Researchers at the Experimental Lakes Area have received letters from Fisheries and Oceans Canada declaring their positions to be “surplus”, and offering them jobs elsewhere in the ministry, Research Canada has learned. The letters were expected, as the government department has ended funding for the environmental research station and is working to transfer ownership of […]
policy
Does parliament need a science watchdog?
The NDP is making a play for the science vote. At last week’s Canadian Science Policy Conference the party’s science critic, Kennedy Stewart, unveiled the third plank in the opposition’s slowly developing science policy: an independent Parliamentary Science Officer (PSO). Stewart will table his proposal in the house this week as a private member’s bill – it would create […]
Judgement day
Many governments are assessing the quality of university research, much to the dismay of some researchers. Two years ago, academics at Lancaster University, UK, found themselves in the uncomfortable position of being graded. They each had to submit the four best pieces of research that they had published in the previous few years, and then […]
US conflict-of-interest case draws attention across continent
A conflict-of-interest case in Oregon is gaining attention across the United States and Canada for the precedent it may set regarding how much physicians should disclose to patients about their financial ties to medical companies. Two physicians in Salem, Dr. Matthew Fedor and Dr. Kyong Turk, were charged under Oregon’s Unlawful Trade Practices Act. The doctors implanted […]
Canada’s CIDA reform could aid innovation work
Innovation and technology development could be boosted by the controversial merger of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) with the country’s foreign affairs department, according to the head of a group that represents Canadian NGOs. But CIDA should be careful not to neglect development at the expense of foreign affairs and trade interests through the new arrangement, says Julia Sánchez, […]
Last-minute reprieve for Canada’s research lakes
Government strikes temporary deal with independent institute to keep freshwater experimental site open. Canada’s world-renowned Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) has been saved from imminent closure after the federal government signed a makeshift 11th-hour deal with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) to take over the running of the facility. Effective from 1 September to […]
End funding for liberation therapy, say New Brunswick MDs
The New Brunswick Medical Society has asked the provincial government to stop giving money to patients with multiple sclerosis who want to obtain liberation therapy outside Canada. Dr. Robert Desjardins, president of the New Brunswick Medical Society (NBMS), says the therapy, which involves using angioplasty to open constricted veins in the neck and chest, has not […]
Canada puts commercialization ahead of blue-sky research
Federal budget boosts clean-energy research and university infrastructure. Canadian finance minister Jim Flaherty yesterday released the country’s 2013 budget, calling it “a plan for jobs, growth and long-term prosperity”, words that will please some of the budget’s main beneficiaries: those working in applied research. But for those who argue that investments in basic research are […]
Canadian Space Agency chief quits unexpectedly
While Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield has been captivating the Internet with his live updates and photos from the International Space Station, his colleagues back on Earth are having a tough time. On Tuesday the president of the Canadian Space Agency, former astronaut Steve MacLean, announced he would be leaving the agency on 1 February. Read more in Nature.
Brace for impact
With public finances tight, governments around the world are demanding a return on their investment in science. Researchers should get used to it. When the financial crisis hit in 2008 it became clear that the good times of the previous decade were not going to last. Researchers, who had gotten used to 10 years of […]