You are encouraged to verify the balance of your current grant account. If the available funds are sufficient to cover anticipated expenditures through the next fiscal year, you can request a deferral of grant instalment or take advantage of the automatic one-year extension to use the accumulated funds prior to submitting a new request for funding. Note that postponing an application does not adversely affect the review of your next application. Rather, it demonstrates good fiscal management of the funds and allows you to reorganize your activities and postpone the renewal or reapplication date by one year. It also provides the opportunity for the agency to fund other researchers with more urgent needs.

If you currently hold an SAP Discovery Grant (individual) and have taken maternity, parental, medical or family medical leave during the grant period, you may request an extension of the term of the current grant and, in certain cases, additional funds for a period of up to two years. Learn more on the Family and medical leave  web page.

You must submit your NOI and Canadian Common CV (CCV) using the Research Portal . Refer to the instructions  on how to complete an NOI and CCV . We encourage you to start completing your CCV early, as it can be time-consuming to populate the fields the first time.

Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact subatomic@nserc-crsng.gc.ca to request a phone call with NSERC staff.

Literature specific to all SAP programs—Discovery Grants (individual and project), Major Resources Support, and Research Tools and Instruments (all categories)—is available on our website. Instructions about application procedures are available on the Research Portal instructions web page . We encourage you to read the description of the program to which you intend to apply and the application instructions. As of spring 2026,  program descriptions and instructions for the SAP Discovery Grants (individual and project) can be found on their respective web pages.

On January 16, 2024, the Government of Canada published its Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC). Accordingly, grant applications that involve conducting research that aims to advance a sensitive technology research area will not be funded if any of the researchers involved in activities supported by the grant are affiliated with or in receipt of funding or in-kind support from a university, research institute or laboratory connected to military, national defence or state security entities that could pose a risk to Canada’s national security. Please read the Tri-agency guidance on the STRAC Policy  to understand how this policy may impact your grant application.

NSERC is acting on the evidence that achieving a more equitable, diverse and inclusive Canadian research enterprise is essential to creating the excellent, innovative and impactful research necessary to advance knowledge and understanding, and to respond to local, national and global challenges. This principle informs the commitments described in the Tri-agency Statement on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion  (EDI).

Applicants should refer to the NSERC guide on integrating equity, diversity and inclusion considerations in research, and to the application instructions on how to integrate EDI considerations into their application.

NSERC is committed to supporting Canadian research excellence by promoting sound research data management and data stewardship practices. The SAP Discovery Grants program (individual and project) is piloting the data management plan (DMP) requirement of the Tri-agency Research Data Management Policy. A DMP will be required at the time of the full application. See the program description for more details.

Early career researchers (ECR) are applicants who have held their first independent academic position within the last five years. The five-year window for being considered an ECR is adjusted to take into account instances where a researcher has had an eligible delay in research. All eligible leaves (for example, maternity and parental leave, personal illness, chronic illness, or disability associated with reduced research activity, leave taken by applicants for family-related illness, bereavement), as well as delays related to COVID-19, are credited as twice the amount of time taken. For example, a researcher submitting an NOI in August 2026 and who took a seven-month parental leave within the past five years must have been hired on or after May 2020 in order to be considered an ECR. Professional leaves (for example, training, sabbatical, administrative) will not be credited.

The DND/NSERC Discovery Grant Supplements  were launched in the 2017 competition year. The joint initiative between the Department of National Defence (DND) and NSERC aims to support unclassified university-based discovery research dedicated to the development of non-weapon specific technologies with dual-use applications in defence and security target areas  (which were revised in May 2025). Those researchers submitting an SAP Discovery Grant (individual) application will again be eligible for this supplement. To apply for a supplement, you must indicate your interest in the application. Refer to the instructions  for details.

For more information on SAP programs, please email subatomic@nserc-crsng.gc.ca.