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Monthly Archives: December 2010
A President and a Scholar
I have always been puzzled by my own self: Principled, yet pragmatic; Old-fashioned liberal (or is it lefty?), yet at ease with the corporate types; Intellectual provocateur, yet deliberately respectful; Competitive, yet a consummate team player; Decisive, yet not a … Continue reading
Posted in Honouring friends
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The virtues of the oil sands
The Public Policy Forum recently held a meeting in Calgary to explore resource industries’ productivity, sustainability and competitiveness. According to Elizabeth Cannon, President of the University of Calgary (“Resource sector may lack flash, but it stars as an innovator”), the … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
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Turning Canada into, and branding it as, a hyper-skilled society?
Canada is in a global war for talent, yet there is a crisis in our graduate and postgraduate educational system. Our government is committed to create “the best-educated, most-skilled and most flexible workforce in the world”, yet for the 10th … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
1 Comment
Another “Sputnik” moment: The Chinese are coming, the Chinese are coming
“Top Test Scores From Shanghai Stun Educators” is the most viewed and most emailed story in today’s NY Times. In the Program for International Student Assessment, known as PISA, Shanghai students outscored all other countries in reading as well as … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
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They might hurt us if they know how much we make
Another feature of Bill C-470 (see previous post) is that it contains compensation disclosure provisions –with a floor of $100,000– that are aimed at improving the accountability and transparency of charities. The AUCC finds the following problem with this provision:
Posted in Uncategorized
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The hidden value of the CERC program
Bill C-470 drafted by Liberal MP for Mississauga East-Cooksville, Albina Guarnieri, passed first reading in Parliament in October. It was supposed to be a call to arms against charities whose salary structures make “a mockery of the concept of a … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
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Looking for a ‘Sputnik’ moment – Not in Canada
Practicing for his upcoming state of the union speech in front of teachers and students at a community college in Winston-Salem, Virginia, U.S. President Obama called Monday for more spending on education, innovation and infrastructure to ensure a future where … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
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Be merry and solve problems
Researchers at Northwestern University found that people were more likely to solve word puzzles with sudden insight when they were amused, having just seen a short comedy routine by Robin Williams. Not so when they’d seen a scary or boring … Continue reading
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We made the top 10 of Charbonneau!
Ten higher-ed bloggers worth checking out 6 December 2010 It’s hard to keep up with all that’s being written about postsecondary education in Canada, but there are at least 10 bloggers that I do try to read regularly. Here they … Continue reading
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Goodyear, FedDev and Southern Ontario
Another announcement by Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) and Science and Technology: The new Youth STEM initiative will provide up to $20 million for not-for-profit organizations to enhance or … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
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No grant for Isaac Newton under new NSERC system, but the BMO doesn’t care
I will post later about my debate yesterday with Isabelle Blain, NSERC’s Vice-President, Research Grants and Fellowships on the topic of NSERC Discovery Grant Evaluation Systems: New and Old. But I can already say that there was a consensus –at … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
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UBC’s fingers all over the AUCC pre-budget submission to Flaherty
The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) made their pre-2011 Budget submission to the Minister of Finance, James Flaherty. What are the highlights of this year’s ask? 1. Support foundational research through the Tri-council, and in particular SSHRC. … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
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Fortier “not particularly worried” about ongoing review of Ottawa’s R&D spending
“Enough reports. We’ve seen enough,” NSERC’s President Suzanne Fortier said in a recent interview with the Globe&Mail. “At the end of the day, we all agree that Canada needs to up its game in innovation”. She also talks about how … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
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Number of appeals in Discovery Grants almost doubles
NSERC introduced in 2009 a new “binning” system to the review process in the Discovery Grant program. The program’s success rate has been on a downward spiral since — from 71 per cent in 2008 to 64 per cent in … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
6 Comments
Time to draw a line in the sand
For the longest time, we have been told that Government is skeptical of, even hostile to, the concept of funding basic research, and that any open criticism of NSERC could have dire consequences, since it will give politicians a good … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
11 Comments
Félicitations Suzanne but Canada’s scientists need you more than ever
Suzanne Fortier has been reappointed for a second 5-years term as President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). We wish her well. The first term of Dr. Fortier was marked by an abrupt change of … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
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Time to rethink the National Research Council
“Is the National Research Council (NRC) a basic research organization or an applied research organization? Does it exist to perform independent, government-sponsored research, or does it provide research services in support of the private sector? Does it perform early-stage research … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
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Rejected by CIHR, she contributes to the most talked-about biomedical breakthrough of 2010
Eva Szabo (pictured here on the left) was part of a team under the direction of Dr. Mick Bhatia of McMaster University’s Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute that succeeded in transforming skin cells into mature blood cells in less … Continue reading
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Piece of Mind 