NSERC launches six Northern Research Chairs

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC is launching up to six Northern Research Chairs as a first step towards implementing recommendations contains in last year's task force report (R$, October 2/00). The chairs program will begin immediately and ramp up over two years to $1.25 million annually. The joint NSERC/Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) task force report on Northern research called for up to $23.5 million annually on a series of measures. They included a slate of 24 chairs, scholarships, research projects and equipment but were contingent upon additional funding support for the two granting councils. SSHRC has also made a commitment to fund several initiatives including its proposal for Community-university Research Alliances, but it is still seeking the necessary funding. NSERC and SSHRC will post their joint response to the task force's recommendations on their web sites later this month (www.nserc.ca and www.sshrc.ca)....