NSERC Service Pledge

Service mission

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) is the federal research funding agency mandated to promote and support postsecondary-based research and training in the natural sciences and engineering. Please see About NSERC for more details on NSERC’s mandate and services.

Service vision

NSERC’s service vision is to provide high-quality service and adhere to the highest standards of excellence and impartiality in allocating public research funds.

Service commitment

NSERC is committed to providing high-quality, professional, client-centred services to Canada’s post-secondary research community. Our partners and stakeholders also include federal, provincial and territorial departments and agencies, and the general public.

NSERC’s client services are grounded in the following principles and values.

Client service principles

• Availability of services in both official languages, and provision of service in the official language of the client’s choice, in compliance with NSERC’s Official Languages Policy, the Official Languages Act and related Government of Canada legislation and policies.
• Equity and nondiscrimination in the provision of services, in accordance with the Canadian Human Rights Act.
• Respect and fairness in the treatment of every person, in accordance with the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector.
• Provision of client service through multiple channels (online, email, telephone, mail and in-person) and of mechanisms for clients to provide feedback on NSERC’s services.
• Respect for the privacy and confidentiality of clients’ information and compliance with the Privacy Act and Access to Information Act, as well as all relevant Government of Canada legislation and policies.
• Collection and reporting on relevant data to ensure continuous improvement of NSERC’s processes.

Client service values

Timeliness

• NSERC will provide timely responses to client inquiries by phone, email and/or mail during normal business hours and normal operating periods. Delays in the timeliness of responses are expected for complex inquiries and during peak time periods, particularly close to application deadlines.
• In accordance with established schedules for each respective funding opportunity, NSERC will provide timely acknowledgement of the receipt of funding applications, notification of funding decisions, and financial payments to successful applicants.

Transparency and accuracy

• NSERC will provide clear and accurate information on funding opportunities, including comprehensive and readable information on detailed program guidelines available on NSERC’s website.
• NSERC will communicate information about funding opportunities through additional means, including, when applicable, presentations and webinars.
• NSERC will, where applicable, notify applicants of the ineligibility of their applications.
• NSERC will provide clear and accurate information on competition results to its clients.
• NSERC will, where possible, clearly convey messages to applicants on the outcomes of their applications.
• NSERC will communicate research outcomes and impacts to the research community, partners, stakeholders and the general public, in Canada and internationally.

Ethics and impartiality

• Staff will adhere to the NSERC Code of Conduct and maintain the highest standards of integrity and ethics in all operations.
• NSERC will strive for the highest standards of excellence and impartiality in all merit review processes, in accordance with its conflict of interest and confidentiality policies, Guidelines Governing Membership of Selection Committees, Tri-Agency Framework: Responsible Conduct of Research, as well as its funding opportunity literature and merit review guidelines.

Client responsibilities

Achieving service excellence involves shared responsibilities between NSERC and its clients, including funding applicants and recipients.

NSERC’s clients are expected to be respectful in their communication with NSERC staff.