The CIHR Review Quality Assurance process reveals vast majority of grant reviewers are doing a good job. One-third of peer reviewers for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) submitted outstanding reviews, while no more than one in 20 did not perform adequately, according to an analysis of the first three years of the funder’s […]
Canada
Why is nitroglycerin in short supply in Canada?
Canada is experiencing an acute shortage of nitroglycerin, forcing emergency measures. But with drug manufacturing being international, will it be the only country to suffer? Patients with coronary artery disease in Canada have been facing months of shortages of the nitroglycerin drugs used to treat angina pain, forcing government regulators to extend the expiry dates […]
A new era of research security
National security agencies are taking a renewed interest in universities and their research in the face of rising geopolitical concerns. Canada is home to a great deal of world-class research, but the federal government and its security services are raising the alarm that the country’s combination of advanced technology, human talent and democratic society has […]
Why are the Canadian wildfires so bad this year?
Hot, dry weather and human carelessness have led to a huge burnt area — and to choking haze affecting millions of people. Smoke from wildfires raging in eastern Canada has been filling lungs and turning skies orange across the northeastern United States, most dramatically in New York City and the surrounding area, for the past […]
Canadian PhD students and postgrads plan mass walkout over low pay
Academics are demanding a significant boost to government-sponsored fellowships and scholarships, which haven’t changed for decades. Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers at dozens of universities and research institutions across Canada are planning to walk out on 1 May in protest at government-funded salaries that have remained flat since 2003. Read more in Nature.
Catching up on open access
A decade ago, Canada was at the forefront of open access publishing. Now critics say those policies are due for a drastic rewrite. The days of the traditional, subscription-based scholarly journal seem to be numbered. Around the world, research funders are adopting ever-more expansive policies requiring the researchers they fund to make the results of […]
Researchers decry a lack of clarity under national security risk assessments
Concern rises about potential research chill as new rules are extended across federal research-funding agencies. A pilot project by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) to identify and minimize national security risks in federally funded research will soon roll out at all federal research-funding bodies. But researchers whose grants were rejected under the […]
In Canada, scientists are struggling with stagnant funding
Lackluster growth in federal spending squeezes research community Earlier this month, researchers attending Canada’s major annual science policy conference here got some seemingly good news when science minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government would be awarding CA$1 billion to research projects. But disappointment soon set in. The $1 billion, scientists realized, was existing, not new, […]
Catching up with Canada’s chief science adviser
As she begins her second term, Mona Nemer weighs in on shaping the pandemic response, the battle against misinformation, and the push for open science. Molecular cardiologist Mona Nemer was first appointed Canada’s chief science adviser in 2017, to provide advice to the federal government on scientific issues and science-based policy. Recently reappointed for two […]
What’s happening with Canada’s superclusters?
After four years, the federal government’s billion-dollar superclusters are finding their feet, but they need more time. Canada has a long history of underperforming on measures of private-sector spending on research and development, and failing to capitalize on the commercial potential of scientific discoveries made in the country. And it has almost as long a […]