Government launches second CERC competition

A second smaller round of the Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CECR) program has been launched, with 10 chairs worth $10 million each up for grabs in the four large priority areas outlined in the 2007 S&T strategic plan with an added emphasis on the digital economy. The two-stage process for selecting the winners involves universities competing for the opportunity to establish chairs at their institutions, followed by a short-list of universities that will forward their nominees. Derek Burney, a former senior civil servant and corporate executive, will co-chair the selection panel along with Dr Shirley Tilghman, president of Princeton Univ. It's estimated that the value of a $10-million CERC chair attracts an average of more than $19 million in leveraged funding. The inaugural CERC competition generated intense competition among Canada's universities and both the Univ of Toronto and McGill Univ lost chairs when their nominees declined to accept the CERC awards. The initial round was also criticized for selecting an all-male roster of chairholders, prompting the government to commission a study as to why women failed to secure a single chair (R$, May 21/10)….