Tag Archives: Basic research

An activist you are!

Posted on May 26, 2015 by Ghoussoub

The letter from the president of The University of Victoria informing me about my honorary doctorate was a complete surprise. “My former graduate students and postdocs, who are now on the faculty at UVic, must have been behind this nomination,” I … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Now that Government has listened to the research community, will NSERC?

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Ghoussoub

“I’m in Ottawa at the moment at the NSERC Discovery Grant competition – it’s particularly disturbing,” wrote one colleague from engineering, confirming again that the budget pressure on NSERC’s Discovery Grant (DG) program is becoming untenable. Another Evaluation Group (EG) … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

NSERC: Time to press the “reset” button on the mandate

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Ghoussoub

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 , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

NSERC’s Discovery Program: Let it bleed?

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Ghoussoub

Is the NSERC leadership bleeding its Discovery program even more than what the government is asking them to? Some say that the termination of the Major Resources Support (MRS) and the Research Tools and Instrument (RTI) programs alone translate into a 20% hit … Continue reading →

Posted in R&D Policy | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

2012 federal budget: “We in Canada have yet to learn, so it seems”

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Ghoussoub

My friend had called from Ottawa right after the budget lock-up to “re-assure me” that the three research councils did OK. The AUCC president, Paul Davidson, had also issued a press release offering praise for “investments (that) will preserve current levels of … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Was NSERC there?

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Ghoussoub

“Was NSERC listening?” That was a reaction from the Twitter world to yesterday’s plenary address by Mike Lazaridis to the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Indeed, Lazaridis rocked the casbah yesterday with his speech on the “Power of … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds, R&D Policy | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment