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- Head of UBC Mathematics: The end of an era
- Nicole Tomczak-Jaegermann 1945-2022
- UBC Campus Vision 2050, in a word, lacks vision
- Louis Nirenberg (1925-2020)
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- Shiny, happy, oblivious science
- NSERC has lost its bearings … again
- The Learning & Research of the UBC Board of Governors (II)
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- Maurice Sion: 1927 – 2018
- Robert M. Miura: 1938 – 2018
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Author Archives: Ghoussoub
Houston, we have a problem … with the UBC governance
The relevance of this blog is being tested earlier than we thought. Are you all wondering why the results of the elections for the 2 faculty representatives on the UBC Board of Governors haven’t been announced, even 3 weeks after … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors
20 Comments
Tips (from Palm Springs) on University leadership and governance
“How many faculty members does it take to change a light bulb?” is a joke that would have gone over well at the senior university administrators meeting held yesterday in … Palm Springs, California. It gets even better in this … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors
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Let’s not make a habit out of this!
The UBC faculty and the UBC Board of Governors have just ratified their collective agreement for 2010-2011. That’s six months after the previous contract had expired on June 30, 2010. I wasn’t the only one surprised by this turn of … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, Op-eds
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The downhill race between NSERC and CIHR
We have already reported that the success rate for NSERC’s Discovery Grants have fallen from 71 per cent in 2008, to 64 percent in 2009, and to a record-low level of 58 per cent this year. Not to be outdone, … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
11 Comments
Mathematicians’ stress level = 12.780
“Mathematician was listed as second best job in the world in the latest poll based on salary/cushy working conditions …appreciate your life”, texted my daughter from her political science class, this morning.
NSERC’s 3 newest programs
Here are some answers to the questions in yesterday’s post, put in the global context of the granting system. 1. Let’s start with the boring stuff. The three programs are new, though “Frontiers” is newer and just off the … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
5 Comments
The second death of Erwin Schrödinger has been averted
I have blogged in the past about an imminent threat to the Erwin Schrödinger Institute (ESI) in Vienna, Austria. The Austrian Ministry of Science had informed the ESI on November 8, 2010, that the institute’s funding would be terminated on … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
1 Comment
What’s with the Borg and Quest University?
Remember “Quest University? “Canada’s first independent, not-for-profit, nonsectarian university of the liberal arts and sciences”. Known to most of us as the private university in Squamish, BC, founded by UBC’s former President David Strangway? Current enrollment: 300 undergraduate students. Tuition … Continue reading
What do these 3 new NSERC programs have in common?
Take a guess. Answers and more will be given tomorrow. See attached presentation below, to get the full shpeel.
Posted in R&D Policy
3 Comments
Upcoming “Pieces of Mind”
Here are some of the issues I will be posting on in the next few weeks. Please chip in if you will. More on how you can help us inform the academic community, follows at the bottom of the post.
Posted in Board of Governors, R&D Policy
1 Comment
Empowering knowledge and informed consent
Grant selection seasons bring forward dozens of individual complaints from disappointed applicants in every province in Canada, yet the task of looking at the global picture and at the real causes for these often regrettable situations, is often taken up … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, R&D Policy
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A happy new year built on informed consent
Let it be a year where “the unrestricted flow of information is again seen as the life of democracies”, and — I may add– of strong national and international institutions. No, I am not talking Wikileaks, but about more mundane … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
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Sorry folks! No blogging till the new year
… as I will be busy being Canadian
Posted in Uncategorized
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Thank you! But what next?
I am deeply honored by the news that the faculty at UBC have re-elected me to represent them on the Board of Governors for another 3-year term. I pledge again to continue my engagement with the pertinent issues, to support … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors
1 Comment
From peer review to Citizen Reviews: The @%&#! are back!
“Attacking early research efforts as wasteful seems akin to telling 8-year-olds they shouldn’t waste their time dreaming about their future.” But the merchants of ignorance, south of the border, are back gearing up for a new cycle. The new republican … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
2 Comments
To the Board of Governors they bring maturity, wisdom, and gravitas
… And to me, they bring comfort and hope in our future as a society and as a country. Sean Heisler, Ben Glassco, and Azim Wazeer are currently the students’ elected representatives on UBC’s Board of Governors. Three remarkable young … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, Honouring friends
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David Mumford receives the US National Medal of Science
Our friend and colleague David Mumford is among this year’s recipients of the US National Medals of Science. With Mathematics, “you can discover things (on your own) … You don’t have to get Ferdinand and Isabella to give you a … Continue reading
Posted in Honouring friends
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UA oil-sands researchers need to talk more to each other
Yesterday, a panel sponsored by the Royal Society of Canada and dominated by University of Alberta scientists released a report, that some viewed as exonerating for Alberta’s oil-sands reputation. The National Post points to the following paragraph of the report:
Posted in Op-eds
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The RSC’s mining of the oil sands … data
“Oil Industry gets a do-over” according to yesterday’s National Post. Its editorial board is pointing to “an exhaustive new study on Alberta’s oil sands” released today by the “impartial Royal Society of Canada”.
Posted in Op-eds
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Expert panel to examine and tell us what others do!
Finally, the long-awaited announcement from the Council of Canadian Academies: “The Minister of Industry, on behalf of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), asked the Council of Canadian Academies to examine the international practices and supporting evidence used … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
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Piece of Mind 