Organization: University of British Columbia

Scandals spotlight the role of private funding in science

The recent scandals over gifts from the Sackler family and Jeffrey Epstein bring into sharp relief the challenges confronting universities as they seek donors to support scientific research and other programs. They are also a reminder that who funds science matters.

The Short Report, August 21, 2019: Bio-manufacturing, insurance innovation, women entrepreneurs

The Academic Ranking of World Universities released its list of top 1000 universities worldwide, with four Canadian universities in the top 100: University of Toronto (24), University of British Columbia (35), McGill University (90) and McMaster University (also 90). – ARWU 2019 Genome Ontario has published a proposal to the Strategic Innovation Fund‘s National Ecosystems Stream, to…

The Short Report, July 31, 2019: Women-led businesses, medical technologies, autonomous greenhouses

Ottawa will invest up to $49.5-million into the Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN) for the development of AI, robotics and precision agriculture, in order to reduce reliance on temporary labour and improve profitability for Canadian farmers. CAAIN is led by Alberta Innovates, Lakeland College, and the Vineland Research & Innovation Centre out of Ontario. – Lethbridge…

The Short Report, July 17, 2019: Frailty, electric vehicles, cloud computing

A new report by the Toronto Region Board of Trade’s World Trade Centre Toronto (WTC-T) argues that the Toronto region needs a better scaleup ecosystem to grow its small and medium enterprises. Titled ”Defying Gravity: Building a Scaleup Ecosystem,” the report claims that the region provides ample support to tech startups through its numerous accelerators…

The Short Report, June 26, 2019: Dementia, Ontario chief scientist, AI for travel

The Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging is receiving $46 million over five years: $31.6 million from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and $14.4 million from partners, including the Alzheimer Society. Headquartered at Baycrest in Toronto, the second phase of CCNA’s research program will include a large-scale study to evaluate the effectiveness of new…

The Short Report – May 29, 2019: CRCC progress report, poultry research, bio-refinery

The Canada Research Coordinating Committee has released its first progress report, highlighting accomplishments to date on five priority areas: interdisciplinary, international, high-risk/high-rewards, rapid response research; key emerging research areas; equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI); Indigenous research; and, the needs of early career researchers (ECR). Activities over the coming year include: calls for applications under the…

The Short Report – April 24, 2019: ArcticNet, e-DNA, autonomous greenhouse

ArcticNet‘s funding was renewed for $32.5 million over five years, enabling it to evolve beyond the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program and become a permanent pan-Canadian research centre. During this funding period, ArcticNet’s research will focus on the sustainable development of the “Blue Economy” (shipping, fisheries, tourism, and mining), and growing postsecondary research and training…