Funding opportunity
Overview
Up to five years
NOI application:
Opens: May 1, 2026 8:00 am (ET)
Deadline: August 4, 2026 8:00 pm (ET)
Full application:
Opens: August 12, 2026 8:00 am (ET)
Deadline: October 1, 2026 8:00 pm (ET)
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The Subatomic Physics Major Resources Support (SAP-MRS) program provides funding assistance for major and unique national and international research resources based in Canada to remain in a state of readiness for access by Canadian subatomic physics researchers. The program also enables Canadian researchers to come together as national user consortia to access a necessary major international resource located outside Canada.
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Description -
Eligibility -
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Regulations, policies and guidelines -
Resources
SAP-MRS grants assist major and unique national or international subatomic physics experimental and thematic research resources located in Canada to cover their operating and maintenance costs. Supported resources are those for which costs cannot be fully covered through other research grants or user fees, or for which user fees cannot be leveraged. The grants assist resources that are significant in size, value or importance and that are not customary in the discipline or commonly available in Canadian universities.
Supported resources must be used by researchers from several institutions across Canada, including universities or government laboratories.
Major resources supported by the SAP-MRS program may include:
- unique, specialized experimental facilities or items of research equipment
- thematic research institutes that promote and trigger interactions within the constituents of relevant communities
- a team of highly skilled technical or professional research support staff essential to the research activities of users
- the team (resource) must be national or international in scope of its support, meaning it must provide support to a national base of users beyond one institution or region
- the team must be accessible to members of the community beyond the host institution or a region, and beyond a single project or collaborator
- availability of the team and the access procedure must be made known to the subatomic physics community
SAP-MRS grants also assist Canadian researchers from more than one project who come together as national user consortia to access major resources located outside Canada, for which no equivalent is available in Canada. Such support excludes any direct contribution toward the operating and maintenance costs of these resources. The support is not given to individual researchers, but rather to the user consortia composed of researchers from several institutions across Canada, including universities or government laboratories.
Research resources are defined as experimental research facilities or thematic research organizations, such as institutes. An institute is defined as a research resource that promotes and triggers national, and possibly international, interactions within a given research community and provides a place where researchers can meet, collaborate and exchange ideas. Institutes are infrastructures that provide an environment that serves to accelerate research.
The applicant and all co-applicants must be eligible for NSERC funding. For more information on the role of applicants and co-applicants, consult NSERC’s
Up to five years
SAP-MRS grants provide funding to assist with covering the following costs (where applicable):
- salaries of technical and professional research support staff employed to operate and maintain the resource and to provide assistance to users
- operation and maintenance of the resource
- materials, supplies and minor equipment essential to the operation and maintenance of the resource
- travel expenses for facility resource support staff to attend conferences, as part of the resource’s plan to remain informed of scientific and technical advances
- dissemination costs, as part of the resource’s outreach activities toward relevant user communities
- operation of scientific review panels and governing bodies
Furthermore, in the case of thematic resources, SAP-MRS grants also provide funding to assist in paying the following costs, which should be listed as part of the operating costs:
- remuneration of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows involved in the context of thematic or collaborative programs
- visitor expenses, including travel and local support
- honoraria for invited speakers
In the case of resources that apply user fees for access, the costs of operating the facilities should be split into two major components: non-recoverable and recoverable costs.
- Non-recoverable costs are those expenses necessary to keep the experimental resource in a state of readiness for researchers to use and to increase potential user communities’ awareness of the activities and opportunities offered by the resource. They are independent of the number of researchers using the resource and are not associated with specific research projects.
- Recoverable costs comprise expenses directly incurred when researchers and their highly qualified personnel (HQP) use the resource. An example is the cost of consumables used for a specific project. The same user fees should be applied to all Canadian academic researchers and their students, without regard to their institution or project.
SAP-MRS grants assist national user groups, beyond a single project, in accessing major resources located outside Canada, for which no equivalent is available in Canada. Such support excludes any direct contribution toward the operating and maintenance costs of these resources. The following costs are eligible for SAP-MRS funding:
- membership, access or user fees
- minor equipment needed to accommodate the specific needs of Canadian users
- travel related to the use of the resource (for example, field work outside Canada)
- salaries of Canadian technical and professional research support staff employed to assist in the use of the resource by Canadian users
SAP-MRS grants cannot be used to pay for any indirect costs of research or expenses that are central or departmental institutional costs. Examples include, but are not limited to, costs related to the maintenance and renovation of research spaces and buildings, leasing costs of spaces and equipment, utilities, security and occupational safety, financial and administrative support, and insurance. Furthermore, SAP-MRS grants cannot be used to pay for the establishment, construction or infrastructure expansion of a resource. For further information on the use of grant funds, consult the
To apply to the SAP-MRS program, one person must be designated to administer the grant. This person is the “applicant” and is responsible for completing and submitting the notification of intent to apply (NOI) and the full application on behalf of the group.
The NOI is a mandatory step in the application process. If you have not submitted the NOI, you cannot create or submit an application.
The information you provide in your application is collected under the authority of the
Transparency - Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act Data retention information Privacy notice
For more information, refer to the Personal Information Banks described in NSERC’s
You must complete the NOI according to the instructions, using the
- Sign in to the
Research Portal - Click Create application
- Select the funding opportunity under Stage: NOI and select Create
- Under Applications, open the NOI
- Click Edit to complete the different sections
Organization – Select the organization that will administer the grant.
Department – Enter the department where you hold your eligible position. If your department is not in the list, select Head office.
Application title – Provide a short and descriptive title. It may be used for publication purposes. Limit the use of acronyms (for example, DNA, NATO, etc.) and avoid company or trade names. Note: you may edit the application title at the full application stage.
Language of the application – Indicate the language in which the application will be submitted. The main body of the application must be written in either English, or French, rather than a mix of both official languages. The NSERC CCV must be in the same language as the application.
Suggested evaluation group – The Subatomic physics evaluation section will be selected by default, and you cannot change this selection.
Proposed research topics - The first research topic is Subatomic physics by default, and you cannot change this selection. You may select, in order of relevance, up to four additional research topics in any evaluation group, as required.
Keywords - Provide up to 10 keywords that best describe this proposal. It is important to separate the keywords by commas.
Provide an estimate of the amounts that will be requested from NSERC for each of the five years. Enter the full amount for each year. If you do not request support for some years, you must enter 0 for each of those years.
The estimated amounts should be as close as possible to those that will be requested in the application. Should the amounts requested in the full application differ by more than 20% from those that were included in the NOI, the applicant should notify NSERC as soon as possible.
Consult the eligible costs section above and the
The summary of proposal must not exceed 6,000 characters and should provide:
- a description of the resource
- an overview of the research programs that depend on access to the resource
- a brief explanation of the requested budget
You may request that some researchers, organizations or large collaborations not be involved in the review of your application. While NSERC cannot be bound by this information, the agency will take it into consideration when selecting reviewers. NSERC may also exclude reviewers because of conflicts of interest, as described in the
Information concerning exclusions may be accessible to those individuals named in this section under the
Note that the exclusion type Collaboration refers to large research groups that work on specific projects.
Both applicants and co-applicants must complete and submit the
To upload your CCV successfully, the first name and family name used to create your CCV site account must match the names used to create your Research Portal account. The email address used to create your Research Portal account must also match at least one of the emails listed in your CCV account.
- In the Application Overview page, click Attach.
- Enter your CCV confirmation number (see the NSERC CCV
instructions for professors for details on how to obtain your confirmation number). - Click Upload.
- Click Back to Application Overview.
- Preview your CCV in the Research Portal to make sure it was uploaded correctly and includes all the records you want to submit for peer review. Your CCV must be in the same language as your NOI. You may update your CCV at the full application stage.
While the NSERC
For an SAP-MRS application, the maximum number of co-applicants is 10. The decision of which major users to include as co-applicants is left to the discretion of the applicant. Refer to the Frequently asked questions section below for more information about co-applicants.
From the Application Overview page, in the Invitations section, select Manage Invitations. Provide the name and email address of each co-applicant. An email will be sent to each participant with instructions on how to accept the invitation and upload their NSERC CCV.
In addition to information that must be provided to the applicant for the proposal, co-applicants must accept the invitation as specified in the invitation email. In the Research Portal, complete the Eligibility profile, provide the number of hours per month to be devoted to the use of the resource and upload your NSERC CCV.
A Submit button will be displayed once you have validated the information and uploaded your NSERC CCV. Select Submit to send your part of the application to the applicant.
Once co-applicants complete their portions and select Submit, the applicant will see the status of the co-applicant invitations change from Invitation sent to Invitation accepted and completed and a green check mark will appear in the Status column.
Note: Before submitting the application to NSERC, any co-applicant outside the applicant’s institution must inform their organization’s authorized officer that the applicant or their institution will be requesting the officer’s agreement and signature for the co-applicant’s participation.
Click on the Submit button at the bottom of the Application Overview page. A pop-up message will appear. You will be required to extract and review your NOI to ensure that it is complete. The CCV will not appear in the extracted application. Save a copy of your NOI for your records. Once you have checked the confirmation box, click Submit in the pop-up message.
To complete submitting your NOI, you must read and accept the terms and conditions by clicking the I Accept button. You will see a confirmation message on the screen and receive a confirmation email that your NOI was received and that the status of your submission is Received by Agency.
You can verify the status of your submission on the home page. The status will be Received by Agency.
Your application must be received at your institution’s research grants office by its internal deadline date; contact your research grants office for that deadline.
Unless specified otherwise, your application must be received at NSERC by 8:00 pm (ET) on the deadline date. If it is not received by NSERC by the deadline, it will be rejected.
In cases of systems interruptions, refer to the Service standards for NSERC and SSHRC’s online application systems policy on
Once an application has been submitted to NSERC, it cannot be updated or modified, either before or after the deadline date.
NOI application:
Opens: May 1, 2026 8:00 am (ET)
Deadline: August 4, 2026 8:00 pm (ET)
Full application:
Opens: August 12, 2026 8:00 am (ET)
Deadline: October 1, 2026 8:00 pm (ET)
SAP-MRS grant applications are reviewed by the Subatomic Physics Evaluation Section. No external input is sought; however, the Section may request expert input from individual reviewers if necessary. For any application requesting an average of $1,000,000 per year or more, the Section may also receive input from an expert ad hoc committee that would perform an evaluation and review of the application. NSERC reserves the right to perform an evaluation and review of any SAP resource, even for requests that are less than an average of $1,000,000 per year.
SAP-MRS applications will be assessed on the basis of the selection criteria listed below. The onus is on the applicants to thoroughly address each criterion in their application and provide detailed information to the Subatomic Physics Evaluation Section.
Scope and added value of the resource - national or international nature of the resource
- reach of the resource, within and beyond the research community, regionally, throughout Canada and internationally, where applicable
- extent to which activities and programs offered are unique and provide added value compared to other resources and programs
- details of the complementarity, and additional context, in instances where there is a high degree of collaboration between or among several resources
Opportunities for use of, and access to, the resource by the research community and students - past, current and projected level of use of the resource by researchers in the field nationally and internationally; may discuss trends as compared to past levels of use, if applicable
- impact of the resource on the advancement of the research programs of current and projected users and, when applicable, on the dissemination and use of the knowledge generated in the supported area(s) of research
- administration and allocation of access to the resource by different users (internal and external, from universities, government or industry)
- existing or proposed initiatives that specifically encourage participation by under-represented groups
Merit and impact of the research programs enabled by the resource - scientific excellence and impact of past, current and planned research activities
- scientific excellence of the users and, in the case of thematic resources, excellence of activity organizers and users and their level of commitment to the activities within the resource
- significance of the research activities to the research communities and related fields
Fostering partnerships, interactions and outreach (for thematic resources; if applicable) - potential for partnerships with complementary Canadian or international resources; effectiveness of activities and plans for encouraging and supporting collaborations
- outreach, engagement and/or collaboration activities with under-represented groups in natural sciences research
- demonstrated outreach to potential Canadian or, if applicable, international user communities
- demonstration of, or plan for, leadership and mentorship training events that strengthen EDI awareness among organizers and participants
Contribution of the resource to the training and development of HQP (see Guidelines on assessment of contributions to research, training and mentoring )- importance of the resource for training, including unique and inclusive mentorship and training opportunities that are complementary with, and add value to, training carried out in other sectors
- extent and excellence of proposed strategies and plans to train and develop HQP in research areas critical to the advancement of new knowledge in the field
- demonstration of EDI considerations in past and planned training activities
Management and budget - effective management structure to direct, manage and integrate the activities of the resource
- consideration of EDI in the composition of governance bodies
- activities or initiatives aimed at supporting the establishment of and ensuring an equitable and inclusive research and work environment
- effective research planning to sustain well-coordinated and innovative research activities
- detailed budget for the proposed costs
- demonstrated need for, and effectiveness of, support through an SAP-MRS grant as opposed to other NSERC grants (held or applied for) and contributions from other sources
- nature and extent of the commitment and support from universities, other organizations and users
Expected mid-April
For grants whose average award is $500,000 per year or higher, payment of the second and any subsequent yearly instalment is conditional on the submission of an annual activity report to NSERC. The submission deadline for this report is mid-January. NSERC reserves the right to request an activity report from any supported Subatomic Physics resource, even for grants that receive less than an average of $500,000 per year.
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View funding decisions
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Memo to potential applicants - Notification of intent to apply for a Subatomic Physics grant
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