Alberta Innovates partners with NSERC to help commercialize research

Alberta Innovates and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) are joining together in a unique partnership to help researchers in Alberta’s universities develop their innovations into commercial emerging technologies.

The NSERC Alliance-Alberta Innovates Advance program provides funding to assist researchers, who have promising discoveries, advance their research into the marketplace. Funding will support work in university labs that can begin as early as the conceptual research stage, right up to testing and validation of prototypes.

This new initiative will permit Alberta university researchers who hold an NSERC peer-reviewed grant to develop their ideas in the areas of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) and Advanced Materials and Manufacturing (AMM). These technologies are crucial for entry into global markets and help provide a foundation for job creation and economic diversification within industries in Alberta.

The new program will provide up to $300,000 per project over two years. Alberta Innovates’ contribution of $2.5 million is matched by an investment from NSERC of $1.25 million.

Successful projects developed in this program may be eligible for further support from Alberta Innovates’ Entrepreneurial Investments programs or federal initiatives like NSERC’s Idea to Innovation (I2I) grants.

“Research and innovation propel Alberta’s economy. Providing opportunities for early funding to researchers with promising discoveries, through the NSERC Alliance-Alberta Innovates Advance program, shortens the path to commercialization. These discoveries can develop into new products or even new industries, and that’s not only good for innovators but for all Albertans,” said Rollie Dykstra, executive vice-president, impact, Alberta Innovates

“NSERC is pleased to expand its partnership with Alberta Innovates. By tapping into the talent and technology at Alberta’s universities, this unique opportunity will help create a pathway to commercialization for researchers with innovative ideas to develop their discoveries into emerging technologies that will create tangible benefits for Albertans and Canadians,” said
Alejandro Adem, president, NSERC.