We encourage the federal government to pursue its stated aim to move Canada to the 5th position among the developed nations in research and development. This action will improve the research environment by providing the granting councils with sufficient funds to underwrite the creative talents of Canadian researchers.

Productivity in research and innovation depends on having the right people with the right training. We support expansion of training programs for post secondary education and strategies such as the Canada Research Chairs program for the retention of our active university-based researchers.

That for the health of the Canadian economy the federal and provincial governments cooperate to develop an effective policy regarding the funding of post secondary education to ensure that Canada has the personnel to respond to the innovation strategy.

We encourage the federal government to monitor the effects of university-corporate partnerships to ensure that a healthy balance is maintained between curiosity-driven and applied research.

Potential Solutions

In meetings with "decision makers" it is clear than most are aware of the problems outlined in this "brief". We have been persuaded, therefore, to bring forward solutions that will help resolve some of the challenges that face our Nation during the next decade. A number of suggestions are respectfully submitted with the belief that they may contribute to the thinking of those empowered to make change.

1. Allocation of Federal Funds to Granting Councils

The Federal Government's allocations to granting councils have, traditionally, been made on an annual basis, with the monies allotted having to be distributed before the end of a particular fiscal year. With this type of allocation formula carry-overs are not currently allowed. To provide flexibility to researchers who receive funds from the granting councils, and to reduce unnecessary "paper-work", research grants to individual researchers are normally awarded for 3-5 years. This means that in the situation when council budgets remain unchanged from one year to the next the only funds available for distribution come from turnover of terminating grants. The result is that, not only is there an unequal flow of funds to research applicants, but also that councils are impaired in their ability to develop new strategies and novel programs. We would encourage the Federal Government to develop a mechanism that would incorporate a 3-year rolling average for allocations to granting councils. This mechanism would not only permit a more even distribution of funds to researchers but also permit a more effective use of the monies provided by the Federal Government.

2. "Indirect Costs of Research"

The research and university communities have greatly appreciated the Federal Government's recent move to support the "indirect costs of research". To insure that these funds are employed for the purpose designed and do not become a pretext to reduce provincial funding to post-secondary institutions we would encourage adoption of the following procedure. Every 3-5 years each eligible institution should be required to apply to the appropriate granting council for renewal of the "indirect costs". In this renewal application the institution should report how the funds previously awarded were used over the past 3-5 years in the support of research. In this way effective accountability should be expected. Assessments made by experts in the granting councils seem most appropriate since these individuals would be familiar with the research activities within the institutions. Finally, the granting councils already have in place the necessary infrastructure to administer and monitor the use of indirect costs.

3. Research By Canadian Corporations

One of the major challenges facing the Canadian Governments is how to increase the amount of research performed by Canadian corporations. To encourage greater involvement in investigative work the Federal Program Interchange Canada (sponsored by Treasury Board) promotes links between the federal government and organizations in the private sector. Given that more than 30% of the research in Canada is carried out in university laboratories we would encourage the extension of the Interchange Canada Program to reward industry when they establish research facilities on university campuses. In this way industry would benefit from the expertise of university personnel and provide the opportunity for industrial scientists to participate in faculty members' research program of interest to their company. Greater dialogue should then result between members of the academic and corporate communities. With Treasury Board as sponsor effective monitoring of the program could be expected.

4. The Next Generation of Scientists

With the rising costs of attending university and the increasing debt load following the undergraduate degree many bright students are delaying their entrance to graduate studies. Canada is in danger of not having sufficient numbers of individuals at the PhD level to promote the "innovation strategy". The allocations of the Federal Government should be geared to ensuring that the granting councils are able to offer graduate stipends and innovative training programs to attract our brightest students to careers as researchers. The level of support should be such that the graduate student will not incur massive debt and use up the prime of her/his life to obtain a career in science. To ensure that both undergraduate and graduate students receive training from the best qualified individuals strategies are required to enable many of our brightest minds to contribute to both research and training. The federal government can have a direct impact on the quality and productivity of our academic scientists by expanding the successful Canada Research Chairs program with a specific focus on professors that contribute to the education of both undergraduate and graduate students.

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