Research Grants and Sponsored Research

The majority of research grants in the Faculty of Engineering are funded either by the

  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) at the federal level
    OR
  • Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT) at the provincial level.

Funds can also be obtained from the

  • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR),
  • U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Most researchers in the Engineering departments are eligible to apply for the NSERC Discovery Grant, which is intended to provide basic funding for a 4 or 5 year research program, and which does not require any industrial sponsorship. Most other NSERC operating grants require a component of industrial support. These include:

Collaborative Research and Development Program (CRD) is intended to give companies that operate from a Canadian base access to academic expertise and facilities. Typical project durations are of 2 to 3 years. Detailed program requirements are available on the NSERC website. Companies that are interested in obtaining access to academic research through this program are recommended either to contract the faculty member whose research is most closely related to the problem that they wish to be solved, or should contact the Associate Dean for Research and Innovation, benoit.boulet [at] mcgill.ca (Prof. Benoit Boulet).

Strategic Project Grants (SPG) are designed to increase research and training in targeted areas that could strongly enhance Canada’s economy, society and/or environment within the next 10 years. The project duration is 1-3 years. For additional program details please visit the NSERC website.

FRQNT is currently funding the Projet de recherche en équipe (team grant) program, which is intended to bring together researchers from at least two Quebec universities or colleges in order to collaborate on a project that goes beyond the work of the individual researcher. Industrial financial support is not required.

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