News & Views item - April 2006

 

 

Those Canadian Research Chairs -- Update. (April 11, 2006)

    The Canada Research Chairs Program (CRCP) was developed to be a key component in Canada’s strategy to join the world leaders in the knowledge-based economy of the twenty-first century. In 2000, the Government of Canada allocated Can$900 million to create 2,000 university Chairs in addition to Can$250 million in infrastructure funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation. The 2000 Chairs were allocated between 2000/01 and 2004/05.

Types of Chair

There are two types of Canada Research Chair:

Tier 1 Chairs, tenable for seven years and renewable, are for outstanding researchers acknowledged by their peers as world leaders in their fields. For each Tier 1 Chair, the university receives Can$200,000 annually for seven years.

Tier 2 Chairs, tenable for five years and renewable once, are for exceptional emerging researchers, acknowledged by their peers as having the potential to lead in their field. For each Tier 2 Chair, the university receives Can$100,000 annually for five years.

Infrastructure Support

Chairholders are also eligible for infrastructure support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to help acquire state-of-the-art equipment essential to their work.

 

On March 20,  2003 TFW reported: the Minister for Education, Science and Training, Brendan Nelson, today announced the names of the twenty-four researchers awarded one of the 25 Federation Fellowships available bringing to 49 the number of Federation Fellowships awarded since 2001. In July 2002 News and Views, following the filling of the first round of twenty-five wrote:

There can be little question that the Federation Fellowships are a positive contribution to Australian science but equally it must be said it is a small one, and on the international stage clearly it has not attracted a swarm of expatriates to return and has had a just visible impact on attracting "outstanding overseas researchers".  And it should be compared to our fellow member of the Commonwealth who is funding an additional 2000 research chairs at its universities.

  That remains the case; of the 24 new Fellows, 16 are based at Australian institutions, six are expatriates and the remaining two are a Briton and a German. That brings the total number of foreign researchers awarded fellowships to 3, the number of returned or returning expats to 14 and 32 current residents.

    Dr. Nelson's announcement makes it opportune to update the data on the 2000 research chairs that Canada is making available. From the beginning of the program in December 2000 to March 2003, 847 new research chairs  have been filled -- 220 in the past 9 months; of the total 142 are from outside Canada.

 

Currently up to 25 Fellowships are awarded each year. Fellows receive a salary of about A$246,000 a year for each of five years. The ARC also provides an additional 26 per cent for on-costs. Host institutions must provide support for Fellows which at least matches the salary. There are something under 125 Federation Fellows at present and the figure will remain in dynamic equilibrium for the next several years under Backing Australia's Ability II.

 

In contrast the Canada Research Chairs Program as of November 2005.

 

Program Statistics

Total number of Canada Research Chairs: 1,577

Number of Tier 1 chairholders: 755
Number of Tier 2 chairholders: 822

Number of chairholders recruited from outside of Canada: 501 (32%)
Expatriates: 235
International recruits: 266

Number of female chairholders: 331 (21%)
Number of male chairholders: 1,245 (79%)

Number of chairholders renewed for a second term: 53

Number of participating universities: 73

* As of November 2005

 

The Canada Research Chairs Evaluation Steering Committee commissioned Malatest & Associates Ltd. to undertake a fifth-year evaluation of the program which was completed in December 2004 and presented to the Steering Committee in April 2005. Its seven page response to that report was published in July 2005.

 

As a general comment on the report the Steering Committee noted that "the Fifth-Year Evaluation of the Canada Research Chairs Program is, overall, extremely positive. The majority of the issues discussed in the evaluation appear to derive from concerns about the permanence of the funding and the long-term management of the program," and it went on to say, "We are confident that these issues can be addressed within the program’s existing mandate and by the existing authorities."

 

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) "...in October 2005 ...will launch its new Leaders Opportunity Fund, which replaces and expands two existing funding mechanisms: the New Opportunities Fund and the Canada Research Chairs Infrastructure Fund. By enabling institutions to access additional infrastructure funds for Canada Research Chairs, the Leaders Opportunity Fund will further enhance their ability to meet the objectives of attracting and retaining the best researchers. As is the case currently, it will be up to the universities to decide whether to request infrastructure support. The Chairs program will continue to apply existing peer-review mechanisms for evaluating Chairs nominations and any associated requests for CFI infrastructure support."

 

It remains to be seen what effect the government of the new Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, will have on government support of higher education and research.