https://example.com/tags/research-policy/ Recent content in Research Policy on James Colliander Hugo -- gohugo.io en © Copyright 2020 Sat, 24 Nov 2018 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/nserc-analysis/ Sat, 24 Nov 2018 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/nserc-analysis/ NSERC Open Data Exploration The 2018 federal budget of Canada 🇨🇦 announced significant new investments in research. The Canada Research Coordinating Committee is defining a work plan to promote "international and risky research; support for Canada's next generation of researchers; equity, diversity and inclusion; and indigenous research and capacity building". This site explores the NSERC Awards Data with the goal of helping Canada to achieve the best outcomes for research and training of future researchers. https://example.com/post/2016-08-28-toward-global-science-excellence/ Sun, 28 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2016-08-28-toward-global-science-excellence/ Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s ministerial mandate letters for Science and Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) outline an agenda to investigate and improve the nation’s innovation ecosystem. Roundtable discussions on various themes are taking place across the nation as part of Canada’s Innovation Agenda, an initiative driven by Minister Navdeep Bains (ISED) and Minister Kirsty Duncan (Science). Minister Duncan has also launched Canada’s Fundamental Science Review and empowered an eminent panel chaired by Dr. https://example.com/post/2012-09-11-canada-is-retreating-from-investment-in-science-and-engineering/ Tue, 11 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2012-09-11-canada-is-retreating-from-investment-in-science-and-engineering/   (The following is a slightly edited version of an invited post appearing on The Inside Agenda Blog on TVO’s web space.) Canada retreats from Science Canada is retreating from investment in science and engineering. Public letters (by 10 prominent physicists, 336 mathematicians, 49 leading researchers) have signaled alarms at changes to the NSERC Discovery Grants Program and the elimination of the Major Resources Support (MRS) and Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) programs. https://example.com/post/2012-09-07-on-todays-n-s-e-r-c-contact-newsletter-item-regarding-postdocs/ Fri, 07 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2012-09-07-on-todays-n-s-e-r-c-contact-newsletter-item-regarding-postdocs/ I received today the September 2012 Contact Newsletter (volume 36, number 4) from NSERC via email. The fourth item in the newsletter reads: Postdoctoral Fellowships - no change to number of awards Over the last ten years, the volume of applications to the NSERC PDF Program has doubled to about 1,300, impacting the workload of volunteer selection committee members. A change to the eligibility rules for the Postdoctoral Fellowships (PDF) Program was made to ensure that applicants’ and reviewers’ time was used productively. https://example.com/post/2012-08-16-canada-restricts-athlete-participation-to-one-olympic-games-per-lifetime/ Thu, 16 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2012-08-16-canada-restricts-athlete-participation-to-one-olympic-games-per-lifetime/ The (false) headline conveys the sporting analog of NSERC’s new policy on Postdoctoral Fellowship Competitions: Effective as of the 2013 competition, you can only apply once to the NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowships (PDF) Program; however, applicants whose first PDF application was submitted prior to the 2013 competition may submit a second application provided they are within the eligibility window. What’s going on? Why would Canada choose to limit the pool of participants competing for advanced training opportunities in science and engineering? https://example.com/post/2012-04-13-business-earmarks-or-merit-competition-which-is-the-better-federal-research-strategy/ Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2012-04-13-business-earmarks-or-merit-competition-which-is-the-better-federal-research-strategy/ Investments by governments to support research and development are crucial to economic prosperity, job creation, scientific advancement, and improvements to the future to be inherited by children. How should these investments be selected? Merit review is a competitive process leveraging the expertise of a specially qualified panel to direct investments in research and development. Earmarks are appropriations given to specific recipients or targeted areas, without competition, to satisfy the intent of government. https://example.com/post/2012-04-12-misaligned-incentives-in-canadian-science-policy/ Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2012-04-12-misaligned-incentives-in-canadian-science-policy/ Budget 2012 continues to shift Canadian federal investment away from basic research toward industrial applied research. This shift is politically expedient: the redirection of funds can be discussed with tantalizing justifications based on job creation, targeted investment, streamlining discovery, and so forth. The shift resonates with a public concerned about frivolous expenditures of dollars collected through taxation. The late Senator from Wisconsin, William Proxmire, advanced this line of political rhetoric by issuing Golden Fleece Awards for science projects he lampooned as unworthy of government investment. https://example.com/post/2012-04-06-a-report-on-the-2012-n-s-e-r-c-discovery-grants-results-for-toronto-math/ Fri, 06 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2012-04-06-a-report-on-the-2012-n-s-e-r-c-discovery-grants-results-for-toronto-math/ Fifteen1 faculty members from the Department of Mathematics at the University of Toronto submitted proposals to the 2012 NSERC Discovery Grants competition. Of these, one was a first time applicant (En), two (Ga, Ia) applied after a successful appeal of 2011 results, and one (Cd) was an appellant whose appeal was denied but could reapply because the 2011 award was for zero dollars. The first table below shows the 2012 results (in thousands of dollars per year) with 2010, 2011 award amounts for those researchers. https://example.com/post/2012-03-26-anticipating-the-2012-n-s-e-r-c-discovery-grants-competition-results/ Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2012-03-26-anticipating-the-2012-n-s-e-r-c-discovery-grants-competition-results/ 2011 Discovery Grants Competition Aftermath Anomalies in the results of the 2011 NSERC Discovery Grants competition provoked a flurry of activity nearly one year ago. My blog post from April last year reported on surprising results for several of my colleagues at Toronto. An email flurry among Canadian mathematicians culminated in a late April public statement which was eventually signed by 336 Canadian researchers, including 35 Fellows of the Royal Society and 27 Canada Research Chairs. https://example.com/post/2012-02-08-guest-post-neil-turok-responds-to-posts-on-perimeter-institute/ Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2012-02-08-guest-post-neil-turok-responds-to-posts-on-perimeter-institute/ Dear James, Thank you for this opportunity to respond to your recent blog posting on Perimeter Institute and offer some clarifications. First, the comparisons of support for different institutions and programs presented in this posting mix total funding over time (including endowment contributions) with annual budgets and ignore substantial differences between their operations. For example, Perimeter Institute currently houses over 140 full-time trainees and researchers (from Masters students to senior faculty) whereas to my knowledge the Fields Institute has none. https://example.com/post/2012-01-21-the-lucky-few-of-waterloo-part-2-perimeter-institute-buys-culture/ Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2012-01-21-the-lucky-few-of-waterloo-part-2-perimeter-institute-buys-culture/ Efforts to understand the foundational issues of theoretical physics have been made by scientists over millennia. Human beings are naturally curious: we want to deeply understand nature. With pioneering insights by Aristarchus and Archimedes, Copernicus and Kepler and, more recently, Dirac and Feynman, humans have made spectacular advances. The benefits of basic research investigations cascade into fundamental improvements for humans living on earth. Visionary investors, like the Duke of Braunschweig Charles William Ferdinand in the eighteenth century and Mike Lazaridis of today, have recognized the virtues of investing in basic research. https://example.com/post/2011-11-26-unpredictable-societal-benefits-of-basic-research-illustrated/ Sat, 26 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2011-11-26-unpredictable-societal-benefits-of-basic-research-illustrated/ The American Association of Universities has a trove of documents illustrating the societal benefits of basic research. A wide portfolio of scientific investments selected strategically via peer review by scientists produces unexpected benefits. Here are some examples, courtesy of the AAU: https://example.com/post/2011-11-23-innovation-and-the-disrespect-of-scientific-invention/ Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2011-11-23-innovation-and-the-disrespect-of-scientific-invention/ “Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society. Innovation differs from invention in that innovation refers to the use of a new idea or method, whereas invention refers more directly to the creation of the idea or method itself.” Dean Roger Martin of the Rotman School of Business, an iThinker pondering Canada’s innovation gap, writes in a recent op-ed piece that “The first lesson is that commercial success and impact is more about innovation than about invention. https://example.com/post/2011-09-30-anticipating-the-report-of-canadas-expert-r-and-d-panel/ Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2011-09-30-anticipating-the-report-of-canadas-expert-r-and-d-panel/ I was happy today to learn that Canada Post issued a stamp honoring my Toronto colleague and Nobel Laureate John Polanyi. The stamp is issued as part of the celebration of the International Year of Chemistry. This bit of good news tempered the alarming developments across the ocean where actions by the EPSRC appear to be destroying the scientific fabric of the UK. Here in Canada, despite an anomalous 2011 Discovery Grants competition for math/stats and recent news that some of my colleagues’ appeals were rejected, I hope to soon hear good news from the Expert R&D Panel which will hopefully reset Canada’s priorities and shore up support for basic research. https://example.com/post/2011-07-29-troublesome-trends-at-n-s-e-r-c/ Fri, 29 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2011-07-29-troublesome-trends-at-n-s-e-r-c/ I was troubled to learn recently that: 1. NSERC awarded far fewer postdocs and grad student fellowships in 2011 vs. 2010. The official statistics reveal that NSERC awarded less than half the number of PDFs in 2011 than were awarded in 2010. Master’s awards are down. Doctoral awards are down. NSERC communicated an official explanation in reply to N. Ghousshoub’s post on this news, but the numbers still trouble me. https://example.com/post/2011-07-29-wisdom-from-vannevar-bush-on-science-research-policy/ Fri, 29 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2011-07-29-wisdom-from-vannevar-bush-on-science-research-policy/ Timeless and timely extracts from Science: The Endless Frontier by Vannevar Bush: Scientific Progress is Essential Advances in science when put to practical use mean more jobs, higher wages, shorter hours, more abundant crops, more leisure for recreation, for study, for learning how to live without the deadening drudgery which has been the burden of the common man for ages past. Advances in science will also bring higher standards of living, will lead to the prevention or cure of diseases, will promote conservation of our limited national resources, and will assure means of defense against aggression. https://example.com/post/2011-05-20-a-new-dawn-for-math-stats-in-canada/ Fri, 20 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2011-05-20-a-new-dawn-for-math-stats-in-canada/ The recently released 2010 International Review of Mathematical Sciences for the UK has a timely quote for the Canadian statistical and mathematical communities to consider (see page 10): “A longstanding practice has been to divide the mathematical sciences into categories that are, by implication, close to disjoint. Two of the most common distinctions are drawn between ‘pure’ and ‘applied’ mathematics, and between ‘mathematics’ and ‘statistics’. These and other categories can be useful to convey real differences in style, culture and methodology, but, in the panel’s view, they have produced an increasingly negative effect when the mathematical sciences are considered in the overall context of science and engineering, by stressing divisions rather than unifying principles. https://example.com/post/2011-04-11-n-s-e-r-c-peer-review-system-is-broken-for-mathematics/ Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2011-04-11-n-s-e-r-c-peer-review-system-is-broken-for-mathematics/ Anomalous results of the 2011 NSERC Discovery Grants competition in mathematics have provoked a loss of confidence in the NSERC peer review system. To avoid a substantial loss of Canada’s scientific talent, which has been enhanced through the Canada Research Chairs program and other spectacular hiring over the past ten years, scientific policymakers need to quickly fix the broken peer review system. In the absence of an effective peer review process setting the strategy for research investment, Canada will miss out on the rewards made over the past decade’s recruitment of scientific talent. https://example.com/post/2011-03-30-the-lucky-few-of-waterloo-does-the-perimeter-institute-deserve-50m-times-two/ Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2011-03-30-the-lucky-few-of-waterloo-does-the-perimeter-institute-deserve-50m-times-two/   There is chatter (here is more) suggesting that the $50M from the Conservative federal government (over 5 years) and the additional $50M (also over 5 years) from the Ontario Liberal Government to the Perimeter Institute is based more on politics than on scientific merit. These funding announcements emerge just a few weeks after the news that Neil Turok, Director of the Perimeter Institute, joined the Science, Technology and Innovation Council which advises the government on science policy. https://example.com/post/2011-03-29-vannevar-bush-inventor-of-government-research-funding-strategy/ Tue, 29 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2011-03-29-vannevar-bush-inventor-of-government-research-funding-strategy/ Vannevar Bush was the inventor of government investment in research innovation. He was founder of the US National Science Foundation, founder of Raytheon, main organizer of the Manhattan Project which influenced Berkeley leading to Silicon Valley, etc. Here is a timely extract from his letter to President Roosevelt entitled Science: the endless frontier: Five Fundamentals There are certain basic principles which must underlie the program of Government support for scientific research and education if such support is to be effective and if it is to avoid impairing the very things we seek to foster. https://example.com/post/2011-03-17-rotman-dean-to-government-give-the-basic-research-funding-to-business-schools-not-scientists/ Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2011-03-17-rotman-dean-to-government-give-the-basic-research-funding-to-business-schools-not-scientists/ Dean Roger Martin’s remarks in the Globe and Mail yesterday threaten Canada’s intellectual infrastructure and therefore merit the attention of all Canadians, especially policymakers planning the upcoming federal budget and researchers in Canada’s universities. Amazingly, he asserts: “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.” Who does he think creates those products and processes? https://example.com/post/2012-01-03-n-s-e-r-c-rethink-engage-grants-illustrates-mission-drift/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 https://example.com/post/2012-01-03-n-s-e-r-c-rethink-engage-grants-illustrates-mission-drift/ The Globe and Mail recently posted a story entitled “Building partnerships between businesses and universities” which highlights NSERC’s Engage Grants Program. Following the article, there appears an attribution I don’t usually see in The Globe: Content in this section is provided in partnership with the Business Development Bank of Canada. BDC provides entrepreneurs with financing, venture capital and consulting services. To find out more go to BDC.ca. I found this a bit strange so I followed the link and found the mission statement of BDC.