Yesterday, the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, and the Honourable Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health, announced over $1.3 billion in funding to support over 9,700 researchers and research projects across Canada. Included are 253 McGill projects, resulting in just over $51 million in funding to McGill research. This major investment includes funding through several key federal research programs:
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
- NSERC CREATE grants
- NSERC Discovery Grants
- NSERC Discovery Launch Supplements for Early Career Researchers
- NSERC Research Tools and Instruments Grants
- NSERC Subatomic Physics Discovery Grants
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
- SSHRC Insight Grants
- SSHRC Insight Development Grants
- SSHRC Partnership Development Grants
- SSHRC New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) grants
NSERC CREATE Grants
Two McGill researchers received NSERC Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) grants, totaling $3.3 million in funding. Professors Adrian Liu (Department of Physics) and Nathalie Tufenkji (Department of Chemical Engineering) each received $1.65 million over six years to lead cutting-edge training programs—Professor Liu’s RADEATE (Radio Astronomy-Driven Education And Training Excellence) and Professor Tufenkji’s MIXCHEM (training on complex MIXtures of CHEMical contaminants).
The CREATE program drives the next generation of Canadian research talent by enhancing training and mentoring to help transition new researchers from trainees to professional employees in the Canadian workforce.
NSERC Discovery Grants
129 McGill researchers received NSERC Discovery Grants, totaling just over $32 million in funding. The program provides long-term support for ongoing, high-quality, and innovative research, focusing on fostering research excellence and enhancing research training environments. The grants allow researchers to explore new directions, engage in collaborative efforts, and pursue high-risk, high-reward ideas.
NSERC Discovery Launch Supplements for Early Career Researchers
Fifteen early-career researchers received a total of $187,000 in additional funding, to kickstart their momentum and to strengthen their long-term research capacity as they launch a Discovery Grant-funded program. This support includes a one-time $12,500 boost through NSERC’s Discovery Launch Supplement, designed to provide timely resources at a pivotal stage in their academic careers.
NSERC Research Tools and Instruments Grants
Fifteen McGill researchers received NSERC Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) Grants, totaling $1.89 million in funding. RTI grants, which fund up to $150,000 per project, support the acquisition of research equipment to advance discovery, drive innovation, and enhance training capacity. The RTI grant program is considered the primary pathway for researchers in natural sciences and engineering to secure critical tools for their work.
NSERC Subatomic Physics Discovery Grants
Four McGill researchers received NSERC Subatomic Physics (SAP) Discovery Grants, totaling $1.43 million in funding. SAP Discovery grants were created to support strong, diverse, and high-quality research in the field of subatomic physics – the study of matter at scales smaller than the atom – while providing a dynamic environment for research training.
SSHRC Insight Grants
40 McGill researchers received SSHRC Insight Grants, totaling $7 million in funding. Insight Grants provides stable support for long-term research initiatives in the social sciences and humanities.
SSHRC Insight Development Grants
35 McGill researchers received SSHRC Insight Development Grants, totaling $2.1 million in funding. Insight Development Grants support research in its initial stages, enabling development of new research questions, new experimentation methods, new theoretical approaches and new ideas.
SSHRC Partnership Development Grants
Four McGill researchers received SSHRC Partnership Development Grants, totaling $799,745 in funding. Partnership Development Grants support the development or the testing of partnership approaches that strengthen research collaboration and generate scalable or adaptable best practices.
SSHRC NFRF Exploration Grants
Nine McGill researchers received SSHRC New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) Exploration grants, totaling $2.2 million in funding. NFRF Exploration grants support high-risk, high-reward and interdisciplinary research, bringing disciplines together beyond traditional disciplinary or common interdisciplinary approaches by research teams with the capacity to explore something new that might fail, but that has the potential for significant impact.