Category Archives: R&D Policy

The most important new information that Isabelle Blain provided, and the most validating of NSERC’s new evaluation system, was the result of a survey –conducted by NSERC’s staff– of the panelists who dealt with both systems (from 2008-2010). They seem … Continue reading →

Of the many recommendations that NSERC received in 2007 from both the internal and international reviews, they picked the one that asks, “to separate the process of assessing scientific or engineering merit from assigning funding”. Fair enough!

As promised, here is a first installment of several posts I am preparing about the Discovery Grant program after my public debate with Isabelle Blain, NSERC’s VP for Research Grants & Scholarships. This first one will give the background behind … Continue reading →

The Public Policy Forum recently held a meeting in Calgary to explore resource industries’ productivity, sustainability and competitiveness. According to Elizabeth Cannon, President of the University of Calgary (“Resource sector may lack flash, but it stars as an innovator”), the … Continue reading →

“Top Test Scores From Shanghai Stun Educators” is the most viewed and most emailed story in today’s NY Times. In the Program for International Student Assessment, known as PISA, Shanghai students outscored all other countries in reading as well as … Continue reading →

Practicing for his upcoming state of the union speech in front of teachers and students at a community college in Winston-Salem, Virginia, U.S. President Obama called Monday for more spending on education, innovation and infrastructure to ensure a future where … Continue reading →

Another announcement by Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) and Science and Technology: The new Youth STEM initiative will provide up to $20 million for not-for-profit organizations to enhance or … Continue reading →

I will post later about my debate yesterday with Isabelle Blain, NSERC’s Vice-President, Research Grants and Fellowships on the topic of  NSERC Discovery Grant Evaluation
 Systems: New and Old. But I can already say that there was a consensus –at … Continue reading →

The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) made their pre-2011 Budget submission to the Minister of Finance, James Flaherty. What are the highlights of this year’s ask? 1.    Support foundational research through the Tri-council, and in particular SSHRC. … Continue reading →

“Enough reports. We’ve seen enough,” NSERC’s President Suzanne Fortier said in a recent interview with the Globe&Mail. “At the end of the day, we all agree that Canada needs to up its game in innovation”. She also talks about how … Continue reading →

NSERC introduced in 2009 a new “binning” system to the review process in the Discovery Grant program. The program’s success rate has been on a downward spiral since — from 71 per cent in 2008 to 64 per cent in … Continue reading →

For the longest time, we have been told that Government is skeptical of, even hostile to, the concept of funding basic research, and that any open criticism of NSERC could have dire consequences, since it will give politicians a good … Continue reading →

Suzanne Fortier has been reappointed for a second 5-years term as President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). We wish her well. The first term of Dr. Fortier was marked by an abrupt change of … Continue reading →

“Is the National Research Council (NRC) a basic research organization or an applied research organization? Does it exist to perform independent, government-sponsored research, or does it provide research services in support of the private sector? Does it perform early-stage research … Continue reading →

Eva Szabo (pictured here on the left) was part of a team under the direction of Dr. Mick Bhatia of McMaster University’s Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute that succeeded in transforming skin cells into mature blood cells in less … Continue reading →

Back in 1995, and way before Gwyn Morgan took up this role, Reform party MP Randy White, was on a mission to illustrate waste in government by trying to discredit what is now called NSERC’s discovery grant program. His staff … Continue reading →

  UBC has been pro-active in integrating non-academic internships into its academic programs. The Science and Applied Science Faculties, and the Sauder School already have a good track record in this direction, through the traditional Coop programs for undergraduate students. … Continue reading →

Throughout the scientific enterprise there is a pressing need to create a platform for communities of researchers to jointly articulate a vision for their research efforts, to devise a strategy for achieving this vision, and to be accountable for this … Continue reading →