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Category Archives: Op-eds
While waiting for the NDP to tell us about their research policies
… we strongly recommend the following video, especially to the fundamentalists of the Kitchener-Waterloo area and beyond, where M. C. Hawkins may be moving soon with his band to promote the album “A Brief History of Rhyme”. Who says that … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
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Ignatieff and Garneau’s lip service to Canada’s research policy
You expect that a Harvard Professor and a former Astronaut would cherish an opportunity to step up for a more serious, more vigorous, more rigorous, more scientifically driven, and less politically motivated research policy for the Government of Canada. Wrong! … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
1 Comment
Accountability may be the biggest casualty of NSERC’s new ways at Discovery
You know there is a serious problem, when the members of NSERC’s Evaluation Groups (EG) are the first to call foul, and announce that they are shocked, surprised and offended by the results of the latest NSERC’s Discovery Grant competition … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
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Could the research community cost Harper a majority government?
Not so far-fetched, when some are arguing that the $50-million announced in the 2011 federal budget for the Waterloo-based Perimeter Institute is closely related to the 17 votes differential in that riding during the last election. Better documented is the … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
4 Comments
Is Canada’s research strategy too politicized?
Budget 2011 continues a governmental pattern of undervaluing basic research, bypassing the granting councils, targeting funding to specific areas, and giving preferential treatment and mega-bucks to selected scientific projects and institutions without competition or peer review. Some argue that all … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
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When Orwell meets Baden-Powell at the NRC
Alberta Research Council culture goes National! Over the course of his 12-year tenure as President and CEO of the Alberta Research Council (ARC), John McDougall steered the organization towards “delivering and aligning science and technology solutions to industry’s needs”. Less … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
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A business dean’s rant: Ignorance of the facts or pure “Chutzpah”?
“What makes a country prosperous is not investment in science and technology. It is businesses producing high paying jobs by having unique products and processes that a customer needs”. This is from Roger Martin, a former management consultant, who is … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
7 Comments
Who is shredding SR&ED?
The fattest course on the menu of Canada’s federal support for R&D is SR&ED, the $4-billion “Scientific Research and Experimental Development” tax credit program. So many people have been beating on SR&ED lately, which make you wonder whether it still have … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
6 Comments
The one-two punch of mathematicians and … upcoming good news
On my last visit to Toronto a couple of weeks ago, I had a long discussion with fellow mathematician and friend, Jim Colliander. “ I love this country, but …” Jim was clearly distressed about the future of research in … Continue reading
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Are universities becoming family affairs?
Upon assuming his post at a new university, the freshly arrived senior administrator had an unusual request from his staff: he wanted a list of all married couples and other family-related members on the faculty. He surely had no intention … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
4 Comments
The University as a New Media superpower
Mainstream media institutions, which traditionally dominate the communication channels, often need to solicit and buy “content”, whether it is news or analysis. On the other hand, universities, which sit on, and constantly generate, a wealth of information and “content” must … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, Op-eds, R&D Policy
3 Comments
Who is standing up for Canada’s basic research?
Innovation is “not a linear progression of basic science into new products“. It requires “patience, persistence and investment”. This is from a call from the League of European Research Universities for the European Union to make substantial long-term investments in … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
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Tri-council continues to move funds from discovery to industry
Here we go again! A headline from the latest NSERC-Contact newsletter. CREATE adds industrial and international opportunities “The CREATE program will have two new dimensions in the 2012 competition. In keeping with NSERC’s goal to give students the opportunity to learn … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
9 Comments
Universities’ Soviet style PR will be saved by social media – Part II
As I was getting ready to work on the second installment for this topic, I stumbled on “Harvard Professors’ Consulting Firm Helped Qaddafi Polish His Image”. Go figure! But let’s not get distracted by this disturbing yet unsurprising story. It … Continue reading
Universities’ Soviet style PR will be saved by social media – Part I
The most discussed subject in university board meetings, after finance and capital projects of course, is most likely to be communication and its connection to public relations. Universities know that they are failing at it, yet they don’t seem to … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
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PPP: Plagiarism, Philanthropy and Politics
Last September, I received a request to referee a mathematics paper that was submitted for publication to a serious European journal. I admit that I detest when such requests arrive, but …. the editor-in-chief is a friend that I admire … Continue reading
The Kafkaesque grip of bureaucrats on Canada’s peer review and granting process
The observer couldn’t believe what she was hearing as she watched one of the subgroups consisting of 5 panelists in NSERC’s new conference model. “The applicant has a couple of papers in the Journal of … . Does anyone know … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
13 Comments
Which bureaucracies will survive the new media age?
Tony Clement tweeted the government’s opposition to the latest CRTC ruling on usage-based billing for Internet services. I may have learned about it before his Public Affairs department did. Everyone talks about Wikileaks and the role of social media in … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
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NSERC … A Senior Scientist Speaks Out
Don Fraser, Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto has taught and trained several generations of Canadian statisticians, and he is still at it. He also continues to contribute high-level research. He was –as recently as last summer– an invited … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
10 Comments
Guest Blogger John B. Walsh: Insidious buzzwords and all that jazz
Nassif Ghoussoub needs your help. Every time I go into his office to tell him what he should blog about, he simply tells me to write it myself. He is obviously desperate. Let me tell you how desperate he is. … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
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Piece of Mind 