Canadian biopharma companies are capitalizing on increased government investment stimulated by the recent pandemic to strengthen domestic capabilities and foster multinational partnerships that enhance drug discovery and development worldwide. Canada has long punched above its weight in life sciences and biotechnology, with many of the fundamental discoveries that underpin today’s important blockbuster drugs and therapeutic […]
science
As Trudeau leaves, Canada’s scientists gird for a leadership change
Conservative Party, out of power since 2015, expected to win elections later this year. Justin Trudeau’s announcement earlier this month that he will step down as Canada’s prime minister opens the way for a change of government that could have major implications for science. Many research advocates have seen Trudeau’s Liberal government, which has been […]
Graduate-student stipends in Canada below the poverty line
Students struggle to make ends meet despite recent boosts to federal scholarships, study finds. Stipends for biology and physics graduate students at Canadian universities fall well short of a living wage, an analysis reports. “All of the minimum stipends we found were below the poverty line after tuition, except for the physics department at the […]
Kaitlin Kharas: Fair-pay champion
A PhD student helped to lead a campaign to get Canadian graduate students and postdocs their biggest pay rise in 20 years. On 16 April 2024, Kaitlin Kharas was one of a select few people ushered into an office across the street from the Canadian Parliament and given a sneak peek at the latest budget. […]
Canada should sharply curtail research collaborations with China, lawmakers say
Report recommends an immediate ban on joint projects in a host of sensitive fields. Canada should immediately end all government-funded research collaborations with China in a host of sensitive technology areas, a parliamentary committee has recommended in a new report. The ban is needed, the panel said, to counter the Chinese government’s “increasingly assertive” efforts […]
Researchers rejoice: the Canadian Common CV’s days are numbered
New narrative CV to be rolled out to all tri-agencies’ grant competitions. Researchers applying for grants from Canada’s three main federal funding agencies will soon have cause for celebration: the unpopular Canadian Common CV is being phased out in favour of a new narrative CV. Read more in University Affairs.
China’s research clout leads to growth in homegrown science publishing
Self-reliance and a wish to set the agenda might explain concerted push to produce domestic journals. Over the past two decades, China has risen to become the world’s largest producer of scientific knowledge. According to Digital Science’s Dimensions database, last year there were almost 830,000 papers featuring researchers based in China, representing around 15% of […]
Canadian science gets biggest boost to PhD and postdoc pay in 20 years
Government budget includes more money for basic research and notable increases to postgraduate stipends. Researchers in Canada got most of what they were hoping for in the country’s 2024 federal budget, with a big boost in postgraduate pay and more funding for research and scientific infrastructure. Read more in Nature.
Why is China’s high-quality research footprint becoming more introverted?
Data from the Nature Index suggest China-based authors are increasingly publishing without international colleagues. When China overtook the United States in the Nature Index for contributions to natural-sciences research articles last year, it marked a watershed moment for the database and for Chinese science. Since the index was launched in 2014, China’s ‘Share’ — a […]
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.