Blog Stats
- 617,235 hits
-
Recent comments
Categories
- Banff International Research Station (26)
- Board of Governors (117)
- Honouring friends (57)
- Op-eds (183)
- R&D Policy (180)
- UBC Housing Action Plan (18)
- UBC Presidential Search (13)
- Uncategorized (67)
-
Recent Posts
- 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)
- UBC: The ill-fated revolt of those who ought to know better
- Shiny, happy, oblivious science
- NSERC has lost its bearings … again
- The Learning & Research of the UBC Board of Governors (II)
- The Learning & Research committee of the UBC Board: What a difference a year makes (I)
- UBC: Failures in governance are slowing down the pace of academic renewal
- A research community at the mercy of a leaderless NSERC
- A busy first four months on the UBC Board of Governors
- Academic publishing in the time of sanctions and boycotts
- Maurice Sion: 1927 – 2018
- Robert M. Miura: 1938 – 2018
- When the Walls of Governance Come Crumbling Down
- Why I am voting against the tuition increases for domestic students
- Resignation of the director of the Wall Institute: The reaction
- Why I am resigning from the directorship of the Wall institute
- Accountability and Governance at UBC: Budget
Archives
NGhoussoub
Follow me on Twitter
My Tweets
Author Archives: Ghoussoub
The art of recycling funding announcements
“Canada boosts university research funding,” screams the CBC: a whopping $275.6 million into science and technology research. A closer look shows that all what they are announcing (again) is this year’s installment on what past governments had committed a long … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
Leave a comment
Why this blog?
I have been scratching my head for a while as to what it means to represent the faculty on the Board of Governors. How can I know the issues that my colleagues care about, and where they stand on them? … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors
Tagged Board of Governors, Faculty Association, Nassif Ghoussoub, UBC
Leave a comment
“International students are our classmates and our friends …
They deserve to be treated fairly by our institutions and our government,” said Meaghan Coker, President of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA), which represents the interests of over 140,000 professional and undergraduate, university students at seven Ontario institutions.
Make up your mind Canada
Do we or don’t we want foreign talent to move to Canada? So many mixed signals.
Posted in R&D Policy
1 Comment
A pillar of UBC zoology passes away
David R. Jones, UBC Professor Emeritus, Member, Order of Canada (2003), Distinguished Scholar, Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at UBC (2002), Flavelle Medal, Royal Society of Canada (2000), Killam UBC Research Prize (1993), Fry Medallist, Canadian Society of Zoologists, … Continue reading
Physics Nobel catching up with Nobel for Peace
I thought I was the only one whining about our colleagues not getting the Nobel prize for Physics.Wrong! According to Naturenews, the Nobel prize committee did not do its homework before making the 2010 award for physics.
Do you want to be a governor? Part II
I blogged about my own experience on UBC’s Board of Governors, and others’ but I did not mention the biggest surprise of all. It was supposed to be a four Board meetings per year affair. The reality was different, and … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors
Leave a comment
From geometry to hedge funds to the theory of computing
“Mathematical models, miscast as villains in some accounts of the current financial crisis, have been responsible for keeping the hedge funds of at least one carefully watched firm spectacularly profitable. In a classic case of giving back, profits from … Continue reading
The “binning” of Canadian scientists
I am supposed to participate in a public debate with Isabelle Blain, NSERC’s Vice-President, Research Grants and Fellowships. Topic: Comparison of NSERC Discovery Grant Application Evaluation Systems: New and Old Time: Sunday, December 5, 5 PM – 6:20 PM Place: … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
5 Comments
The second death of Erwin Schrödinger
The Austrian Ministry of Science informed the Erwin Schrödinger Institute (ESI) on November 8, 2010, that the Institute’s funding would be terminated on January 1, 2011, which essentially coincides with the 50th anniversary of Schrödinger’s death. News spread among the … Continue reading
As if attracting and retaining talent in Canada was not hard enough
Recent changes in the Canadian immigration policies will have severe effects on our abilities to attract and retain graduate students in Canada. Indeed, UBC international students were surprised to learn recently from a Canada immigration officer that PhD students can … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
Leave a comment
“They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom for …
… trying to change the system from within.” Leonard Cohen. After blogging about my own experience on UBC’s Board of Governors, I was reminded that, back in 2004, a colleague of ours, Dennis Danielson (English Department) had also written in … Continue reading
The big loan?
Colleagues in France are currently busy filling applications to try to get a piece of “Le grand emprunt national” or “The big loan”. Now this is supposed to be a glamorous way (only in french) to describe what is essentially … Continue reading
UBC Land Use Plan – Part I
The background: UBC essentially “controls” one of the most valuable pieces of land in North America. The challenge is to try to unlock the multi-billion dollars value of that land in order to support student, faculty and staff housing, … Continue reading
How could someone as smart as Dyson be so dumb about the environment?
The Danger of Cosmic Genius, By Kenneth Brower In the range of his genius, Freeman Dyson is heir to Einstein—a visionary who has reshaped thinking in fields from math to astrophysics to medicine, and who has conceived nuclear-propelled spaceships designed … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
UBC to award Louis Nirenberg an Honorary degree
Louis Nirenberg is one of the mathematical giants of the second half of the twentieth century. A world scientific leader, a prolific problem solver, a committed educator, and an outstanding human being, Louis Nirenberg has contributed enormously to the development … Continue reading
Posted in Honouring friends
1 Comment
Do you want to be a governor?
I am completing a 3-year term as a faculty representative on UBC’s Board of Governors. Here are a few selected personal notes from my experience on that Board. My 33 years of academic service at UBC were surely helpful in … Continue reading
Piece of Mind 