The Research Portal provides a single point of entry for applicants, reviewers, committee members, institutions and partners. The Research Portal is used to manage application and peer review processes, acceptance of awards, notification of results and reporting.

The Research Portal allows research administrators to access, review, approve and forward grant applications to the agency. Each institution must designate a Master Administrator who is responsible for assigning privileges in the Research Portal to other research administrators at their institution, depending on their role.

Newly appointed Master Research Administrators requiring full access privileges within the Research Portal must first register by submitting to the agencies (NSERC and SSHRC) the Registration Form for Master Research Administrators, NSERC and SSHRC Research Portal.

All research administrators and research administrator assistants must read the Instructions for Research Administrators before using the Research Portal.

Refer to the Research Portal – Frequently Asked Questions or contact the Helpdesk.

• Introduction
• Roles and Access Privileges
• Registration Process for Master Research Administrators
• Assign or Delete a Role
• Change the Master Research Administrator
• Access Applications in the Research Portal
• View an Application
• Return Applications to Applicants
• Forward Applications to NSERC
• Bulk Action
• Export List of Applicants to Excel or CSV
• Co-applicants Report
• Protection and Disclosure of Personal Information
• Terms and Conditions of Submitting Applications and Other Documents to NSERC and SSHRC

The Institution Portal within the Research Portal is a secure electronic workspace for research administrators at eligible Canadian institutions. It allows these individuals to:

• review grant applications;
• return grant applications to applicants; and
• forward grant applications to the appropriate agency (NSERC or SSHRC).

The research administrator portfolio provides the following three roles:

In order to access grant applications in the Research Portal, you must:

• Create your Account if you do not already have one. Print, complete and sign the Registration Form for Master Research Administrators, NSERC and SSHRC Research Portal . The registration form requires the approval and signature of the Vice-president (Research) of your institution. If the Vice-president (Research) is also the Master Research Administrator at the institution, his or her administrative superior must approve the registration form.
• Email a scanned copy of the completed and signed registration form at institution@nserc-crsng.gc.ca or institution@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca.

The agencies will grant you the role of Master Research Administrator once your registration form has been received. There can only be one Master Research Administrator at your institution.

These tasks can be carried out only by the Master Research Administrator. Before you begin, ensure that the individual to whom you intend to assign a role is registered with the Research Portal.

Assign a role

• On the Institution Portal page, click Research Administrator in the top menu and then click on Role Assignment Authority.
• Click Add user.
• Enter the new administrator’s email address in the Email field. Note: This email address must be the same as that used by the individual to register with the Research Portal.
• Select one of the following roles from the dropdown list:
  • Research administrator
  • Research administrator (assistant)
• Select the agency (NSERC or SSHRC). If a person is a research administrator for both agencies, you must add them as two users.
• Click Add.
• Repeat steps 2 to 6 to add other authorized research administrators.

Delete a role

• From the Role Assignment Authority page, select the name of the research administrator you want to remove from the list and click Delete. A confirmation message will appear.
• Click OK to remove the individual from the list. The screen will refresh and the individual’s name will no longer appear on the list.

NSERC must be informed when the Master Research Administrator is replaced or leaves the institution. A new registration form with the replacement’s information and appropriate approval must be submitted to NSERC. Follow the registration process mentioned above.

• Sign in to the Research Portal using your email address and password. Two tabs will appear: 1) Applicant; and 2) Institution (RA).
• Click on Institution (RA).
• Filter by Agency, Funding Cycle and Funding Opportunity to see the list of applications from your institution.

The Institution Portal page is divided into three sections:

• Filters
• Application Status Summary
• List of applications by agency and funding opportunity

The Application Status Summary section contains the total number of applications by status for the funding opportunity selected.

Status definitions:

In progress: The application has been created or is being updated by the applicant. The research administrator can view the application including all attachments and Canadian Common CVs (CCVs).

Received by administrator: The application has been submitted to the research administrator by the applicant. The research administrator can view the application, including all attachments and CCVs, return it to the applicant or forward it to the agency.

Returned: The application requires changes and has been returned to the applicant by the research administrator. The applicant receives a system-generated email with a notification that the application has been returned.

The cycle above repeats itself as long as changes are required. This process is a one-way functionality; research administrators and applicants cannot engage in a dialogue via the “Return” function.

Received by agency: The application has been approved and forwarded to the agency by the research administrator. The research administrator can view the application, including all attachments and CCVs but can no longer return it to the applicant.

Applications are grouped by agency and funding opportunity.

• To collapse or expand a grouping, click on the arrow to the left of the group heading.
• To sort, click on one of the column headings. To clear the sort, click Clear Sorting.
• To filter, enter a value in the blank field under the column heading and click on the filter icon to select the filtering options. To clear the filters, click Clear Filters.

To view an application, click on the application title. The application overview page will be displayed. From this page you can View the application, individual attachments and the CCVs; and Export Application and Attachments to PDF.

Note: Use the “Export Application and Attachments to PDF” function to save a copy for your records, as required. The retention period of applications in the Research Portal is three months after the deadline date.

Applications with the status Received by Administrator can be returned to the applicant for revisions. Click Return. The application status will change to Returned and then back to In progress once the applicant opens the application.

Before forwarding applications to NSERC, review the content. Once you are satisfied that the application is complete click on Forward. The application status will change to Received by Agency.

The first time you forward an application to the agency, you will be required to agree to the terms and conditions for the research administrator before being permitted to forward applications. Refer to the Signatures section.

All applications must be approved and forwarded to the agency by the Master Research Administrator or a research administrator. The act of “forwarding” an application to the agency constitutes the institution’s electronic approval/signature, and replaces the research administrator’s handwritten signature.

You can return or approve several or all applications with a status of Received by Administrator in bulk.

• To select several applications, click on the checkbox next to the applicant family name; or to select all applications, click on the checkbox next to the “Family Name” column heading.
• Select the desired bulk action from the drop-down list at the bottom right of the page
• Click Go.

• Click on one of the following icons. The export is based on the last filter or the last sort (e.g., status = received by administrator).
• Save the file.

From “Institution Administration” in the top menu bar, select Co-applicants Report. This report lists researchers from your institution who are co-applicants on applications from other institutions. The report results are cumulative and include only applications that have been submitted to the research administrator and forwarded to the agency by the administering organization.

The agency is subject to federal information laws and policies that govern the ways in which sensitive data may be managed, used and disclosed. In particular, the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act protect virtually all information about identifiable individuals. Because research institutions are directly involved in the administration of applications and awards, officials and employees of these institutions are entrusted with information that would not be disclosed to the public. This information must be managed by the institution in a secure manner. In general, this means that it must be maintained in a secure environment, disclosed to employees on a strict “need-to-know” basis, and used only for the purposes the agency intended. Institutional employees to whom such sensitive information is disclosed must be made aware of these requirements.

Because institutions are already subject to provincial freedom of information and privacy laws, and to local confidentiality policies, the agency does not expect that this will create any new or undue administrative burden.

• Learn more about the NSERC's provisions for the Use and Disclosure of Personal Information.
• Learn more about the SSHRC's provisions for the Protection and Disclosure of Personal Information.

Before you, as a research administrator (representative of the institution), submit applications or other documents to NSERC or SSHRC (“the agency”), you must read and agree to the following terms and conditions:

• the institution will abide by the roles and responsibilities set out in the Agreement on the Administration of Agency Grants and Awards by Research Institutions (the Agreement), the Tri-Agency Framework: Responsible Conduct of Research, and the relevant program literature, the Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide, and the relevant program literature;
• as required by the Agreement, the applicant and co-applicant(s) meet the eligibility requirements for the relevant funding opportunity;
• prior to submission of the application, the institution has obtained written approval from any other institutions involved in the application process;
• you will not use or disclose any information that you obtain or view on the Research Portal for any purposes other than your participation in the agency’s process; and
• you understand that the agency reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to terminate or restrict your access to the Research Portal at any time, without notice.

Your acceptance of these terms and conditions is equivalent to your handwritten signature. You recognize and accept that this agreement applies in full to all applications, documents and communications you may submit, view or obtain electronically or otherwise relating to the Research Portal and the operations of the agency.