Academica Top Ten - Tues August 5, 2014

Academica Top Ten - Tues August 5, 2014

2 calls for changes to Canada's R&D funding
 

In a contribution to the Globe and Mail, Chief Economist of ATB Financial Todd Hirsch says that Canada is lagging behind other wealthy nations when it comes to total R&D funding. Trends in R&D funding at PSE institutions indicate that the majority of funding comes from government, whether federal (25%), provincial (11.1%), or from the institution itself (44.8%), which is largely government/tax-dollar funded. Hirsch also looks at the trends in R&D contributions by business, noting a decline from 9.6% in 2000-01 to 8.1% in 2012-13. This is surprising to Hirsch as Canadian businesses are “generally flush with cash” and because R&D funding has huge economic potential for businesses. Alberta is the only province that has had an increase in R&D funding by business, and that increase is marginal (0.4%). Hirsch recommends that businesses should increase their R&D funding, especially in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec, and that government should increase its funding to R&D in Alberta, where federal spending is lowest. Meanwhile, in the Ottawa Citizen, professor Subash Sad calls for a “radical new policy” that would shift government funding away from private sector research and back toward fundamental research. Sad says that funding cuts have forced researchers to spend too much time applying for grants and not enough time doing research or training scientists. Globe and Mail (Subscription Required) |Ottawa Citizen