Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
I am pleased to be here in my capacity as president of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, commonly referred to as NSERC.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today, alongside my colleagues from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
I'd like to begin by briefly explaining how the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council—SSHRC for short—invests its funds and the purpose of its investments. This should provide some background to the issue being studied by your committee.
NSERC's vision is to help make Canada a country of discoverers and innovators for the benefit of all Canadians. We invest in talent, discovery-focused research and innovation through partnerships and programs that support post-secondary research in the fields of natural sciences and engineering, and provide support through grants and scholarships, with the majority of NSERC awards being allocated to individual researchers or trainees. Applications are evaluated on their own merit, and the process focuses on factors such as the excellence of the researcher, the quality of the scientific proposal and the plan for training students at all levels in preparation for research-intensive and research-centric occupations across numerous sectors.
The experts brought in by the SSHRC follow a strict peer review process regardless of variables like the language of the application, the career stage of the applicant or the size of the institution.
SSHRC complies with an international reference standard for research assessment. We are nevertheless aware of the fact that differences in institution size may have an impact on the application assessment process.
To ensure fairness and representation during peer review, NSERC solicits expert input from domestic and international reviewers from institutions of all sizes and regions, who are at various stages in their careers. How reviewers evaluate contributions also helps safeguard against potential biases in the review process that could favour larger institutions. In their applications, researchers are encouraged to highlight items such as service to and engagement with the community, mentoring and promoting the importance of science to youth and under-represented groups, or even public policy work that informs decision-makers. This expanded scope of contributions being assessed reduces barriers and enables researchers to highlight the importance of their work, regardless of their geographical location or size of their institution.
SSHRC closely monitors the allocation of funds awarded and applications received. We closely study applicant profiles to identify factors like the language of the application, the career stage of the applicants and whether they are members of an under-represented group.
As is the case with peer assessment, our goal is to ensure that all Canadians benefit from our grants and awards and contribute to maintaining a level playing field.
Finally, I will briefly mention NSERC's internal standing committees, such as the committee on discovery research and the committee on research and technology partnerships. These committees provide strategic advice and direction on pressing issues facing the agency. The committees intentionally comprise representatives from institutions that vary, as examples, in size, primary language and geographic location. A diverse committee membership helps ensure that input is balanced, fairly represents feedback from the research community and, pertinent to the question being studied by the committee, ensures that all institutions have a say.
NSERC has been proactive in recognizing that the realities of small institutions may differ from larger institutions.
We have developed programs to provide additional support to applicants from smaller institutions. For example, the discovery development grants provide resources to researchers from small universities. Each award has a two-year duration and provides recipients with resources to build their research program. The undergraduate student research awards program, which supports more than 3,000 students annually, has awards set aside specifically for small institutions. Lastly, the equity, diversity and inclusion institutional capacity-building grants were only made available to small institutions and colleges.
I hope the information that I have provided today will help you in your deliberations.
I would be happy to address any additional questions or comments about NSERC's mandate and its programs.
Thank you.