Piece of Mind

… 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 “atheists ain’t got no songs”? Please hurry Mr  Hawkins, before they turn us all into “mindless sheep”. Could Waterloo become the next “Woodstock for Science”? The money should not be an issue.

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! Ignatieff has been back in Canada long enough, and Garneau has been in politics long enough to know that a major discourse on research policy does not move votes. Remember the debates?   Continue reading →

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 – the one they just finished running. They agreed to play the game and they played it to the best of their abilities, yet they do not want to own it. They may have good reasons for doing so. But what is the role of the EG executive committees, NSERC staff and management, as well as the various internal and external consultative panels in all this mess, and where does the responsibility lie? Continue reading →

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 fact that Stephen Harper lost his chance for a majority government in 2008 once he announced his $45 million cuts from arts programs. Could the government’s research funding policies have an impact on this election?
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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 this falls under  the prerogatives of an elected government. The CAUT warns that “there is a real risk that this can lead to a politicization of research”. What can one say about the politics behind Budget 2011 announcements for research and post-secondary education?

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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 than one year after his appointment as President of the National Research Council (NRC), McDougall  “ordered all staff to direct research toward boosting economic development and technology, with less time for pure science”. Continue reading →

“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 now Dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. Continue reading →

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 any political allies. The Liberal and NDP mantra against corporate tax cuts would be consistent with taking apart SR&ED. But could the Conservatives also be turning against this business-friendly program? Eviscerating SR&ED might be just the antidote for a government under electioneering attack for planned Corporate tax reduction. Continue reading →

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 basic research via the European Research Council (ERC). Continue reading →

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 skills needed in Canadian enterprises, an industrial stream has been added to the program. Up to half of the grants for the 2012-13 fiscal year will be awarded to proposals featuring a formal industrial link.”

But don’t worry, industrial partners, this won’t cost you anything!
“An industrial financial contribution is encouraged, but not required.” Continue reading →