Engage Grants: $25,000 from NSERC, no company cash required.

As a business person, you may have considered working with academic researchers as a way of advancing your R&D and giving your business a competitive edge, but you were not ready to take the plunge into a full-blown partnership without first testing the waters.

Through a new program called Engage Grants, NSERC has now made it easier for companies and academic researchers to work together on short-term (up to a six-months duration) research projects that address a company-specific problem. Engage Grants are intended to give companies that operate from a Canadian base access to the unique knowledge and expertise available at Canadian universities. The program’s goal is to foster the development of new research partnerships between academic researchers and companies that have never collaborated together before.

NSERC provides the funds for this relationship-building exercise to take place. The program awards up to $25,000 to cover the direct project costs, and applicants enjoy a speedy turnaround within 4-6 weeks.

As a business, you can’t lose—the project is aimed at helping to solve your research problem, and your company enjoys the added bonus of keeping the rights to any intellectual property arising from the project.

What better way to see if an R&D partnership is right for you?