NSERC has opened an office in downtown Vancouver — the third in a planned series of five regional offices. The office will be managed by Rick Warner, a veteran research manager who was a director with the former Science Council of British Columbia and has worked in the post secondary and not-for-profit sectors. The NSERC-Pacific office is close to both the BC Innovation Council and the local Industrial Research Assistance Program office. Like its Moncton NB and Winnipeg counterparts, NSERC-Pacific is mandated to increase awareness of the granting agency's portfolio of programs, particularly its industrial research chairs, post doctoral fellowships and research partnerships programs. The Vancouver office is the first that is not physically co-located with a university or research institute. The regional office program will cost about $2 million to operate once all five offices come on stream. Offices planned for Ontario and Quebec will be announced in the near future....