Table of Contents

Announcements of Opportunity

CSA-NSERC Joint Selection Process for Funding Space Science Projects

Version 1.0 January 2001

Introduction

The CSA-NSERC Joint Selection Process is designed to correspond to both the CSA's AO Policy Guidelines, and NSERC's normal peer review and program procedures. It ensures that the direct science activities associated with space projects are integrated at the outset into funding decisions, and that a transparent, end-to-end funding process is applied to space projects in Canada.

The Process

1. CSA releases an Announcement of Opportunity (AO), notifying NSERC at that time of the nature of the AO.

2. Letters of Intent and applications under the AO are sent to the Space Science Program at CSA, and copies are forwarded by CSA to NSERC.

3. NSERC establishes the eligibility of the application for NSERC support, and which program would be most suitable for funding the submitted proposals.

4. A peer review is carried out to evaluate the scientific merit of the proposals. The scientific review proceeds as follows:
   
   
   • The CSA-NSERC Joint Selection Committee establishes a Scientific Review Committee;
   • The Scientific Review Committee will conduct its review as outlined in the document entitled "CSA-NSERC Ad-Hoc Scientific Review Committees, Terms of Reference, Mandate, and Membership"
     
     

5. Proposals not recommended by the Joint Selection Committee, that is, those which do not meet the expected standards of scientific excellence, will go no further, while those considered to have sufficient scientific merit will be formally reviewed for technical feasibility and programmatic merit, in accordance with the CSA's normal standards and procedures.

6. The Joint Selection Committee will prepare a final ranking of the proposals, based on the following factors, in order of priority:
   
   
   1. Scientific merit
   2. Programmatic merit
   3. Technical feasibility
      
      

7. With its list, the Joint Selection Committee will provide a preliminary assessment of the funding needs of the direct science aspect of the successful proposals, and a recommendation of the amount of funding for direct science to be attributed to each agency.

8. The funding recommendation of the Joint Selection Committee will be sent to the appropriate NSERC program for a final decision on the funding to come from NSERC. If the recommendation at this stage differs from that of the Joint Selection Committee, it may be necessary to enter into a discussion to develop a mutually acceptable funding scenario for the project in question.

9. The final list of recommendations produced by the Joint Selection Committee will be sent for approval to the Director General, Research Grants and Scholarships (or the Director General, Research Partnerships, if a Partnerships program will be the source of NSERC funds), NSERC, and the Director General for the Space Science Program at the CSA. Staff from the two agencies will then implement the decisions in accordance with the spirit of the Memorandum of Understanding; actual sources of funds will be left to the discretion of the CSA and NSERC.

Announcements of Successful Projects

Announcements will be made jointly by the CSA and NSERC, presenting the project as a unified whole resulting from constructive inter-agency cooperation, and indicating the level of funding provided for direct science activities.

Administration of Funding

Each agency will administer its funding separately, with the necessary coordination to ensure that funds flow straightforwardly to the successful proposals.

1. The contact person at NSERC should be the Team Leader for Space and Astronomy.

2. Note that item 3 will include cost and schedule information and embody the recommendation
to the CSA.