Monthly Archives: November 2011

When the appointed can fire the elected

Posted on November 30, 2011 by

This is not another post on how the commissioners of the European Union proceeded to essentially “fire” the elected prime ministers of Greece and Italy. This is about the new state of affairs in British Columbia’s public institutions for advanced … Continue reading →

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Living out of a suitcase for so many good reasons

Posted on November 27, 2011 by

It is only 4:00 am (Pacific time) on this chilly Sunday morning, yet I am surrounded by many of British Columbia’s academic elite. Actually, we are flying back home from Ottawa, all eager to get back early enough to catch … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds | 1 Comment

How to build yourself a B&M on campus if you must

Posted on November 24, 2011 by

The process of getting “yourself” or your department a building at a university is an enigma to most. The projects can vary from being a complex to house a major academic unit, to an infrastructure that suits your own “pet … Continue reading →

Posted in Board of Governors | 2 Comments

The wake-up call from a crumbling ceiling

Posted on November 23, 2011 by

“Dear all, The east entrance, in front of the men’s washroom of Math Annex, a portion of the ceiling has come apart and fell to the ground. This area is now out of bounds and considered to be unsafe. We … Continue reading →

Posted in Board of Governors | 7 Comments

The spoken word vs. modern-day centurions

Posted on November 20, 2011 by

The best speeches are not originating these days from the Palace of Westminster, the French National Assembly, or the US senate. And they are definitely not features of Question Period in our own House of Commons. Strasbourg has supplanted Rome as the hotbed of oratory, and … Continue reading →

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I like the new “Google Scholar Citations”

Posted on November 18, 2011 by

Using “Google scholar” has always been a most frustrating experience. My publications/citations got always mixed with those of a cardiologist cousin of mine in Paris, and those of a childhood friend who founded a publishing house in London. But who … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds | 4 Comments

In praise of Mr. Goodyear

Posted on November 16, 2011 by

The early days of Gary Goodyear as Minister of State for Science and Technology were on the rocky side. A well publicized stormy meeting with a CAUT delegation, and a reported attempt to intervene in a peer-review process may have been lapses in … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds | 5 Comments

Berkeley: An intellectual crossroad between the 99% and the 1%

Posted on November 13, 2011 by

Last Friday, I gave a talk at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) in Berkeley, California. That the talk was at 11:00 am on 11/11/11 was a pure coincidence. That it started 11 minutes late was not. But “numerology” is … Continue reading →

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Stop wasting researchers’ time

Posted on November 10, 2011 by

“It might be high time for Statistics Canada to start collecting data and measure the thousands of hours wasted by Canada’s researchers in filling forms and preparing proposals that lead to nowhere.”  That’s what I wrote many posts ago in, “The … Continue reading →

Posted in R&D Policy | 5 Comments

Canada’s granting councils: “Mission drift” and inadequate governance

Posted on November 8, 2011 by

“The granting councils have played a pivotal role in developing both talent and ideas for Canada’s innovation agenda. Their core raison d’être has been and remains investigator-initiated research of both a basic and applied nature, and each needs to continue … Continue reading →

Posted in R&D Policy | 3 Comments

The market for free money is infinite

Posted on November 7, 2011 by

The latest issue of “Contact” announces that only half of the $15-million federal increase to NSERC’s budget is going to the “Discovery Grant” program, even though the number of applicants to that program keeps increasing –from 3300 in 2010, to … Continue reading →

Posted in R&D Policy | 6 Comments

Andy Rooney and the skills required for fame

Posted on November 5, 2011 by

Andy Rooney, a fixture of CBS for over 30 years died on Friday at the age of 92. I confess that he had been one of my favorite American characters ever since I landed on this continent 35 years ago. … Continue reading →

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Orgasmic mathematics

Posted on November 4, 2011 by

No, I am not talking about the ordinary tale of the love, passion and mathematics triangle. Nor am I talking about the film, “The Rites of Love and Math” where, having realized that they are seeing each other for the last … Continue reading →

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