CFI's last major awards go to Ocean Tracking Network, digital library infrastructure

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) has released the last of its major project announcements, illustrating the increasing sophistication it employs in selecting initiatives that contribute to the development of select areas of Canada's research infrastructure. The latest funding totals $60 million and effectively exhausts CFIs' existing resources, with the exception of the $500-million Research Hospital Fund which is being rolled out after a lengthy delay.

The largest single amount ($35 million) has been awarded to the massive Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), a Dalhousie Univ-based international initiative to globally track marine life and ocean conditions. The $160-million project involves several countries, utilizes Canadian-developed tracking and receiver technology and builds upon several pilot projects launched in North America in recent years.

The remaining funds ($25 million) go to two digital library projects and focus on the social sciences and humanities (SSH). The projects — the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) ($19.1 million) and the Synergies project ($5.8 million) — will see Canadian researchers gain access to a wide range of scientific journals regardless of location. They represent the largest SSH investment in CFI history and will help disseminate Canadian research internationally.

Ocean Tracking Network

The OTN is the last project funded through the CFI's $100-million International Joint Venture Fund (IJVF), which is not subject to the normal matching funds provision of other CFI funds. OTN beat out two Univ of Ottawa-based proposals — the International Regulome Consortium led by Dr Michael Rudnicki and the Centre for Catalysis Research and Innovation, led by Dr Abdelhamid Sayari.

OTN will facilitate the installation of a global monitoring system covering 14 distinct ocean regions, allowing researchers to track the movement of marine life and gauge the impact of climate change on the world's oceans. The CFI's investment is augmented by $10 million from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) for operating costs and $327,000 from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council for legal and ethical research. The remaining $115 million in cash and in-kind will come from a network of Canadian and international collaborators.

"This is next-generation technology and the technology being used is made in Canada," says Dr Eliot Phillipson, CFI's president and CEO. "The scale of this project is the differentiator in the number of fish being tracked and the number of listening stations installed around the world."

Research will be conducted in five theme areas: ocean physics and modeling, biology and behaviour of migratory marine life, impact of climate change and resource management. Researchers will be able to draw from a continuous flow of data collected from tagged marine animals.

"We provide equipment to the various nodes who are putting out lines and (the partners) agree to provide the ship time and personnel to put them in place, harvest the data and tag animals that will be tracked in the system," says Dr Ron O'Dor, OTN project lead, professor of biology and the Associate dean of science, research and development at Dalhousie Univ. "The funding will be basically two thirds foreign to one third Canadian. Our other major Canadian partner is the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.a

digital library access

The CRKN will be expended to include SSH disciplines, giving researchers from 67 universities access to valuable content and intellectual property from across Canada and around the world. The CKRN is the successor to the Canadian National Site Licensing Project, a three-year pilot project that received $50 million in CFI funding in 2001 (R$, September 24/01). That project gave researchers access to digital content in the natural sciences and humanities and is continuing with $50 million in annual self funding from participating universities.

A previous attempt to secure CFI funding for SSH disciplines failed three years ago. But Deb deBruijn, executive director of the Univ of Ottawa-based CKRN secretariat, says an improved proposal and changes in CFI programming contributed to their success in this latest competition.

"We paid a lot of attention this time to talking about the benefits to researchers," she says. "This was a more focused competition under the National Platforms Fund in terms of recognizing that this was a national platform and a project that doesn't generate research. We're not recruiting grad students and building labs. We're providing a pathway for content for all research projects."

The CFI also funded the Synergies project a national consortium of 21 universities developing a new, decentralized digital system for disseminating research results and enhancing researcher access. Synergies also involves SSH content with centres at the Univ of Montreal, Univ of New Brunswick, Univ of Toronto, Univ of Calgary and Simon Fraser Univ.

"This is big news for the social sciences and humanities communities. It gives access to small universities and levels the playing field.," says Phillipson. "With these projects, the concept of remoteness is disappearing."

R$