials to ensure that submissions meet the program's eligibility requirements and application guidelines. Failure to meet these requirements and guidelines may result in the application being withdrawn from the competition. The program also reserves the right to redact content that does not adhere to the instructions (such as exceeding page limits, exceeding maximum number of letters of support, disclosing private information or listing partners that have not committed any cash or in-kind contributions).

Nominating institutions and nominees may choose either of the official languages (English or French) to submit documents and information related to this competition. Where possible, accompanying documents should be in the same language as the application, to assist with the peer review process. An additional 20% of space has been allocated to page limits for documents submitted in French.

These instructions are to be used in conjunction with the information in the 2026 Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC) funding opportunity.

The information provided within the application package is protected under the Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policy of the three federal research funding agencies.

1. Convergence roles and invitations

The senior official and delegates (assigned by the principal research administrator [PRA]), as well as the nominee identified at the registration stage may take part in preparing the application in the Convergence Portal.

Senior official: The designated representative with the institutional authority to create and sign off on registrations and applications (for example, the provost or vice-president, Research, depending on the institution). The senior official has both read and write privileges in the Convergence Portal. Nominating institutions must take all necessary measures to ensure that the senior official is available to complete the attestation and submission of registrations and applications by the due date and time. The senior official must ensure institutional compliance with the provisions and regulations established by TIPS for this competition.

Delegate(s): The designated employee(s) at the nominating institution who has (have) a role in the CERC registration and application process. The nominating institution can name as many delegates as needed. Delegates have both read and write privileges in the Convergence Portal.

Nominee: The person who is nominated for a CERC. Once the nominee is invited by the nominating institution, they will have, with some restrictions, read and write privileges in the Convergence Portal.

Summary of privileges by role

The following table describes the read and write privileges in the Convergence Portal.

Section	Senior official	Delegate	Nominee
Application details	yes	yes	yes
Nominee	yes	yes	no
Socioeconomic objectives	yes	yes	yes
Science, technology and innovation research priority areas	yes	yes	yes
Fields of research	yes	yes	yes
Keywords	yes	yes	yes
Summary of the proposed program	yes	yes	yes
Certification, licenses and permits	yes	yes	yes
Sensitive technology research areas	read only	read only	yes
Partners	yes	yes	yes
Existing expertise at the nominating institution	yes	yes	yes
Proposed budget	yes	yes	yes
Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)	yes	yes	read only
Life circumstances affecting research productivity	read only	read only	yes
Extensions to funding history and research contributions	yes	yes	read only
Tri-agency CV (TCV)	read only	read only	yes
Attestation	yes	no	no
Supporting documents Quality of nominee Quality of the institutional support CERC recruitment process Publicly advertised job posting Proposed research program Potential contribution to the excellence of the Canadian and international research ecosystem Citations Biosketches for existing expertise at the nominating institution Confirmation of partner commitments Letters of support Nominees currently at a Canadian institution (if applicable) Environmental Impact Assessment (if applicable) STRAC attestation attachment (if applicable) Budget justification Budget projections	yes	yes	yes
Finalize and submit	yes	no	no

2. How to complete an application

2.1 Overview

Nominating institutions and nominees must complete the application using the Convergence Portal. All individuals taking part in preparing the application must have a Convergence Portal account.

Follow the instructions provided in the Convergence Portal to complete the application. The information required is outlined below. The nominating institution is responsible for finalizing and submitting the application once it is complete. No changes can be made after the application deadline.

The Convergence Portal is supported only on the latest versions of Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari and Mozilla Firefox. Use of an unsupported browser or a mobile device is strongly discouraged.

2.2 Getting started

Senior officials and delegates must open the Research Administrator dashboard in the Convergence Portal to access applications. All registrations submitted in the previous stage will appear as applications under the Institutional Applications tab.

Nominees can access their applications in the Applications tab.

The nominating institution must submit a separate application for each nomination. The nominee identified in the registration cannot be replaced with a new nominee in the application. If the nominee can no longer participate, the application needs to be withdrawn. To withdraw an application, contact TIPS.

2.3 Application details

To complete this module, provide the following required information:

• Proposed Chair title: The Chair title should include the full program name, i.e. “Canada Excellence Research Chair in …”. It should be descriptive and should not include symbols or abbreviations. For example, use “and” instead of “&”. The title should also be short and in language plain enough for a lay audience and members of the media to understand and use it.
• Language of the application: Indicate which official language (English or French) will be used for the application.
• Expected chairholder appointment date: Enter the anticipated date that the nominee will take up their chairholder appointment at the host institution. Chairholders will be required to take up their appointment no later than 12 months after the award is accepted. TIPS will contact successful institutions after award acceptance to confirm whether any changes need to be made to the expected date of appointment specified in the application.
• Alignment with federal research funding agency: Based on the mandates of the three federal research funding agencies and the research area(s) of the Chair, select the agency with which this Chair primarily aligns. This selection is used by TIPS for financial and reporting purposes and should not be viewed as directing interdisciplinary research programs to shift their focus or align primarily to a particular agency’s mandate.
• Indigenous research: Indicate whether the proposal involves Indigenous research as defined by SSHRC. If the application involves Indigenous research, it will be reviewed in the context of SSHRC’s Indigenous Research Statement of Principles and the Guidelines for the Merit Review of Indigenous Research

2.4 Nominee

The nominee module will be prepopulated with the name of the nominee that was submitted during registration. This information is required by TIPS to ensure potential peer reviewers are not in a conflict of interest with the nominee.

Note: If the nominee holds full-time academic appointment at a Canadian institution, the institution must demonstrate the net benefit to the country in moving the researcher from one Canadian institution to another. See the Nominees currently at a Canadian institution section for more details.

2.5 Socioeconomic objectives

Select two socioeconomic objectives, one of which must be indicated as primary.

Note: The Canadian Research and Development Classification (CRDC) was jointly developed by the three federal research funding agencies, along with the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Statistics Canada. The Convergence Portal contains Socioeconomic Objective (SEO) - CRDC 2020 Version 1.0. To ask questions or provide feedback, email R&D-Classification@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca.

2.6 Science, technology and innovation research priority areas

Chairs will be awarded in alignment with the Government of Canada's Science, Technology and Innovation Priorities for the Canada Excellence Research Chairs Program. Applications are invited from a broad range of disciplines in the social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and engineering, and health and related sciences.

In this module, using the ST&I priorities linked above, select the challenge(s) and area(s) of focus that are relevant to the application. Select at least one challenge. There is no limit to the number of challenges or areas of focus that can be selected.

2.7 Fields of research

Select two fields of research from the Canadian Research and Development Classification (CRDC) codes that relate to the proposed research, one of which must be indicated as primary.

2.8 Keywords

List between 5 and 10 keywords to describe the proposed research program. Keywords are used to facilitate recruitment of peer reviewers.

2.9 Summary of the proposed program

Provide a summary (maximum 2,500 characters) of the proposal in language that the public can understand. Using simple terms, describe:

• the nature of the proposed research program;
• the proposed research program’s objectives;
• the research approach; and
• the work’s novelty and expected significance.

This summary will be shared with potential peer reviewers and used in the application peer review process. If the proposal is funded, this summary will be made available to the public and used for promotional and communications purposes.

2.10 Certifications, licenses and permits

All research activities must comply with the Tri-Agency Framework: Responsible Conduct of Research, including but not limited to section 2.4 Agency Requirements for Certain Types of Research. In the application’s Proposed research program supporting document, institutions and nominees should reassure peer reviewers that these requirements will be implemented within the research activities, where appropriate (e.g., research involving the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples of Canada,research involving human pluripotent stem cells, and integration of gender and sex into health research).

If the answer is “Yes” to the final question in this module, “Will any phase of the proposed research take place outdoors”, then the nominating institution and nominees will be required to answer four additional questions. If the answer is “Yes” to at least one of those four questions, they must complete the Impact Assessment Form (Appendix A) and upload it under the Supporting documents.

2.11 Sensitive technology research areas

In accordance with the Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC), the nominee must indicate whether research and related activities proposed in the CERC nomination will aim to advance any of the areas in the Sensitive Technology Research Areas list.

If the nominee answers “Yes”, they must complete an attestation form certifying that they are not currently affiliated with, nor are in receipt of funding or in-kind support from, a Named Research Organization (NRO).

The nominating institution will need to collect this form and upload it in the Supporting documents.

2.12 Partners

A partner refers to an institution or organization, based in Canada or internationally, that has contributed or committed cash and/or in-kind contributions to support the Chair. Partners include academic institutions (including universities, colleges, polytechnics and institutes); research organizations (including research hospitals); private or public sector organizations; and not-for-profit organizations. Government and not-for-profit organizations whose primary mission is to fund research and development should not be included as partners, unless they will play an active role in the Chair's research activities. These organizations can be described in the Quality of the institutional support section and their contributions can be included in the Proposed budget.

In this module, list the Chair’s proposed partners. For each partner, indicate the country in which the partner is located, the type of institution or organization, and the type and amounts of contributions (cash and/or in-kind). A proposed partner must have committed to making a cash and/or in-kind contribution to the Chair. Commitments do not imply that either a formal agreement or memorandum of understanding needs to be in place before the application’s submission.

Each proposed partner must fill out a confirmation of partner commitments template validating its financial commitment to the Chair and upload it in the application’s Supporting Documents. In cases of partnerships with Canadian Indigenous communities (First Nations, Inuit or Métis), equivalent forms of commitment to the Chair can be demonstrated in place of monetary commitment (see Confirmation of partner commitments).

Nominating institutions may also wish to include letters of support from partners in the supporting documents (see Section J).

2.13 Existing expertise at the nominating institution

In this module, list up to five individuals at the nominating institution who are already involved with research related to the proposed research program. This is to help peer reviewers assess the existing institutional strengths in the proposed research program. These individuals can be faculty members, trainees, technicians and/or research personnel. Only include individuals who are expected to eventually participate in the Chair, either as members of the chairholder’s team or in some other capacity that can support the research program. In some instances, and if well justified in the application, these individuals may be from other institutions.

A biosketch will need to be prepared for each individual and submitted in the supporting documents (see Section H).

2.14 Proposed budget

CERC grants are awarded for a period of eight years, with funds disbursed over this eight-year period, based on a payment schedule established by the program.

In this module, enter the total amount requested from the CERC program, as well as the projected total cash and in-kind contributions from the host institution and from other sources (including partners).

More detailed information indicating how these funds will be used must be provided in the supporting documents (see Budget justification and Budget projections). Contributions from other sources can include sources of funding beyond the formal partners listed in the Partners module, provided the context and conditions for receiving those contributions are described in the budget justification.

Exclude concurrent or subsequent applications to the CFI associated with the nomination, as well as any existing CFI investments that will support the Chair or the chairholder’s program. Funds requested from the CFI associated with this nomination should be outlined in the CFI proposal. Existing CFI investments can be described in the Quality of the institutional support section.

2.15 Canada Foundation for Innovation

In this module, select “Yes” or “No” in answer to the question “Is a request for infrastructure support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation included with this Chair nomination?”.

For more information on CFI support requests, see the 2026 Canada Excellence Research Chairs Competition webpage.

To apply for CFI infrastructure funding, institutions must submit the CFI portion of the application via the CFI Award Management System (CAMS) by the CERC program’s application deadline.

To submit a CFI proposal to CAMS, follow these steps:

1. Using the candidate’s account username and password, log onto CAMS.
2. Choose “Create a new proposal”.
3. Choose “John R. Evans Leaders Fund - Funding for research infrastructure associated with an application for research support funding from another program”.
4. Under “Joint funding with”, select CERC.

The CFI will share the completed John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) proposal with the CERC program and it will be appended to the CERC application for inclusion as part of the CERC competition’s external review process. External reviewers will be asked to evaluate the JELF proposal and provide a recommendation of funding for all, some or none of the budget items included in the proposal.

The CERC program will share external reviewer evaluations with the CFI. The CFI's board of directors is responsible for the funding decisions related to the requests for infrastructure support for successful Chair applications. Following its review process, the CFI will communicate the decisions directly to the nominating institutions.

2.16 Life circumstances affecting research productivity

An important evaluation criterion in the CERC program is the excellence of the nominee. A key factor in assessing this is the research productivity of the individual. TIPS acknowledges that certain life circumstances may legitimately affect a nominee’s record of research achievement. Nominees are encouraged to use this optional section to outline any life circumstances (such as medical or parental leaves or others) that have affected their research activities.

Peer reviewers are instructed to give careful consideration and be sensitive to the impacts of these circumstances when assessing a nominee’s research productivity. See the Canada Research Chairs Program’s Guidelines for Assessing the Productivity of Nominees for examples of such circumstances and the specific instructions provided to peer reviewers in relation to them.

The circumstances entered in this module may also be taken into consideration when requesting extensions to funding history and research contributions in the next module.

To add a new circumstance, click “Add interruption.” If the nominee has already entered “interruptions” in the CV section of their Convergence account profile, they can be added to this module by clicking “Add existing interruption.”

Provide dates for each circumstance and indicate how the nominee’s research was impacted by delays in general terms (e.g., illness, disability, family loss or illness, cultural or community responsibilities, socio-economic context, COVID-19). When describing life circumstances affecting research productivity, nominees do not need to disclose any personal details of these life circumstances.

Nominees are asked to quantify the impact on their research production as best they can, providing estimates of time or opportunities lost due to the life circumstances. For example, the amount of time and effort involved in seeking and implementing accessibility or adaptive measures would be helpful to inform the peer reviewer’s assessment, by accounting for the impact of the life circumstances on the nominee’s research production.

Research interruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., closures) are recognized as beginning March 1, 2020. For further guidance, refer to NSERC’s guidelines for the research community.

2.17 Extensions to funding history and research contributions

The nominating institution’s senior official may extend the time limits for the nominee’s funding history and research contributions beyond five years if the nominee has taken a formal leave.

The formal leave must have:

• been for maternity/parental leave, medical reasons (i.e., extended illness), or the care and nurturing of the nominee’s immediate family members;
• been formally approved by the employer;
• occurred within the 10 years prior to the program’s application submission deadline date; and
• been long enough to have had an impact on the nominee’s productivity.

The extension may also be considered for situations where, for legitimate reasons, the nominee could not or did not take a formal leave (e.g., a prolonged period of unemployment or mandatory military service).

The extension may be rounded up to the closest full year and may be applied to more than one eligible leave period.

2.18 Tri-agency CV (TCV) (maximum five pages in English, six pages in French)

Use the tri-agency CV (TCV) template to complete this section. For more information and to download the TCV template, consult the TCV instructions.

This competition also includes an appendix to the TCV that must be completed in full. The appendix does not count towards the page limit.

Both the TCV and TCV appendix need to be uploaded as PDFs into the TCV document module in the Convergence Portal.

2.19 Attestation

Only the senior official has access to this module. The senior official must answer a set of questions related to the nominee’s recruitment to attest that the institution has followed the Requirements for recruiting and nominating Canada Excellence Research Chairs. They will then validate the information and submit the application.

In particular, the senior official must attest that they discussed the unique nature of this nomination with the nominee, and that the nominee is not being nominated by another institution in the current CERC competition. Multiple nominations of the same nominee will result in the rejection of all applications associated to this nominee.

The senior official must also attest that a discussion has been held with the nominee to clarify that individuals who are awarded a research chair through the program are subject to the nominating institution’s employer policies and that chairholders are not employees of the program or the Government of Canada.

As part of its monitoring activities, TIPS reserves the right to ask institutions to provide all documentation for review, at any time within 48 months of submission of this nomination, to confirm that the recruitment and nomination process followed the program’s requirements.

Where results of a monitoring exercise find that the program’s requirements have not been followed for this nomination, the program reserves the right to withdraw the application from the competition, withdraw the notice of award, suspend future payments or terminate the award of an already active Chair.

The nomination must also align with the program's commitment to EDI and with the institution's EDI action plan.

If the answer is “yes” to the question, “Does the nominee hold a full-time academic appointment at a Canadian institution?” the institution will be required to submit a supporting document (see Section K below) to demonstrate the net benefit to the country in moving the researcher from one Canadian institution to another.

2.20 Supporting documents

Supporting documents (A through O) must be uploaded to the Convergence Portal as PDF files, respecting the following requirements:

• 12-point Arial font in black type.
• You can apply different fonts and sizes only in tables, figures and legends. However, the text must be clear and readable when the page is displayed at its normal size of 100%. Do not use condensed fonts.
• Minimum of single line spacing (not narrow spacing).
• Normal/standard character spacing (not condensed).
• Minimum margin of 0.79” (2 cm) around all pages.
• Size all pages to 8 1/2“x 11" (216 mm x 279 mm).
• Page limits must be respected.
• Any acronyms and abbreviations must be explained.
• No personally identifying information should be included in the headers and/or footers (e.g., name, PIN, institution, etc.)

A. Quality of nominee

Use the Quality of nominee template to complete this section. This section is a supplement to the TCV and collects required information that is not captured in the TCV. It is not necessary to duplicate information that was entered in the TCV; however, applicants may wish to emphasize or elaborate upon elements, where appropriate.

The institution must ensure that each of the following subsections are completed in this template:

Research/academic merit and leadership skills (maximum 3.5 pages in English, 4.2 pages in French):

This section provides applicants with an opportunity to demonstrate, in more detail, how the nominee’s TCV aligns with the evaluation elements presented in Criterion 1: research/academic merit and leadership skills of the nominee (see the Definition of ratings).

Funding history over the past five years (no page limit):

List grants and contracts from all sources, including industry and academic research institutions, for the past five years (since March 2021). There is no page limit for this section.

To reflect the nominee’s life circumstances, an extension to the allowed time frame for funding history can be requested by the senior official in the Extensions to funding history and research contributions module. The senior official is responsible for confirming that the extension is properly reflected in the funding history.

List of research contributions over the past five years (no page limit):

List the nominee’s research contributions over the past five years (since March 2021). Ensure that dates are clearly indicated and that the list of contributions (or lists, if subdivided) is organized chronologically. There is no page limit for this section.

To reflect the nominee’s life circumstances, an extension to the allowed timeframe for research contributions can be requested by the senior official in the Extensions to funding history and research contributions module. The senior official is responsible for confirming that the extension is properly reflected in the list of research contributions.

Canada’s three federal research funding agencies (tri-agency) have signed the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). This reaffirms their commitment to excellence in research evaluation and the importance of knowledge mobilization. DORA is a global initiative to support the development and promotion of best practices in the assessment of scholarly research that go beyond journal publication as an indicator for research output. When providing evidence of research excellence, consider a variety of research contributions, both traditional academic publications and other kinds of services and relevant experience. For examples, see the TCV instructions.

Publication conventions in the discipline (maximum one page in English, 1.2 pages in French):

Describe the publication conventions in the nominee’s discipline.

Forms of research publications/contributions can vary greatly among disciplines. Given that the nomination may be peer reviewed by a multidisciplinary selection panel that includes researchers who may not have direct expertise in the nominee’s field, clearly explain the publication conventions to allow informed assessment of the nominee’s research contributions by a variety of experienced researchers.

Describe:

• the publication conventions in the nominee’s discipline(s);
• the choice of venues for the dissemination of the nominee’s research results;
• the citation conventions for the discipline(s) (e.g., senior author first in multi-authored publications);
• the publication conventions in the discipline(s) as they relate to students and trainees; and
• the particularities and/or challenges involved in the publication of interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary research results, as well as the publication of nontraditional research outputs, if applicable.

B. Quality of the institutional support (maximum seven pages in English, 8.4 pages in French)

Use the Quality of the institutional support template to complete this section. This section will be used to assess elements of Criterion 2: Quality of the institutional support (see the Definition of ratings). It should be written and structured with headings that clearly address the elements in Criterion 2. It does not need to describe the quality of the recruitment process, which is evaluated in the CERC recruitment process section below.

C. CERC recruitment process (maximum 2.5 pages in English, three pages in French)

Use the CERC recruitment process template to complete this section. Describe the quality of the outreach and selection processes used by the institution to recruit the nominee, in terms of the institution’s demonstrated commitment to open, transparent, fair and equitable processes, and to identifying and addressing systemic barriers (e.g., strategy used to identify a diverse pool of applicants, advertising venues, accessibility measures used). For more information, refer to the recruitment requirements. This section will be used to assess the quality of the outreach and selection process used by the institution to recruit the nominee, as described in Criterion 2: Quality of the institutional support (see the Definition of ratings). It should be written and structured with headings that clearly address the following:

Diversity of the nominee pool:

• Describe the efforts that were made to identify a diverse pool of potential nominees (e.g., tapping into focus groups / associations and organizations).
• Provide data on the diversity of the nominee pool identified through this candidate search. Provide the data for each of the underrepresented, equity-seeking, rights-seeking populations (racialized individuals, Indigenous Peoples, women, persons with disabilities, individuals from the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities) as actual numbers and as a percentage of the total pool (e.g., women 50% [N: 15/30]). Do not provide any identifying data for specific individuals.
• Describe the challenges faced by the institution in identifying a diverse pool of potential nominees, if applicable.

Safeguards in the evaluation process:

• Describe how fairness, transparency and accountability were upheld throughout the process.
• Describe how the institution’s commitment to EDI was considered and upheld in the process.
• Describe the composition of the search committee in terms of its diversity.
• Describe the training provided to search-committee members on unconscious bias.
• Describe the assessment and selection process, including who participated in the process and at what stages and what their specific roles were.
• Describe what mechanisms were used within the evaluation process to ensure that applicants with life circumstances or who required adaptive measures were not unfairly disadvantaged.

D. Publicly advertised job posting

For all new nominations, upload the job posting leading to the present nomination. See Requirements for recruiting and nominating Canada Excellence Research Chairs for more information.

E. Proposed research program (maximum 18 pages in English, 21.6 pages in French)

Use the Proposed research program template to complete this section. In this section, the nominee must provide a high-level description of the proposed Chair’s research program, the research area to which the Chair will contribute at the institution, the value-added of the CERC research program to the research area, and the expected outcomes of the research program. This section will be used to assess elements of Criterion 3: Quality of the research program (see the Definition of ratings). It should be written and structured with headings that clearly address each of the elements of Criterion 3.

Chairs and host institutions are expected to promote co-creation with partners from all sectors (academic, public, private, not-for-profit and philanthropic) to enhance the uptake of research results for the benefit of all Canadians. Research programs should pursue significant partnerships and collaborations with Canadian and international entities (academic, public, private, not-for-profit and philanthropic), as well as by and with Indigenous Peoples and communities, including First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples, if appropriate, depending on the program of research, to ensure that the research design is co-created and that the benefits and advantages of the knowledge obtained through research supported by the CERC program are applied broadly to support social and economic growth.

Note: Institutions are expected to support nominees in integrating Indigenous research into their program if appropriate, depending on the program of research. A rationale must be provided in cases where the application considers that no aspect of the research may benefit from the inclusion of Indigenous research components. Refer to the Indigenous research section of the funding opportunity to help with this section.

F. Potential contribution to the excellence of the Canadian and international research ecosystem (maximum six pages in English, 7.2 pages in French)

Use the Potential contribution to the excellence of the Canadian and international research ecosystem template to complete this section. This section will be used to assess elements of Criterion 4: Potential contribution to the excellence of the Canadian and international research ecosystem (see the Definition of ratings). It should be written and structured with headings that clearly address each of the sub-elements of Criterion 4.

This assessment is not based on areas of research priority, but, rather, the potential of the Chair to make an impactful contribution to the Canadian and international research ecosystem.

G. Citations

Provide a list of all references cited in the application, using the Citations template. Peer reviewers are not required to consult the citations.

H. Biosketches for existing expertise at the nominating institution (maximum 10 pages in English, 12 pages in French)

Each of the up to five individuals listed in the “ Existing expertise at the nominating institution ” module must complete a biosketch of a maximum of two pages in English or 2.4 pages in French.

A Biosketch template is provided. Provide information, as relevant to the proposal, for each of the headings in the template:

• Name
• Anticipated role in proposal
• Education/training: Include only current and/or completed degree programs.
• Employment/affiliations: List current, primary position/appointment, place of employment (if at an academic institution, indicate if tenured or tenure-track, full-time or part-time), and other academic and professional work experience, including administrative appointments.
• Research funding: List sources of support currently held or applied for in the past five years (since March 2021).
• Most significant contributions (up to five): List most significant contributions to research and/or practical applications over the last five years (since March 2021). Contributions made more than six years ago, but for which the impact is being felt now, may also be included. For each, briefly describe the significance in terms of influence on the target community and use by other researchers or end users. For collaborative contributions, briefly describe the role of the individual. 

Note: Institutions must not include any personal information (e.g., self-ID data) for individuals described in these biosketches.

Each individual must submit the biosketch to the senior official or delegate, who will compile them into a single PDF file, with a single cover page that indexes each individual’s name, title, expertise, and their potential involvement in the proposed CERC program (e.g., “research collaborator in regard to X topic” or “expert on experimental procedures at Y facility”). The cover page will not count towards the page limits. The senior official or delegate must then upload this PDF to the Convergence Portal. 

I. Confirmation of partner commitments

Each partner listed in the Partners module must confirm its cash and/or in-kind commitments to the Chair using the Confirmation of partner commitments template. The senior official or delegate will gather a statement from each partner and compile them into a single PDF file. The senior official or delegate will then upload this PDF to the Convergence Portal. 

Statements from partners are solely for the purposes of validating cash and/or in-kind commitments. TIPS program staff will conduct an administrative review of these statements, but they will not be included in the application materials shared with external reviewers or the multidisciplinary selection board.

As a reminder, a partner refers to an institution or organization, based in Canada or internationally, that has contributed or committed cash and/or in-kind contributions to support the Chair. Partners include academic institutions (including universities, colleges, polytechnics and institutes); research organizations (including research hospitals); private or public sector organizations; and not-for-profit organizations. Government and not-for-profit organizations whose primary mission is to fund research and development should not be included as partners, unless they will play an active role in the Chair's research activities.

In cases of partnerships with Canadian Indigenous communities (First Nations, Inuit or Métis), partners are not required to monetize their contribution and are welcome to demonstrate their commitments to the Chair in terms of social, cultural and linguistic capital. See the SSHRC Guidelines for the merit review of Indigenous research for more details. In these cases, a statement confirming partner commitments must still be included from the partner. However, in place of the template above, this statement can be a free-form description of the partner’s contributions to the CERC. The senior official or delegate must compile it into the PDF along with all other statements confirming partner commitments.

J. Letters of support (maximum two pages per letter in English, 2.4 pages in French)

Institutions, organizations and individuals (e.g., partners, collaborators and knowledge users) may submit up to 10 letters of support to the senior official or delegate, who will compile them into a single PDF file. The senior official or delegate will then upload this PDF to the Convergence Portal. In cases where evidence of support is being provided by Canadian Indigenous communities or individuals (First Nations, Inuit or Métis), they may provide an equivalent document in place of a letter of support.

Unlike the confirmation of partners commitments, these letters will be shared with external reviewers and the multidisciplinary selection board.

The case for the nomination would be strengthened if the letter describes:

• who is providing the letter;
• the expected nature and extent of the interaction of the CERC with the organization’s personnel;
• why they are interested in the research program;
• how they expect to benefit from the anticipated outcomes;
• the potential benefit to Canada; and
• what they are contributing to the CERC, if applicable.

The following document should be consulted to limit unconscious bias in writing letters of support: Limiting Unconscious Bias.

K. Nominees currently at a Canadian institution (if applicable) (maximum 2.5 pages in English, three pages in French)

This section is mandatory if, in the Attestation, the senior official answers “Yes” to the question, “Does the nominee hold a full-time academic appointment at a Canadian institution?”

Use the Nominee in Canada template to demonstrate the net benefit to the country in moving the researcher from one Canadian institution to another.

L. Environmental Impact Assessment (if applicable)

If the answer is “Yes” to at least one of the four questions in the Certifications, licenses and permits module, complete the Impact Assessment Form (Appendix A) (PDF) and upload it in the supporting documents.

M. STRAC attestation attachment (if applicable)

In accordance with the Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC), all researchers involved in activities funded by a grant that aims to advance a Sensitive Technology Research Area (STRA) must review the List of Named Research Organizations (NROs) available at the time of the funding opportunity’s publication and attest that they are not affiliated with, or receiving funding or in-kind support from any listed NRO.

If the nominee answers “Yes” in the Sensitive technology research areas module, the nominating institution must collect an attestation form from the nominee and upload it in the supporting documents. Completed attestation forms may be shared with Government of Canada departments and agencies, for the purposes of national security assessment and to validate compliance with the policy.

Should the application be successful, the nominee and their research team(s) will also be required to comply with the policy for the duration of the grant that aims to advance one or more STRAs.

Note: Additional attestations may be required after the formation of the chairholder’s team following the notice of the award.

Nominating institutions and nominees are encouraged to review the tri-agency guidance on the STRAC policy to ensure that they understand the responsibilities of researchers and responsibilities of institutions, including the responsibility to inform TIPS and host institutions of any changes in the nature of the research or changes to the set of researchers with named roles in the research that may require the submission of attestation forms.

Nominating institutions and nominees are encouraged to exercise appropriate levels of due diligence when managing their research and establishing and/or recruiting new perspective members of the chairholder’s team. Resources to do so are provided by the Government of Canada on the Safeguarding Your Research portal.

N. Budget justification (maximum of 10 pages in English or 12 pages in French)

Prepare a budget justification using the Budget justification template. The budget justification should provide an explanation and justification for each budget item in the budget projections below. As applicable, the budget justification should also provide a rationale for the proposed sources of funding (e.g., the ratio of CERC program funds to institutional contributions).

Nominating institutions are encouraged to explain how they will maximize the use of CERC funds for research, for example by using their own funds to cover indirect costs, professional and technical services, the salary of the chairholder, as well as the acquisition of materials, supplies and equipment.

Institutions should plan for costs associated with the development and implementation of the EDI action plan and ensure these costs are adequately described in the budget justification and reflected in the budget projections below (as indirect costs).

Use of graphs and tables is encouraged, and these will count towards the page limit (see also the required budget projections below).

O. Budget projections

Complete all three spreadsheets below:

• Funding from the CERC program
• Contribution from the host institution
• Contribution from other sources (including partners)

All three spreadsheets must be converted into a single PDF file. The senior official or delegate must then upload this PDF to the Convergence Portal.

Contributions from other sources can include sources of funding beyond the formal partners listed in the Partners module, provided the context and conditions for receiving those contributions are described in the budget justification.

Exclude concurrent or subsequent applications to the CFI associated with the nomination, as well as any existing CFI investments that will support the Chair or the chairholder’s program. Funds requested from the CFI associated with this nomination should be outlined in the CFI proposal. Existing CFI investments can be described in the Quality of the institutional support section.

Institutions should plan for costs associated with the development and implementation of the EDI action plan and ensure these costs are adequately reflected in the budget projections (as indirect costs).

For expenses using CERC funds, a total allowable amount not exceeding 25% of the direct costs of research can be used for the indirect costs of research. For the purposes of this calculation, direct costs exclude the salary and benefits of the chairholder, the teaching replacement costs of the chairholder, and all eligible recruitment and relocation costs.

2.21 Finalize and submit

After all application sections have been completed successfully, the senior official must read and accept the Terms and Conditions to finalize and submit the application to the CERC program. After the senior official accepts the Terms and Conditions, the application status will change to “Received by Agency”.

3. Contact information

If you have questions:

• about the application process, contact information@cerc.gc.ca
• about the Convergence Portal, contact websupport@convergence.gc.ca
• about requests for accessibility and adaptive measures, email information@cerc.gc.ca or communicate with the nominating institution’s accessibility contact included in their job posting.