The case for taking student advice on science policy
This year’s Canadian Science Policy Conference in Ottawa earlier this month saw the number of students and postdoctoral fellows in attendance triple to 22 per cent of total participants, compared to only seven per cent in 2016. The increase may be due to improved social media presence or the draw of high-profile speakers. But other […]
Lessons from a Calgary kitchen floor
Donna Sharman learned a vital lesson when she collapsed on her kitchen floor in Calgary four years ago: health research saves lives, including hers. Then 59, she hit the floor without warning because of a blood clot in her brain, causing a stroke. That was the unlucky part of her day. Her luck turned when […]
Applied research: time to move beyond pilot projects
When Ottawa-based entrepreneur Ke Wang had the brilliant idea of using his smartphone to control certain tasks on his power wheelchair, and therefore regain some of his autonomy, he knew he needed support to bring his innovative concept to reality. Like a growing number of entrepreneurs and small-business owners, he turned to his local college […]
Innovation review welcomed, but funding needed: post-secondary research experts
As the government conducts the Horizontal Business Innovation and Clean Technology Review into its innovation programs, post-secondary research advocates say more funding is needed to allow programs and the institutions that use them to reach their fullest innovation potential. Denise Amyot, president and CEO of Colleges and Institutes Canada, said her members are only tapping […]
Fundamental and applied research both valuable
In the months since my appointment as the Conservative critic for science, I have had the pleasure of meeting with representatives of the scientific community from across Canada, including meetings with over a dozen university presidents or vice-presidents of research. Through these conversations, I now have a better understanding of the complicated federal research funding […]
Broad perspectives breed great science
On Nov. 2, Science Minister Kirsty Duncan addressed the Canadian Science Policy Conference to discuss the federal government’s plan to boost fundamental research in Canada. The following text is an edited excerpt of her speech. I’d like to share my vision of science. It is a vision that sees Canadian science as a re-energized, forward-looking, […]
Liberals talk a good game, but science is still struggling
Many credit the Trudeau Liberals with ending the war on science, after years of funding cuts and muzzling by the Harper Conservatives. Nothing seemed to demonstrate this more than the fundamental science review report (chaired by former University of Toronto president David Naylor) commissioned by the Liberals and released in April, followed by the appointment […]
Galvanizing a go-global education strategy
A report this month from the Study Group on Global Education, made up of Canadian businesspeople and academics, offers some revealing insights on preparedness and potential for Canadian students studying abroad. With only 11 per cent of undergraduate students having some form of international experience, it argues that we are stuck in neutral when it […]
Education, the neglected solution
At the COP23 global climate-change meeting last week in Bonn, scientists warned that abrupt environmental changes are threatening the security of humankind. Although this is not something that can be fixed, we still can try to make it less difficult to face these challenges by slowing population growth. Though paradoxical, many countries have completed or are about […]
How can we continue to transform Canadian research? Look to the new generation
Earlier this fall, during one of the worst hurricane seasons on record, a group of graduate students was testing the resilience of roofs in full-force winds at Western University’s Insurance Research Lab for Better Homes. It’s unlikely they’d call themselves lifesavers, but their work will lead to better construction practices and building codes and they […]
