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The clock is ticking for universities and colleges as they work to complete their strategic plans in time for the first round of the Canada Research Chairs Program (CRCP). With a September 1 deadline, the institutions were informed late last month about the number of chairs they will be eligible to receive.

The Canadian Institute of Advanced Research (CIAR) has successfully secured a new commitment of federal funding to maintain its ambitious slate of transdisciplinary research. The decision of the federal government to provide CIAR with $14 million over the next four years was made earlier this week at the Univ of Alberta, with Industry minister John Manley touring a laboratory for nanoelectronics – one CIAR’s eight program areas.

Orenda Aerospace Corp has received $7.2 million in government assistance for two R&D projects in the areas of gas turbines engines and extended life expectancy of engine components. The Mississauga-based subsidiary of Magellan Aerospace Corp has committed to creating 46 new jobs over the next five years as a result of the funding from Technology Partnerships Canada (TPC).

One of Canada’s oldest not-for-profit research institutes is going global in response to the forces of globalization and consolidation transforming its industry, and in response to changes in the way governments provide industrial assistance.

Canada’s two federal advisory bodies for science and technology have been given new mandates that will occupy their energies until the fall of this year. The mandates reflect the attention government is beginning to focus on its own role within the innovation system, and respond to growing calls from the S&T community for such action.

Researchers in the federal government are making a huge contribution to the advancement of Canadian science, but years of shrinking budgets are severely compromising its output, according to a recent study of bibliometric data.

MRC study finds no significant benefit from using dual chamber pacemakers-

A study funded by the Medical Research Council has determined that a single chamber cardiac pacemaker is just as good as the more expensive dual chamber variety.

Changes to governance of research ethics management recommended

Canada’s two-year-old Tri-Council Policy Statement on ethics is about to undergo significant changes in its governance if recommendations made in a recent report are adopted.

May 30-31 in Toronto: Customer Value and Profitable Engineering. Sponsored by the Centre for Automotive Materials and Manufacturing at Queen’s Univ. Introduction to the methods for better understanding factors influencing competitiveness.

Last week’s Ontario Budget designated the province’s business sector as the prime beneficiary of a booming economy and ballooning fiscal surplus, with a significant component directed towards high-technology firms and health and university-based research.