Female researchers and health care providers are welcoming federal Budget 2021’s $72.6-million investment in women’s health research and medicine.
Topic: fundamental research
New funding approaches could address gender disparities, peer review bias: Council of Canadian Academies
Creative funding models and other innovative tools could help Canada’s research funding agencies address issues such as gender disparities, peer review bias and inequitable funding for researchers and institutions, says the chair of a new expert panel report by the Council of Canadian Academies. The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada commissioned the report as part of NSERC’s planning process for its new long-term strategic plan.
Canada’s research funding agencies must experiment to keep up with evolving science landscape: Council of Canadian Academies report
Changes impacting the natural sciences and engineering fields include a sense of “hyper-competition” for research funding that is particularly affecting young investigators, says Dr. Shirley M. Tilghman, the chair of a new Council of Canadian Academies expert panel that released a report this week.
Ottawa defends innovation performance and initiatives to strengthen ecosystem
Innovation Science and Economic Development Canada, in a detailed response to growing criticisms, defends the federal government’s innovation performance, policies and programs.
Strategic direction and a re-balancing of research types essential for improving Canada’s innovation performance – McDougall
Canada must re-balance public investments that currently overemphasize fundamental research and provide high-level direction to increase the uptake and application of innovation, including offering experiential learning and professional development for key players in the innovation ecosystem, says a former president of the National Research Council (NRC).
Pressure grows to increase support for fundamental research, tie funding levels to demand
Canada’s support for fundamental research has fallen by a third between 2005 and 2015, but many in the Canadian research community are concerned the federal government doesn’t appear to be in any hurry to take action. The deterioration in federal support — occurring over a period closely corresponding to the decade in which the government of Stephen Harper was in power — witnessed a major swing in funding from fundamental to applied research, with 40% of researchers reporting a similar shift in their focus.