Applied Research and Development grants

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Activities supported

Applied Research and Development (ARD) grants support a wide range of research and development (R&D) projects undertaken by college researchers with partner organizations whose cash contributions are recognized for cost sharing with NSERC.

A project must seek to respond to an applied research challenge. ARD grants cannot be used to support secret or contract research.

Projects that focus on the following are not supported:

• Applying existing technology or tools to the partner organization’s operations in a routine way
• Analyzing or using equipment at the college (except as part of a more innovative project)
• Collecting data without interpreting underlying mechanisms or clearly explaining the applied research challenge
• Certifying, endorsing, validating or performance-testing an existing product, process or material (unless accompanied by significant efforts to investigate the underlying scientific or engineering question, or to improve or better understand the product, process or material)
• Literature review and/or patent searches (except as a small part of a research project)
• Curriculum development (unless it is a component of a project that has a research component or addresses research challenges)
• Setting up and managing an institute or a formal or informal group of researchers
• Developing an industry standard (unless the partner is an industry association)
• Providing professional practice or consulting services
• Acquiring or maintaining scientific equipment

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