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NSERC Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) 2024 Competition

Sponsor/Agency: NSERC

Program: Research Tools and Instruments (RTI)

Description:

Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) grants foster and enhance the discovery, innovation and training capability of university researchers in the natural sciences and engineering by supporting the purchase of research equipment.

The RTI grants program provides the primary avenue for university researchers in the natural sciences and engineering to obtain up to $150,000 in support for research tools and instruments with a net cost between $7,001 and $250,000. Net cost is defined as the purchase cost of the equipment after any discount from the vendor and before taxes, customs and importation fees, transportation and shipping charges, and assembly and installation costs.

NSERC will only accept the following requests:

  • for tools and instruments that form a comprehensive system intended to support NSERC-funded research in the natural sciences and engineering:
    • a comprehensive system is one in which each tool or instrument forms part of an integrated system of operation to support the research program(s)
    • requests that bundle unrelated tools and instruments together will not be accepted
  • for the purchase of new, used or refurbished equipment, for the repair, upgrade or rental of equipment or for the fabrication of equipment that is not readily available off the shelf
  • for equipment that is purchased or rented after the application deadline

Note: Equipment and items that are part of laboratory infrastructure or intended to render other equipment compliant with health and safety standards are ineligible for RTI support.

Deadline:

ORS Comprehensive Review (optional): October 4, 2023
ORS Administrative Review (mandatory): October 18, 2023
RTI Deadline: October 25, 2023
Results Announced: April 2024

Value:

Up to $150,000

Duration:

1 year

How to Apply:

  1. Notify Ewa Stewart, Grant Officer (stewart@ontariotechu.ca) of your intention to apply
  2. Review the program guidelines and application instructions
  3. Create and complete an application in Research Portal. Update and link your Canadian Common CV (each co-applicant must also link their CCV).
  4. Applicants should include two quotations for items over $25,000 (before taxes) or for any systems to be purchased from a single supplier and costing more than $25,000 (before taxes). If the required number of quotations cannot reasonably be submitted, applicants must provide a clear justification in the Budget justification section. Getting quotations can take time so it’s best to start requesting these in well advance.

Important: in the Budget Justification attachment, applicants provide a clear breakdown of the items requested indicating the subtotal(s), the institutional tax rate, the total tax and, if applicable, the currency exchange rate(s) and the converted currency total(s) in the table format shown below (as found in the application instructions).

  • For the institutional tax rate, please be sure to use 3.41% - as this is the equivalent HST rate that Ontario Tech pays after our tax rebates.
  • To calculate the exchange rate, use the monthly Bank of Canada Exchange Rates

For More Information:

Ewa Stewart, Grants Officer: Ewa.stewart@ontariotechu.ca
 
NSERC Program Officer: resgrant@nserc-crsng.gc.ca
 
Research Portal tech assistance: webapp@nserc-crsng.gc.ca or 1-855-275-2861

Eligibility:

To be eligible to apply for and to hold RTI funds, applicants and co-applicants must each:

  • meet NSERC’s eligibility requirements for faculty to apply for or hold grant funds
  • hold at least one of the following NSERC research grants (either as an applicant or co-applicant): *
    • Alliance grant
    • Canada Excellence Research Chairs (NSERC)
    • Canada 150 Research Chairs (NSERC)
    • Canada Research Chairs (NSERC)
    • Collaborative Research and Development grant
    • Discovery Development grant
    • Discovery Grant
    • Discovery Horizons grant
    • Industrial Research Chairs grant
    • Strategic Partnership grant

*Applicants and co-applicants may apply for any of the above grants while concurrently applying to the RTI program. However, if any applicant or co-applicant does not hold one of the above grants by the RTI award start date, or is not successful in obtaining one of these grants while concurrently applying to the RTI program, the applicant and/or co-applicant will be deemed ineligible and removed from the application.

RTI grant applicants and co-applicants who were successful in the previous year’s RTI competition are ineligible to apply for one year. Eligibility will be reinstated the following competition year.   

Researchers can submit one RTI application per competition, either as an applicant or a co‑applicant but not both.

Webinars:

Dates:
Tuesday, September 5, 2023
Thursday, September 28, 2023
Time: 1 to 2 p.m. EDT
Open to: Members of the research community across Canada
Pre-Recorded Videos

Resources: