Details
| Opportunity Name | Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) Program |
| Agency | Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) |
| Value | $1,650,000 |
| Indirect Costs | Ineligible |
| Duration | 6 years |
Deadlines
Letter of Intent (LOI)
| Internal NOI submission to ORS (click here for iNOI form) | 03-10-2025 |
| VPRI feedback | End of March 2025 |
| LOI due to FSc RO at sciapps@yorku.ca for full review | 04-21-2025 |
| LOI and fully signed ORS checklist due to FSc RO at sciapps@yorku.ca for mandatory review | 04-24-2025 |
| LOI and fully signed ORS checklist due at ORS for mandatory review | 04-29-2025 |
| LOI due at agency | 05-01-2025 |
Full application
| ORS deadline for complete application for internal peer review | Mid-August 2025 |
| Internal peer review feedback | Late August 2025 |
| Application due to FSc RO at sciapps@yorku.ca for full review | 09-12-2025 |
| Application and fully signed ORS checklist due to FSc RO at sciapps@yorku.ca for mandatory review | 09-15-2025 |
| Final application and fully signed ORS checklist due at ORS for mandatory review | 09-19-2025 |
| Application due at agency | 09-22-2025 |
Objective
CREATE initiatives provide a value-added experience to the university training environment that includes the development of professional skills among students and postdoctoral fellows that complement their qualifications and technical skills, with a focus on providing an enriched training experience for graduate students.
CREATE programs are recognized for:
- their innovative nature to create a rich research training environment;
- the excellence of the researchers, and their success in training highly skilled and educated personnel for future employment in all sectors, including industry, government and academia;
- their capacity to raise the standard for best practices in research training and development of professional skills;
- encouraging student mobility, as appropriate, either between different Canadian universities, or between the universities and potential workplaces or among participating Canadian and international institutions; and
- strengthening equity, diversity and inclusion in research communities.
Eligibility
CREATE grants are tenable only at NSERC-eligible Canadian universities, and the applicant must hold an eligible position at that university. Researchers at non-eligible organizations may participate as collaborators. Ensure that you consider the eligibility requirements for applicants, co-applicants and collaborators described on NSERC’s website under Eligibility criteria for faculty.
York University Internal Selection Process
Researchers planning to submit an application to the CREATE program (Phase 1: Letter of Intent) must first submit an internal Notice of Intent (iNOI). The iNOIs will be reviewed by the Strategic and Institutional Research Initiatives (SIRI) team.
Please note that the CREATE grants are institutional awards and require substantial support from researchers’ respective Departments, Faculties, and/or Organized Research Units. Applicants must notify their Faculty and the SIRI team (Maheen Hasan – mhasan@yorku.ca) as soon as possible about their intention to apply. Doing so will both streamline the process of securing Faculty-level supports and ensure that researchers receive adequate support in application preparation.
An information session on the NSERC CREATE program will be held in February 2025 (details to be confirmed later).
The iNOIs are due no later than March 10, 2025 by email to Maheen Hasan (mhasan@yorku.ca), and must include the following:
- York iNOI form (attached PDF form)
- Outline of Training Program (2 pages) – attach as PDF document[1]
- Excellence of Proposed Team of Researchers (2 pages) – attach as PDF document1
- NSERC Form 100 – only required for the lead applicant
- Copy of NSERC Review Comments for Resubmissions
- Faculty letter of support (1 page, attach as PDF document)The letter must detail the alignment of the project with the strategic research objectives of the Faculty, and the supports/resources that the Faculty is prepared to commit to the project. Commitments and supports from Organized Research Units (ORUs) should be included as appropriate.
[1] Please follow the NSERC CREATE Guidelines.
How to Apply
For more information and to schedule a consultation, please contact Maheen Hasan, Strategic and Institutional Research Specialist, in the Office of Research Services at mhasan@yorku.ca.
York University researchers are reminded that all applications for external research funding, including Letters of Intent, must be reviewed and approved by the Office of Research Services before they are submitted to the granting agency. For internal approval, the application must be accompanied by a completed ORS Checklist, which requires the Dean’s signature. Please send the complete application, with the finalized budget and a completed ORS checklist to sciapps@yorku.ca, five days prior to agency deadline.
ORS is accepting electronic applications – the process is outlined here.