CREATE CORRECT Corrosion Research and Training Experience (CRTE)
Application Portal Now Open! Apply by January 31, 2024!
Introduction
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) sponsors the Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE), which funds the six-year training program "NSERC CREATE for Excellence in Canadian corrosion education through internationalization, equity, and interdisciplinarity (CORRECT)".
The aim of the CORRECT program is to create an international, equitable, and interdisciplinary training program on corrosion science to improve and value corrosion education, to increase the representation of equity-deserving groups employed in corrosion, to increase corrosion awareness in society, and to improve the job-readiness of corrosion students. To that end, one of the CORRECT initiatives is the Corrosion Research and Training Experience (CRTE) award.
Each CORRECT CRTE awardee will have an individual research project focusing on a specific corrosion research question with one of 10 core supervisors:
- Western University: Dr. Yolanda Hedberg, Dr. James "Jamie" Noël, or Dr. Clara Wren*
- University of Alberta: Dr. Jing Liu
- University of British Columbia: Dr. Edouard "Ed" Asselin
- University of Calgary: Dr. Frank Cheng
- McGill University: Dr. Janine Mauzeroll
- McMaster University: Dr. Joey Kish
- Queen's University: Dr. Suraj Persaud
- University of Prince Edward Island: Dr. Amy Hsiao
*also at McMaster University
In addition to the hands-on research training by their principal supervisor, Natural Science and Engineering (NSE) graduate students will receive enhanced research training through on-site experiences at a CORRECT collaborating host lab (see Mobility, below), including 20+ corrosion professors from around the world as well as six Canadian industrial collaborators. Travel funding is available to support all CORRECT CRTE activities.
As part of CORRECT CRTE, awardees will also participate in and attend:
- The annual Corrosion Summer Institute (CSI) and Corrosion Awareness Communication Training (CAT), a two-week corrosion skills training, professional development and outreach event held each summer at Western University or a collaborating Canadian university
- The Corrosion, Environment, Diversity, Equity, and Society (CEDES) graduate courses offered at Western University*
- CORmentor, a mentoring program between established corrosion professionals and mentees for professional development and networking
*intercollegiate reciprocity agreements exist between all Canadian universities to support non-Western students attending Western courses for credit
Mobility
For the CRTE program, a mobility component is required. We recommend to plan for a six-month mobility; however, this can be divided into smaller units of time (e.g., four months for one and two months for another), or be part-time, depending on circumstances. The mobility should be related to your research project or expertise; however, research-related costs such as reagents or equipment rental are not eligible. What does this mean? The mobility needs to be a significant change from your normal research environment, to enable you a significant training experience. We recommend to plan for either an international, intersectoral, or interdisciplinary mobility, or a combination of those. An international mobility means that you visit a host collaborator's lab and learn new techniques or knowledge of relevance for your research project. An intersectoral mobility is one that has you leave your university for up to six months and work at an industrial host, a municipality, an Indigenous community, a hospital, a non-for-profit or for-profit organization, or any other relevant entity that might provide an intersectoral experience of relevance for your research field and professional development. An interdisciplinary mobility means that you, for up to six months, learn a new discipline in a host department or organization, with the aim to support your research project and professional development.
Our program is committed to reducing barriers. If you, for immigration, family, caregiving, medical conditions or other reasons, cannot commit to full-time six months of mobilities, we encourage you to plan for non-physical mobilities, part-time mobilities, or additional funding to enable your family to join you.
Funding
All funds are in Canadian dollars:
| Max funds/year | # Years Funding | |
| NSE Awardees | ||
| Undergraduates | 10,500* | 1 |
| MSc Candidates | 13,600* | 1 |
| PhD Candidates | 12,100* | 2 |
| Postdoctoral Fellows | 0* | -- |
| non-NSE Awardees | ||
| Undergraduates | 0* | -- |
| MSc Candidates | 13,500* | 2 |
| PhD Candidates | 27,200* | 4 |
| Postdoctoral Fellows | 23,600* | 2 |
| *all categories are eligible for a one-time $3,000 travel award (in addition to any other funds available) | ||
Demographic Requirements
Key to the CREATE CORRECT program is inclusivity: the support and promotion of the involvement of under-represented populations in corrosion science. The Canadian Research Chair program uses the following demographically-derived percentages of different groups as 2029 targets: 51% women, 7.5% persons with disabilities, 4.9% Indigenous peoples, and 22% members with visible minorities. We will strongly orient our selection to align with these percentages. We ask that you complete the voluntary disclosure of the demographic section to support CORRECT program deliverables. Please note that demographic data will not be seen by the committee adjudicating the applications; instead, a third party will use the information provided to identify any bias during the evaluation process.
Calls for Applicants
Each January and August we open a call for applicants; please check our website for when we next open the CRTE application portal.
