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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
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Author Archives: Ghoussoub
Now that Government has listened to the research community, will NSERC?
“I’m in Ottawa at the moment at the NSERC Discovery Grant competition – it’s particularly disturbing,” wrote one colleague from engineering, confirming again that the budget pressure on NSERC’s Discovery Grant (DG) program is becoming untenable. Another Evaluation Group (EG) … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy, Uncategorized
Tagged Basic research, Budget 2014, discovery grants, NSERC
1 Comment
Budget 2014 is nothing short of a paradigm shift for Canada’s research and innovation
The substantial investment in university research that the Canadian government announced today is not the only story in Budget 2014. A bigger story may be the pivotal moment and the policy shift that it represents for this government on a … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy, Uncategorized
Tagged ACRE, Arvind Gupta, Budget2014, CFREF, cihr, Innovation, IRAP, Mitacs, NSERC, research, RPP, SRED, SSHERC, Stephen Toope
12 Comments
Artists, Philanthropists, Politicians join mathematicians in celebrating BIRS-affiliate research facility in Oaxaca
Today, I am in Oaxaca, Mexico, partying (literally) with the Director General of the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACyT), Dr. Enrique Cabrero Mendoza, the Governor of the State of Oaxaca, Gabino Cué Monteagudo, Billionaire Philanthropist Harp Helú, several senior representatives of … Continue reading
Posted in Banff International Research Station
Tagged Banff, BIRS, Conacyt, Mathematics, Mexico, Oaxaca, UNAM
1 Comment
UBC Board approves improved faculty housing assistance program
It is hiring season at UBC and my inbox was feeling it. “Housing is proving a major factor in our current recruitment round. What is the status of the housing action plan,” wrote a department head. Similar queries were coming … Continue reading
Cost-cutting in post-secondary institutions: Rank and Yank, Lift and Shift
All the bulletins open with the same rhetoric: Universities are undergoing historic change due to the sharp downward shift in government funding, hence there is an urgent need to remove redundancy and cost while being able to preserve and improve … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, Op-eds, Uncategorized
Tagged Berkeley, University of Michigan, University of Saskatchewan
3 Comments
Universities in an Era of ‘Non-Lieux’
There is no shortage of academic topics to blog about. Much harder is to start a new year with a distinctly interesting post. Then, Stephen Toope saved the (my) day by publishing the following seminal post on the U15 blog. … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
1 Comment
Roasting chestnuts for my favourite hockey players
Happy new year everyone! And thanks to the 72,000 of you from 140 countries, who viewed this blog in 2013.
Posted in Uncategorized
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From “shared governance” to “shared services”: Lessons from the University of Michigan
A revolt is brewing at the University of Michigan. More than a thousand faculty members have signed an open letter to President Coleman and Provost Pollack: “Restore sanity to the University of Michigan.” A recent article in InsideHigherEd tells the story: “Corporatization” schemes, … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors
4 Comments
The UBC Faculty Housing Action Plan revisited
Thirteen months ago, a message to the faculty was sent on my behalf as Chair of the UBC Community Planning Task Group, announcing the UBC Housing Action Plan as approved by the Board of Governors. The plan addressed –among other things– the problem of housing affordability for tenured and … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, Uncategorized
16 Comments
Beyond “the homely West-side heritage home” that shelters UBC-Mathematics
I have just received the annual newsletter of the mathematics department (my department) at the University of British Columbia. And I learned a few new facts that are worth sharing. Thanks to an interesting interview with Andrew Weaver, the very … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, Op-eds
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A mathematician at the Global Business Forum
I am just back from the Global Business Forum in Banff. Every year, three remarkable people expend Herculean efforts to oversee the organization of this high-profile gathering. The Forum is sometimes referred to as the “Davos” of the energy industry. It … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy, Uncategorized
Tagged Ali Velshi, Arvind Gupta, Bjorn Lomborg, David Gordon, Doug Mitchell, Frank Luntz, Hal Kvisle, Jackie Sturm, James Manyika, Jim Balsillie, Ken Taylor, Lois Mitchell, Raymond Johns, Susan Puglia, Thomas O’Neil, Yermolai Solzhenitsyn, Yousuf Habib, Yuen Pau Woo
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Lousy reporting targets Canada’s higher education
“An early contender for the worst article of the back-to-school period,” was Alex Usher’s reaction upon coming across an article by Douglas Todd in the Vancouver Sun titled “The pros and cons of foreign students.” Melonie Fullick’s reaction was closer to mine. … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy, Uncategorized
Tagged Douglas Todd, international students, Melonie Fullick, numeracy in journalism, Philip Resnick
9 Comments
Thank You Notes
The conference held at UBC on the occasion of my 60th birthday has come and gone, and I am still overwhelmed by the generosity and friendship shown by all attendees and organizers. And I am still awed by the powerful, deep and … Continue reading
Canadian Common CV: NSERC vs. Linkedin
“I hope you write a blog post about the shameful time NSERC is wasting for all of us dealing with the Canadian Common CV website!!!” My friend was referring to NSERC’s new “Portal” to be used to “manage application and peer review … Continue reading
Posted in Honouring friends, Op-eds
26 Comments
“Hard to imagine such a speech made here by any of our elected officials”
That’s what Paul, my science policy soulmate, wrote me recently. He was referring to a speech by Elizabeth Truss, the UK Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Education, addressed to the International Student Science Fair. I am reproducing it below for … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy, Uncategorized
2 Comments
Oaxaca to join Banff as a hotbed for the mathematical sciences
The Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery (BIRS) is now accepting proposals for its 2015 program. BIRS will again be hosting a 48-week scientific program at its station in Banff. There is also a possibility (to be … Continue reading
UBC Presidential Search Committee: Large yet not representative enough
“I understand you have been elected to serve on the Presidential Search Committee. Thank you so much for taking this important task on,” wrote the Chancellor. It is of course always nice to hear that you have once again gained … Continue reading
Your library $$ at work: Elsevier offering $60 to editors for each paper they process
A little over a year ago, a petition for boycotting everything Elsevier was initiated following a blog post by Tim Gowers about his position on the issue. I vaguely remember talking about it with my UBC colleague, Greg Martin, who … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
4 Comments
Salary arbitration: Is the UBC Administration putting its respectable legacy on the line?
Thousands of UBC faculty members are without a contract since July 1, 2012 even though negotiations between the Administration and the Faculty Association (FA) started back in February 2012. After several failed attempts at direct bargaining, the parties have now decided to … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors
1 Comment
Piece of Mind 