For some time now, members of the Quebec university community have been concerned to see the federal and provincial granting agencies requiring more and more directed research aimed at so-called “useful” innovation targets. I share this concern.
One of the most recent interventions on this subject comes from Professor Yves Gingras. In a letter published in The duty on December 22, he rightly reminded us that the mission of universities is above all to develop and teach all disciplines — not just those that seem immediately useful. It is therefore essential to promote free and basic research in institutions in Quebec and Canada.
I am in support of Mr. Gingras’ comments. Requiring universities to do more directed research is a bit like requiring a knife to also serve as a screwdriver: it’s possible, but ineffective, and sometimes harmful.
However, it is normal to want a part of the research, financed by our taxes, to contribute more directly to the social, economic and cultural development of Quebec. Governments and research funds are therefore not entirely wrong. But, in order not to run counter to the mission of our universities to develop all forms of knowledge, shouldn’t we simply have to create new university establishments? These could have the particular mission of specifically serving research and directed training. Why not leave the knives to their use and provide Quebec with a real screwdriver, since there is a need?
These new establishments would be given the mandate to focus their activities on certain strategic sectors. We could ask that they concentrate their teaching at the graduate level and disengage them from undergraduate teaching, by discipline. These new types of establishments could, therefore, recruit their professors solely because of their relevance to the strategic sector of their mission. This university context would make it possible to develop research partnerships with industry, government and NPOs.
This is the screwdriver we need.
This solution is self-evident, isn’t it? It seems odd to think of it so late.
And for good reason ! This “screwdriver” Quebec already has: it is the INRS, which I have the privilege of directing.
The Quebec government has recognized the importance of establishing an institution devoted to research aimed at strategic niches for Quebec. It was in 1969 that he created his National Institute for Scientific Research (INRS). In designing it, he demands ” […] in a particular way [qu’il puisse] orient its activities towards the economic, social and cultural development of Quebec, while ensuring the transfer of knowledge and technologies in all the sectors in which it operates”.
For more than 50 years, this original establishment has brought together researchers in interdisciplinary centers spread across Quebec, each dedicated to a strategic field for Quebec.
For me, the debate on directed research is therefore not one: INRS is already the preferred tool for achieving Quebec’s objectives of partnership and directed research, and this, without controversy.
Of course, you can always continue to use a knife to screw in a screw, but isn’t a screwdriver by far more effective? It is enough to extend our particular mission. The distinctive formula of INRS has proven itself and it still seems promising for the future, both in research and in training the next generation of scientists. I invite the government to entrust INRS with other strategic research fields; we would like nothing better than to contribute more to the economic, social and cultural development of Quebec through directed research and training. This is our mission.
In short… a well-stocked toolbox guarantees much better jobs!