Last week I was at a training session at NSERC and I learned something that I didn’t know before.

A few years ago, the online system would keep forms available for 7 years. That timeframe has now been compressed to 18 months!

This is great if you have many different test applications cluttering your eConsole as they will be removed in a much shorter timeframe. It is also a more effective use of NSERC’s resources – as the amount of net data storage is reduced.

Of course this does not apply to the Form 100 (the CV module or “personal data form”).

The take home message: Save a copy of your application (a pdf version) as soon as you click submit, because you never know when an archival copy of your grant applications will come in handy.