The hearings in the National Assembly concerning Bill 44, which brings a consolidation of the Quebec Research Funds, have just ended. Several things have been said and written which, we believe, deserve corrections.
With the regrouping of the Funds and the creation of the position of chief scientist in 2011, there has been strong progress towards the integration of the Funds, while preserving the culture specific to each of them, and an increase in the sectoral budgets dedicated to free and fundamental research.
Three scientific directorates had been created, with a scientific director as head of each of the Funds, and the common services of the Funds were all harmonized and integrated into a general directorate.
This grouping has benefited the research ecosystem, researchers, students, and especially free and fundamental research. The bill takes these achievements into account and maintains the Fund staff positions in their entirety.
Many are asking that the Funds remain attached to the Ministry of Higher Education, rather than that of the Economy. Since 2003, with the exception of the period from September 2012 to January 2016, the Funds have in fact always been attached to the Ministry of the Economy or Economic Development: from annual appropriations during the submission of the government budget to the submission accounts, everything goes through the ministry. The bill recognizes a state of affairs.
Many believe that the “passage” of the Funds under the supervision of the Minister of the Economy would entail a significant risk, namely that they would gradually favor research with economic benefits. Since the Funds returned to the responsibility of the Minister of the Economy in 2016, their overall budget, excluding partnerships and major challenges, has grown by 35%.
Free and fundamental research today represents 80% of Fund grants. Directed research only represents 20% of their budgets: here too, researchers have the freedom to submit a grant application or not.
Recommendations
Just like the previous Quebec Research and Innovation Strategy (SQRI), the SQRI2 (2022-2027) recognizes the Funds’ support for free and fundamental research, through an increase of 13% in the overall budget, and especially through the increase in the basic budget of the Funds, a first in an SQRI!
Two recommendations to bring the new Fund closer to the reality of research. The Funds must comply with the State Corporation Governance Act (LGSE). We believe that the transition from three to a single board of directors will facilitate adaptation to the requirements of the LGSE and will lighten the current structures. Without the bill, the LGSE, which will apply in any case, would clearly burden the structure of the Funds, or even compromise the synergies developed over more than ten years.
The LGSE and the bill in its current form will distance the new Fund from the reality of research. The LGSE requires that two thirds of the members of the board of directors be independent. This is why we recommended that the incumbents of the positions of chair of the board of directors, chief scientist and scientific directors come from academia and that the majority of board members come from academia.
Furthermore, it seems essential to us that the new Fund has a mechanism allowing it to be as close as possible to the needs and concerns of the scientific community, for the three research sectors.
This is why we recommended the establishment of three scientific advisory committees, one for each major research sector and each chaired by the scientific director, whose members are active researchers and representative of the sector.
This mechanism would ensure the full influence of the scientific community in order to highlight the specificities of each sector. The scientific departments will thus exercise a leadership role in scientific programming and the current and future priorities of their respective fields.
The bill also formalizes the advisory role that the chief scientist has exercised with the government since 2011, while ensuring the independence required by his function. It has also strengthened the student presence with the appointment of three student members to the board of directors.
The bill does not infringe on academic freedom: support for free and fundamental research will remain the core of the orientations and financing of the new Fund. The scientific and student community will, as always, have the freedom to submit grant or scholarship applications according to their research interests.
Today, we are in a better position to move forward towards complete integration where the sectors of the new Fund will retain their weight, their specificities and their basic missions: supporting excellence in research.