Graduate students in all disciplines, in the humanities and in engineering, say they are condemned to live below the poverty line. Hundreds of Canadian and Quebec researchers are mobilizing to increase federal master’s and doctoral scholarships, which have been frozen for nearly 20 years.
The Quebec scientific community is also pushing for an increase in the funds allocated by the three granting agencies of the Quebec state. Expectations are also immense, one week before the unveiling of the Quebec Research and Innovation Strategy.
“It’s a big cry from the heart: graduate students are living below the poverty line. The rise in the cost of living amplifies the crisis,” summarizes Louis Bernatchez, director of the Institute of Integrative and Systems Biology at Laval University. He also holds the Canada Research Chair in Aquatic Resource Genomics and Conservation.
This renowned researcher is one of the instigators of the mobilization of the scientific community of the country, which challenges the federal government in the hope of unfreezing the scholarships of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). Master’s students in these fields are eligible for $17,500, while doctoral students get $21,000; these amounts have been the same since 2003.
Our sources confirm that federal scholarships for health and humanities research have also remained at the level of nearly 20 years ago. The research community believes it is still suffering the repercussions of the budget cuts of the former Harper government. When they came to power in 2015, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals invested heavily in research and innovation, without, however, improving all scholarships.
The environment activates
At the time of writing these lines on Thursday, 1,880 researchers, including two Nobel Prize winners, as well as representatives of the country’s major learned societies, had signed a petition calling for increased support for students and researchers in science and engineering. More than 1600 signatures had been added between the morning and the end of the afternoon.
These graduate students “address the challenges of today and tomorrow related to climate change, plastic pollution, the sustainable use of natural resources, the development of clean technologies, the prevention of future pandemics and the treatment of disease, to name a few,” the petition argues.
Even after obtaining a doctorate, researchers pull the devil by the tail: the signatories also demand that the number and level of funding of NSERC postdoctoral fellowships be increased. These scholarships were set at $45,000 in 2015. They had been $40,000 since 2003, which equates to $57,121 in today’s dollars, the petition states.
Women are particularly vulnerable, because they are still often the ones who sacrifice their career when a child is born. Researchers who subsist on a postdoctoral fellowship have no social benefits or employment insurance.
The temptation of exodus
The university community has been lobbying the Trudeau government for months to index scholarships for graduate studies. The House of Commons Standing Committee on Science and Research is also consulting on ways to prevent the exodus of Canadian talent.
The scientific world was disappointed to find that its calls were ignored in the federal budget tabled last March, says Louis Bernatchez. “The temptation is great for researchers to go to other countries where the working conditions are much more attractive,” he recalls.
In Ottawa, the federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, denies having abandoned graduate researchers.
“Our government has always unwaveringly supported all scientists and researchers. That’s why Budget 2022 proposes $38.3 million over four years for the federal granting councils to add new Canada Excellence Research Chairs, internationally, in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. We will continue to support a vibrant science and research ecosystem that reflects Canada’s strengths and advances Canadian interests,” said Alexander Wellstead, Minister Champagne’s Director of Communications.
The number of research chairs may increase, but the scholarships awarded to researchers have not changed since 2003, it is pointed out in the scientific community. Students must multiply funding requests from several organizations, crossing their fingers so that these sums thus gleaned allow them to earn a living.
Also in Quebec
“You really have to give a boost to recruiting and retaining talent. These scholarships no longer even allow students and researchers to meet their needs,” says Jonathan Desroches, president of the Quebec Student Union (UEQ).
Research funding is one of the issues he has followed most assiduously in his three years of student activism, and progress has been slow to come. However, he says he found an attentive ear when he appeared before the Standing Committee on Science and Research in Ottawa in April.
In Quebec, the three research funds (in nature and technologies, in health, as well as in society and culture) also need a new impetus: according to the UEQ, one in four students (24%) who scholarship application obtains financial assistance, compared to 35% five years ago. “The number of scholarship applications has exploded, which is a good thing, but we are not increasing the number of scholarships. »