Canadian Student Participation in Space Conferences and Training Events

Announcement of Opportunity (AO)

3.1 Eligible Recipients

To be eligible for a grant under this AO, applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident;
• be enrolled in a Canadian post-secondary institution as a full-time student at the college, undergraduate, master's, doctoral or post-doctoral levels at the time of the event.

Applications received from student teams will be rejected. All applications must be from individuals.

3.2 Eligible Events:

To be eligible, all grant applications must be submitted by an eligible applicant for an event that meets the following conditions:

• A funding request that falls under one of the following categories:
  • Category A: National or international space conferences, workshops and fora. The list of eligible events can be found in Appendix A. Applications submitted for events other than those listed in Appendix A will be rejected.
  • Category B: European Space Agency (ESA) Education activities. Eligible applicants applying under this category must be selected by ESA for the learning activity. Please see Appendix A for more details.
• The funding request must be for an in-person participation.

The CSA will change the list of events in Appendix A approximately every six months.

3.3 Links to CSA Priorities:

The CSA supports the Canadian space sector to remain at the forefront of the new and evolving space environment. A steady pipeline of highly skilled workers is critical to sustaining Canada's leadership in a globally competitive space economy and unlocking the space sector's full potential. The CSA is committed to equipping Canadians with the information and tools they need to take full advantage and to excel in these jobs of the future.

3.4 Links to the Class G&C Program Objectives:

Applications submitted under this AO must include elements that contribute to fostering the continuing development of a critical mass of highly qualified people in Canada in areas relevant to the priorities of the CSA.

4.1 Required Documentation

A complete application must contain the following:

• A completed application form (details in section 4.2) signed by the applicant. Electronic or scanned signatures will be accepted, however applicants must keep a hard copy of the original signed application form, as the CSA may require the original documents at a later date;
• A copy of the applicant's proof of citizenship (such as a Canadian passport) or permanent resident card;
• Proof of the student's full-time enrolment in a post-secondary Canadian institution at the time they submit the application (e.g. letter of attestation from the post-secondary institution, etc.);
• The applicant's curriculum vitae.
• A reference letter from a professor that holds a faculty position at a Canadian post-secondary institution that supervised the candidate and/or their research. (please refer to Appendix B of this AO or section F of the application form for more detailed information);
• For Category A, a copy of the applicant's abstract submitted to the conference for an oral or poster presentation and a document confirming the acceptance or refusal of the applicant's abstract (if applicable).

4.2 Submitting an application electronically

In order to submit your application electronically, please follow these steps:

1. Request the creation of an account by clicking on the Electronic Proposal Portal, ensuring that this is done at least 3 weeks before the application deadline for the event that you wish to attend (see application deadline dates in Appendix A). Please note that supported browsers are Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. You will then need to follow these steps to create your account:
   1. In the "Proposal title" field, please use the following naming convention: CATEGORY A or CATEGORY B - EVENT NAME - APPLICANT LAST NAME, APPLICANT FIRST NAME.
   2. In the "Organization" section, under "Type", please ensure to select "I don't represent an organization (individual)".
   3. Allow up to 48 hours for the CSA to send you an email confirming your account creation as well as instructions (User Guides) and the appropriate links, including the link to the online application form.
2. Using the password assigned to you by the CSA, access and complete the online application form. Please note that you may save the information entered and return at a later date, if required, but that you must finish the entire application process by the application deadline date for the event for which you are applying.
3. Once you have completed the electronic application form, be sure to print a PDF before you click "submit".
4. Sign the copy of your application form (electronic signature accepted) and combine it with the other required documentation into a single PDF-formatted file (searchable PDF (PDF/A-1a or PDF/A-2a formats preferred), with all security features disabled) and in the same order as listed in section 4.1 , with the only exception being the reference letter, which may be e-mailed separately by the professor (please see Appendix B of this AO for more detailed information). It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that their submitted PDF file is accessible.
5. Submit the completed application package electronically by logging into the secured portal to upload protected documents, using the password assigned to you by the CSA. Please refer to the User Guide for instructions on how to securely upload your documents.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

Applicants are encouraged to create their account as soon as possible, as technical issues may arise.If technical issues cannot be resolved, applicants can submit their application by mail (refer to section 4.3). Applicants are strongly encouraged to upload their complete application well before the submission deadline (deadlines for each event can be found in Appendix A). Please also see general instructions in section 4 regarding the application process.

The applicant must keep a copy of all the original application documents except for the reference letter.

4.3 Submitting an application by mail or using a recognized courier service

The applicant is encouraged to submit their application electronically, following the instructions provided in section 4.2. However, if the applicant is unable to submit their application electronically, please communicate with stim-stem@asc-csa.gc.ca to obtain instructions on how to submit an application by mail or using a recognized courier service.

Applications by mail or using a recognized courier service must be received at the CSA before the deadlines stated in Appendix A.

The onus is on the applicant to ensure that their application is complete and that the CSA receives the required documents within the prescribed deadline. The CSA is not responsible for any delays under any circumstances, and may refuse applications received after the stipulated deadline.

5.1 Eligibility

The CSA will firstly proceed with the applications' eligibility assessment to verify whether they comply with the eligibility criteria listed in Section 3 of the AO. Only applications that have passed the eligibility assessment will be given further consideration.

5.2 Evaluation Criteria

Only applications that have passed the eligibility assessment listed in Section 5.1 will be given further consideration.

Once the eligibility criteria are confirmed, the CSA's evaluators will assess the screened applications according to the criteria presented in Table 1 below. Applicants shall provide the appropriate documents, as indicated in the "Evidence" column and requested in Section 3 of the AO, to demonstrate how each evaluation criterion is met. Only applications that obtain a total minimum score of 70% will be given further consideration.

Notes:

• The overall score, which is the total of the scores for each of the criteria, will be used to establish a ranking of applications for each event.
• The CSA may, at its discretion, reject any application that fails the evaluation.

5.3 Evaluation Process

For the final selection, the CSA will first consider the applicants having the highest final scores, evaluated as per criteria in section 5.2. In each category, priority will be given to:
For all Categories:

• Candidates from underrepresented populations. CSA encourages applicants to indicate, on a voluntary basis, if they belong to one or more of the four following groups: women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visibility minorities. Please visit this site for a complete definition of each group.

For Category A:

1. Candidates whose abstract or presentation (or panel participation) has been selected by the conference's selection committee (including as a back-up) and who have not previously been funded directly by the CSA to attend a conference.
   Depending on budget availability, the CSA will then also consider:
2. Candidates whose abstract or presentation (or panel participation) has been selected by the conference's selection committee (including as a back-up) and who have previously been funded directly by the CSA to attend a conference.
   Depending on budget availability, the CSA will then also consider:
3. Candidates whose abstract or presentation (or panel participation) has not been selected by the conference's selection committee and who have not previously been funded directly by the CSA to attend a conference.
   For Category A, Candidates may submit co-authored abstracts to receive a grant; however, the CSA will offer just one grant per abstract for the same conference.

For Category: B

1. Candidates selected by ESA who have not previously been funded directly by the CSA to attend an ESA activity;
2. Candidates selected by ESA who have not previously been funded directly by the CSA to attend any event.

Before a final decision is made, the CSA's Selection Board responsible for this AO may seek input and advice from other organizations and/or experts.

In the final selection, the CSA could also take into consideration factors such as a balanced grants distribution across Canada and the relevance of the field of study of the applicant to the conference.

Please note that the results of this AO evaluation committee are final. Due to the large amount of applications, CSA will not provide feedback on any application received under this AO.

Applicants will be notified by email of decisions regarding their application. The CSA has set the following service standards for application processing times:

Acknowledgement: the CSA's objective is to acknowledge the receipt of the applications within one (1) week following receipt of the application.

Decisions: the CSA's objective is to respond within ten (10) weeks following the application deadline date and to send the grant agreements to selected candidates for signature within three (3) weeks following the notice of decision.

Payment: the CSA's objective is to issue the payment within three (3) weeks from the date of receipt of the funding agreement signed by the candidate.

Meeting these service standards is a shared responsibility. Applicants must submit all required documentation in a timely fashion. These service standards have been set as a maximum processing time, the actual notification times may be shorter.

7.1 Available Funding

The maximum grant amount is:

• $3,500 for Category A
• $1,000 for Category B

The total budget for this AO should be sufficient to support approximately 200 students over 3 years, with an approximate average of between 5 to 10 students per event.

Under the present AO, an eligible recipient can receive a maximum of two grants per Government of Canada fiscal year (from April to March). An eligible recipient will not receive more than one grant for the same event.

The CSA reserves the right to reject applications or to reduce the amount of a grant at its discretion.

7.2 Eligible Costs

The recipient must use the awarded grant to cover (partially or totally) the costs associated with the candidate's participation in the event. The funding should be used to cover the following expenses:

For all Categories:

• Accommodations and meal allowances;
• Registration fees to participate in the event; and
• Travel.

All other costs exceeding the CSA grant amount are entirely the recipient's responsibility. Applications with budgets considered to be inadequate or unreasonable will be rejected.

Applicants must complete section G of the Application Form with details regarding the requested funding for each eligible cost category.

8.1 Payment

The CSA and each successful applicant will sign a grant agreement. This condition must be met for the CSA to issue a payment.

Payment will be made in the form of a single payment, as indicated in the grant agreement that will be signed. Recipients undertake to inform the CSA in writing of any change in the conditions used to establish their eligibility for the grant.

8.2 Final report

The CSA will require that each recipient submit a report within 30 days following the end of the event using a template the CSA will make available in advance.

Category A: National or international space conferences, workshops and fora

(The CSA will periodically change the list below without notice)

Category B: European Space Agency (ESA) Education Activities

ESA Education learning opportunities are available on the European Space Agency (ESA) site. These opportunities are available at different times of the year (portfolio of training sessions). Eligible applicants may submit an application under this AO for Category B at any time while this AO remains open and as long as the application is submitted at least 7 weeks before the learning activity occurs. The CSA cannot guarantee that grants will be awarded for applications sent after this deadline.

Eligible applicants applying under this category must be selected by ESA for the learning activity. However, students do not have to be selected by ESA at the time they submit their application, as this step is coordinated between the space agencies.