Blog Stats
- 617,182 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
Contested science policies vs. Senate scandals: the battle for the limelight
The Canadian twitter world has been split in the last couple of days. You have of course the Duffy-Brazeau-Harb-Wallen-Wright-Perrin saga filling the trend boxes. But then, you have the story of the Tories’ problem with science, be it defunding, muzzling, … Continue reading
Posted in R&D Policy
1 Comment
The faculty at UBC-Vancouver also want in!
It can get quite lonely for faculty representatives on the Board of Governors. I have written before about the latent disparity in status between the elected and the appointed. But there is also the occasional dreadful feeling: what if no … Continue reading
Nota Bene
I was not surprised to receive some push back on my last blog. I have also had a chance to revisit some of the issues I raised and the way they sounded. They are important, and it is certainly my … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors
Leave a comment
How far and how much could a university administration commit its successor?
Ever since Stephen Toope announced the date of his resignation from the presidency of UBC, I and a few other members of the Board of Governors have been struggling with some tough questions. Should this administration stop, or at least … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors
1 Comment
The people who let you “matter” and those who don’t
Being singled out by the Ubyssey as one of “The people who mattered at UBC in 2012-13” brought much honour and satisfaction, but also introspection. For someone who fusses regularly about whether his latest actions mattered, the mention by the venerable … Continue reading
Tell me about El CASA
Once again, I had to perform the unpleasant annual task of writing to more than 120 colleagues and their co-applicants all over the world to inform them that their proposals to run a research workshop at the Banff International Research … Continue reading
Posted in Banff International Research Station
Tagged Banff, BIRS, CASA, Conacyt, El Centro de las Artes San Agustín Etla, Francisco Toledo, NSERC, NSF, Oaxaca
8 Comments
A “piece of mind” on university governance revisited
“Your post was so highly elliptical that individuals involved will be pissed and onlookers will be puzzled,” wrote one friend. The latter part of his statement got my attention. A few other personal emails, Menzies’ comment below, and Wakefield’s column … Continue reading
When the faculty needs to step up for their universities
(From the archives) Stephen Toope announced yesterday that he would be stepping down as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of British Columbia at the end of June 2014. This is a very unfortunate turn of events for UBC, and not only … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, UBC Presidential Search
2 Comments
The not-so-secret war between the universities and community colleges
The folks of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) may have entered the budget lockup in a sunny mood, but they can’t be now, in spite of their rosy post-budget announcements. The colleges on the other hand … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
Tagged ACCC, AUCC, CFI, Chakma report, David Naylor, Leo Charbonneau, NSERC, PolytechnicsCanada
Leave a comment
Bill, Joram, Olek, Ted and Bob
I am not posting today about Budget 2013 as many of you may have expected. I am writing instead about friendship, scholarship and death. Today, I was planning to drive down to Seattle to participate in a memorial service for a … Continue reading
Posted in Honouring friends
Tagged Alexander Pelczynski, Joram Lindenstrauss, Robert Phelps, Ted Odell, William J Davis
2 Comments
NSERC: Time to press the “reset” button on its relations with government and the scientific community
There is no doubt that Suzanne Fortier bears a big responsibility for the unprecedented changes to the landscape of government support to university sponsored research and innovation. But it is hard to believe that she is solely responsible for this major … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
2 Comments
NSERC: Time to press the “reset” button on the mandate
Cathleen Crudden, President of the Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC) has already hinted at it in her blog post on the occasion of Suzanne Fortier’s exit from NSERC. “Choosing her successor will be a critical task. With academic and industrial researchers calling for more funding … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
Tagged Basic research, CREATE, discovery grants, Engage, McGill, NSERC, postdoctoral fellowships, suzanne fortier
3 Comments
Suzanne Fortier’s last salvo
You all heard the news by now, and I got more than my share of phone calls, emails and tweets informing me about it. Suzanne Fortier is to become the 17th Principal and Vice-Chancellor (President) of McGill University, effective early September, … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
Tagged EPSRC, McGill University, NSERC, Science and Engineering, suzanne fortier
Leave a comment
It takes more than talent and hard work to win academic awards
Upon seeing the announcement by NSERC of its “Top Researchers,” I couldn’t help myself from tweeting, “UBC a no-show! Get off your comfortable arse and start nominating your colleagues.” I was surprised by how many non-UBCers retweeted my scream. I then remembered a … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
Tagged Administrative interference, Mathematics, prizes and awards, representation, Royal Society, Sloan
1 Comment
University Governance, Gender Equity and the 2% Solution
It has been the talk of the town. Not that UBC is addressing past gender inequity in professors’ pay, but by the way it is doing it. Other Canadian universities have distributed salary adjustments to female faculty, but UBC was … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors
Tagged Board of Governors, decentraliztion, gender equity, university governance
1 Comment
The 2013 BC government budget and what it means for UBC
The BC 2013 budget document is out. It doesn’t even use the words: productivity, innovation, research, university, or college. By taking a leaf out of the feds’ work manual, the provincial government is expecting us to rejoice upon hearing that … Continue reading
“Mathematics is alive and well, but living under different names”
That was the assessment of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) back in 1996. “This comment is still apropos,” they wrote in their latest report of 2012. “Although the mathematical sciences are pervasive, they are often invoked without an explicit awareness … Continue reading
Why do I have the best job in the world
Just imagine if you receive a Valentine’s card every day of every week of every one of the last 10 years. OK! not the loving and lusting kind, but the feel good and appreciative type. “Dear BIRS Director, The attached paper, `Byzantine … Continue reading
Will BIRS bring CIFAR and the mathematical sciences together?
My inbox started filling up at an unusual speed. The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) had just announced a partnership with The Banff Centre (TBC). “The two institutions are teaming up to create a physical home for CIFAR, with the … Continue reading
Posted in Banff International Research Station, R&D Policy
Tagged Alan Bernstein, BIRS, CalgaryHerald, CIFAR, Darwin, Mathematics, TBC
Leave a comment
Piece of Mind 