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NSERC Discovery Horizons Grant Program

The Discovery Horizons Grants Program is designed to support investigator-initiated individual and team projects that cross disciplines to advance knowledge in the natural sciences and engineering fields.

The Discovery Horizons Grants Program is a continuing program as of 2026. Researchers can apply for, and hold, only one Discovery program grant at a time (either a Discovery Horizons or Discovery Grant). Expressions of interest can be submitted simultaneously (an LOI to Discovery Horizons and an NOI to Discovery Grants), but only one can move forward at full application stage.

Applications are reviewed by a jointly administered tri-agency peer review committee (TAIPR). While the research team should have significant expertise in the NSE, not all team members need to engage in NSE research.

Before applying, applicants should review NSERC's Eligibility Criteria for Faculty.

Amount & Duration

The annual funding amount requests range from $50,000 to $100,000 per year, for a duration of up to five years.

The value will be commensurate with the size of the research team:

Applicant Type Grant Value
Single Applicant Max. $50,000 per year
Applicant + one co-applicant  Max. $75,000 per year 
Applicant + two or more co-applicants Max. $100,000 per year

Dates & Deadlines

All researchers who intend to apply for a Discovery Horizons Grant must submit an LOI by Monday, June 15, 2026 at 8:00pm EST. NSERC will only accept a completed LOI through its Convergence Portal. Applicants can add or remove invitations to co-applicants and collaborators at both phases of the application process.

The LOI must be reviewed institutionally by Western Research because it will be adjudicated by NSERC. Caution: when you submit your LOI in the portal, it goes directly to NSERC; this is unlike the full application which is first routed to Western Research for administrative review and final submission to NSERC. Please send a PDF copy of your LOI to Western Research for review ahead of submission.

The LOI is adjudicated for program fit, not scientific merit. Applicants will receive invitations to the full application stage if successful.

Date & Time Events & Required Steps

Monday June 8, 2026 by/before 10 a.m. EST.

 Submit complete draft of LOI and corresponding ROLA proposal to researchoffice@uwo.ca for institutional review. DO NOT submit the LOI through Convergence for institutional review because the mechanism directly submits the LOI to NSERC.

Monday, June 15, 2026 by/before 8 p.m. EST.

 Submit your LOI submission to NSERC directly via Convergence.
Monday, October 5, 2026 by/before 10 a.m. ET Internal Application: Submit your ROLA proposal and a complete draft application and narrative CV through Convergence.

Applications are administratively reviewed in the order they're received in the portal. They can be returned, as necessary, to applicants for further editing.
Monday, October 19, 2026 by/before 10 a.m. ET Submit your final application in Convergence. Your application will be routed to Western Research for final submission. 

Please check with your faculty research offices for additional timelines and options for content review

Important Notes

  • The Government of Canada's Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern applies to this grant. You will need to indicate if the policy applies to your grant. Please contact researchsecurity@uwo.ca with any questions. 
  • Researchers cannot hold both a Discovery Grant and a Discovery Horizons grant simultaneously as an applicant or co-applicant. 
  • This competition uses an earlier version of the narrative tri-agency CV. Please refer to the Discovery Horizons application instructions for information on how to complete the CV.
  • Early Career Researcher (ECR) category: ECRs are applicants who have held their first independent academic position within the last five years. The five-year window for being considered an ECR is adjusted to take into account instances where a researcher has had an eligible delay in research. All eligible leaves of absence (e.g. maternity, parental, personal illness, leave taken by applicants for family-related illness, bereavement), as well as delays related to COVID-19 are credited at twice the amount of time taken. Professional leaves (e.g. training, sabbatical, administrative) will not be credited.
  • NSERC is expecting to fund 10 to 20 grants this competition year.

 

Resources

 

Contact Us

For more information, or questions relating to the Discovery Horizons Grants program, please contact your faculty research office or researchoffice@uwo.ca.