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Category Archives: Op-eds
The Brand-Free Advantage-A student’s take
Submitted by a UBC student who wishes to remain anonymous How would you describe Canada’s Universities in a few words? U of T is huge, traditional, well established, and therefore academically credible. McGill’s where the party is at and located … Continue reading
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Assessing Science is hard! NSERC bureaucrats should know it, but then so do we!
Dozens of Canadian scientists are now back home from Ottawa after a week of “grant selecting” at NSERC. Many are self-satisfied by their 5 days of empowerment (the “Ottawa power trip”?). Others are embittered by the ever-tightening bureaucratic grip on … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
4 Comments
Knowledge and Economics require different measuring sticks
Invention and Innovation are obviously closely interrelated. But innovation is about economics, while discovery and invention are about knowledge. Innovation is about now, discovery is about now and the future. The problems arise when we start using the same measuring … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
5 Comments
Tea partying is busting the NSF budget
US House Republicans released a continuing resolution (CR) bill proposing to cut $100B from FY11 budget. How did the National Science Foundation (NSF) fare?
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
1 Comment
Are headhunting firms shaping the leadership of Canada’s universities?
Executive search agencies, also known as headhunters, are now engaged in the recruitment of most senior administrators in Canadian universities. How important is their influence on the pool of academic leaders, and are they worth their cost?
Innovate or perish? Not so fast
Kevin Lynch is back lecturing in the Financial Post on what Canada’s researchers need to do to solve the country’s economic woes, and reminiscing about his own days in government, when he was essentially running the country’s S&T agenda before … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
3 Comments
Buying $190 million worth of excellence
At the invitation of U. Alberta’s President, Indira Samarasekera, the who’s who of Canada’s political, business, academic, and media elite converged yesterday on the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in Ottawa to celebrate the establishment of the Canada Excellence Research Chair Program (CERC). The official … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
4 Comments
Time for textbook tycoons to give students a break
Students, who are often vocal against rising tuition fees, are uncharacteristically silent about the prohibitive prices of undergraduate textbooks. It is time to also speak up against the schemes employed by authors, publishers and bookstores to minimize -if not prevent- … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, Op-eds
9 Comments
Is the cost of research a drain on university resources?
That research cost is a drain on university resources may be a good line for administrators to use on the federal government in their quest to increase the funding for indirect costs of research. However, university administrators shouldn’t get carried … Continue reading
Posted in Board of Governors, Op-eds
3 Comments
Keep the Donald Trumps away from our universities’ leadership
Post-secondary institutions need leaders who have a deep and first hand understanding of the core mission of universities. Only good scholars can create the right conditions under which other researchers and teachers will thrive. Unfortunately, the pipeline of potential applicants … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
4 Comments
“Take the money and keep quiet”
Simon Fraser University is under fire for accepting $10 million from Goldcorp. Stoking the flames even further, SFU elected to name its new arts facility in the Woodward’s complex the “Goldcorp Centre for the Arts”.
Posted in Board of Governors, Op-eds
1 Comment
The Ogre President vs. the Tiger Mom
It looks like one of the most entertaining sessions so far at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week, was the one pitting Larry Summers, against Amy Chua. The unwillingly infamous former president of Harvard vs. the deliberately … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
2 Comments
Cry out! Indignez-vous!
L’Ecole is not what it used to be, and Laurent Schwartz, the hero of so many generations of French students, must be turning in his grave.
Posted in Op-eds
2 Comments
A new parameter for university rankings?
It is the number of billionaires among the university alumni! Yes, no one is talking about millionaires any more and the ranking exercise has so far been applied only to Chinese universities.
Posted in Op-eds
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Words to avoid when you are writing a research grant proposal
They are: “success, culture, media, games, social norms, lawyers, museum, leisure, stimulus.” I kid you not!
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
1 Comment
Move over G5 and G13, here come the Colleges
With the increasing trend towards funding non-peer reviewed research, it was only a matter of time before everyone got in on the action. The colleges are the latest entry into what is becoming a packed field. And, the growing influence … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
4 Comments
All the numbers you wanted to know but you were afraid to ask
Here is a comprehensive set of statistics on the 2010 NSERC Discovery Grants Program competition. This extensive report was prepared by NSERC and includes tables and figures that provide summary information on the 2010 competition, but also a few comparisons … Continue reading
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NSERC’s Discovery Grants: The numbers by discipline
Many thanks to our colleague David Wehlau, Professor of Mathematics at Queen’s University, for compiling the following data comparing average Discovery Grants, their numbers, as well as the available funding for each of the NSERC-supported disciplines. The data, which covers … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
4 Comments
NSERC’s “Binning system”: The word itself makes me cringe
… wrote a Canadian scientist describing reactions to the posts of “Piece of Mind” on NSERC’s new evaluation system. I am reproducing (with his/her permission) the following email: You are definitely not alone!
Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy
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Thought-provoking? Lunch room talk? Or both?
“I find your blog thought-provoking,” was one of the most pleasing comments I received since the beginning of this blog. Another colleague wrote: “It is very easy for people to become complacent and simply accept the sorts of changes that … Continue reading
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Piece of Mind 