Building on the research that was done may help prepare for future pandemics. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research and its partners have so far handed out more than 550 grants worth over $250 million for research related to COVID-19. Some will undoubtedly lead to significant breakthroughs that will help us deal with this pandemic […]
policy
Was COVID-19 research funding well spent?
Some academics argue it should have been part of regular funding programs, or more focused. A full month before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in March 2020, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research launched a $55 million emergency funding competition to help the scientific community learn all it could about the […]
Canada’s new science budget gets lukewarm reception from researchers
The relatively modest research investments outlined in Canada’s new federal budget could make it difficult for the nation to recruit and retain scientific talent, Canadian science advocates fear. Read more in Science.
Canada Research Chairs and Genome Canada celebrate 20-year anniversaries
The vital role these two programs continue to play in Canada’s research landscape highlights the vision of those who pushed to create them two decades ago. Although it was overshadowed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, two important institutions of the Canadian research landscape marked a significant milestone in 2020 – the Canada Research Chairs program […]
Taking stock: Canada’s research funders assess their response to COVID-19 so far
Money was disbursed quickly, researchers stepped up, but some adjustments had to be made along the way. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck Canada in early 2020, the country’s major federal research funding agencies knew they would have a big role to play in the response, and they moved quickly to coordinate their efforts through the […]
Why are Canada’s scientists getting political?
Erratic funding for basic research, coupled with concerns that science has fallen down the priority list for politicians, has contributed to a shift in researchers’ attitudes to lobbying. Just a few days into her job as Canada’s new science minister, Kirsty Duncan found herself receiving a hero’s welcome when she took to the stage at […]
Canada budget overlooks basic research
Small spending bumps for genomics and physics stand in stark contrast to the funding windfall across basic research in last year’s budget. What a difference a year makes. Canada’s 2019 budget, released on 19 March, includes modest increases for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government priorities including neuroscience and genomics research ― nothing like the historic five-year, […]
Researchers scramble to meet deadline for New Frontiers research fund
Final applications are due February 7, just weeks after inaugural competition was launched. While many Canadian academics were enjoying a bit of time off over the holidays, some early-career researchers were scrambling to put together applications for the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF), the new funding program designed to support risky interdisciplinary research. Read more […]
Ontario doctors angry over government’s proposal for primary care
Primary care physicians reacted with shock and anger when they saw the Ontario government’s final arbitration position on primary care in the new Physician Service Agreement. The proposal, identical to the one under the previous Liberal government, would require more work for less pay from family doctors. The proposal is “devastating to practitioners’ morale and […]
Europe’s Nobel laureates step up warnings about Brexit’s effect on science
Leading scientists and mathematicians urge UK and European Union leaders to strike a deal on research amid stalling negotiations. Nobel-prizewinning scientists from across Europe have called on UK and European Union leaders to maintain the “closest possible cooperation” on science after Brexit, and warn that any barriers to research collaboration in the EU will be […]