Ottawa is investing a “record” amount of $1.4 billion to fund 11 major research projects led by Canadian universities. If this investment makes many happy, the calls for additional research funding are increasing and the rector of the University of Montreal (UdeM) “supports without reservation” the conclusions of a report along these lines.
“The goal is excellence. The objective is to be the best in the world, to be the reference in the world and to be the leader”, launched the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, during the Friday morning announcement at Concordia University. This investment is made through the Canada First Research Excellence Fund, and 11 of the 26 projects submitted to the program will be funded.
A group launched by UdeM which brings together researchers from other universities has secured $124.5 million to advance research on the development of artificial intelligence. A “historic investment”, which will notably allow the hiring of 28 new professors over a period of seven years.
“There are four branches of development,” says UdeM rector Daniel Jutras. The one that is most relevant to most citizens is health. There is a very important issue in the implementation of discoveries in artificial intelligence, such as precision medicine, connected instruments, which will completely change the way medicine is going to be done. »
As for other Quebec universities, a project led by McGill University to “prepare for the next pandemic” and another set up by Concordia University, which aims to “electrify society and decarbonize communities “, were able to get their hands on an amount totaling 288 million dollars.
Additional funding requested
In a report released in March, the Advisory Committee on the Federal Research Support System nevertheless highlights “the enormous investments observed in other countries and the stagnant levels of investment in Canada”. In particular, it recommends an increase of at least 10% per year for five years in the total base budget of the granting councils, an increase that would support their programs.
Daniel Jutras “unreservedly supports the conclusions of the Bouchard report” and calls for additional funding. “We are engaged in an exercise to convince the political authorities at the federal level to invest more in research. We fear the brain drain. The quality of financial support, especially for graduate and postgraduate students, is significantly lower than in other countries. »
Asked about the possibility of acting on the report’s recommendations, Minister Champagne responded to the Duty that “investment in science is not a photo, it’s a film”. “If you watch the film since 2016, with investments of 16 billion, we have put science at the heart of the Canadian ecosystem,” he says, saying he is “very aware of the recommendations” of the report. “Of course we want to continue investing in science,” he adds. The past guarantees the future. »
The importance of more seriously funding fundamental and independent research, carried out on the initiative of researchers, is also raised. The Apogee program, some believe, gives funds to very targeted and niche projects, without solving the problem of general research funding.
“Research that is initiated by researchers, not dictated by politicians, is where the ideas and the big scientific questions are asked. Yes, sometimes there are political needs, a problem like COVID, for example, but you shouldn’t do that at the expense of everything else, says Michel Cayouette, vice-president, research and academic affairs and researcher at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute. Often, the greatest scientific discoveries emerge from completely unexpected work asking very fundamental questions. »
You have to do both, and the government “has invested a lot in fundamental research”, replies Graham Carr, rector and vice-chancellor of Concordia University, with the university’s Apogee project as proof. “We will continue to do basic research with some of this funding,” he says. But, if the research is advanced enough, we can go to another level, which is to question the application of these discoveries and that they are part of daily life. »
With Pauline Gravel