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NEOMED plans Montreal expansion; proves new pharma R&D model works

Montreal’s NEOMED Institute needs more space to accommodate growing demand for its facilities and services. Discussions are underway with an unnamed third party equity investor to finance the expansion of its Laval facility with a decision expected within weeks. NEOMED’s growth proves it is possible to come up with a business model that can retain top talent in a region when big pharma employers decide to move out.

Vector Institute aims to play key role in Canada’s bid to maintain AI leadership

Geoff Hinton, Yoshua Bengio and Richard Sutton may not be household names but in the world of artificial intelligence (AI) these Canadian researchers are superstars at the forefront of a field that is attracting a host of marquee tech titans angling to gain competitive advantage in the rapidly evolving field. Yet many highly accomplished AI researchers have left Canada to seek opportunity elsewhere prompting a remarkable alignment of government, academia and industry to make Canada the go-to destination for AI advancements in an ever-expanding range of industry sectors.

Federal spending on S&T declines in FY17-18 with share of intramural spending hitting 34-year low

The share of federal spending on S&T conducted in-house by government departments and agencies declined to its lowest level in 35 years as federal spending intentions for 2017-18 are projected to decline 1.2% to $11.3 billion, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada. The drop to 44% of the total is largely attributable to a sharp (6.7%) decline in related scientific activities (RSA) spurred by the absence of StatsCan Census Program survey which was last conducted in 2016 and occurs every five years.

Time is ripe for boosting support for research and research infrastructure says departing CFI president

Over his seven year term as president and CEO of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Dr Gilles Patry has witnessed firsthand the dramatic changes in the research landscape and the rise of innovation as a key priority for government, academia and industry. Once considered something of an (albeit expensive) outlier in the research ecosystem, the CFI is now more closely aligned with other players from researchers to industry as well a key driver in efforts to encourage cross-sectoral collaboration nationally and internationally.

Race is on to secure a share of $950M in supercluster funding

One of the most anticipated competitions for S&T funding in recent memory has begun with the launch of the competition for $950 million in supercluster funding that will see up to five sectoral, knowledge-based initiatives selected to become future drivers of economic and job growth. Since its initial announcement in Budget 2016, groups in several areas — from agri-food to artificial intelligence and driverless vehicles – have formed to develop collaborative proposals that will now have an opportunity to compete for $950 million in funding between 2017 and 2022.

NRC working with industry, academia to build value chain for lithium-ion batteries

Escalating demand for specialty materials that go into next-generation lithium-ion batteries has prompted the National Research Council to create an R&D group to bolster the value chain for their use in the transportation and stationary applications. Advanced discussions between NRC officials and several companies are already underway to determine the extent of their participation in the new lithium-ion battery technologies (LiBTec) program, which kicked off June 7 with a webinar.

Angel investment growth continues in 2016 but policy concerns remain unaddressed

The National Angel Capital Organization (NACO) is waiting for a federal policy response to its recommendations to stimulate the investment class as it reports a 15% year-over-year increase of its members’ investment activity for 2016. NACO members comprised of 34 distinct angel groups invested $157.2 million, up from $133.6 million in 2015 when 31 groups reported and the fourth consecutive year of increases.

Canada to lead council of global research funders

Canada’s renewed efforts to raise its profile on the global stage were bolstered last week with news that Dr. Mario Pinto will take over as chair of the Global Research Council (GRC), a federation comprising the heads of 70 science and engineering funding councils from 50 countries. The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) president replaces Dr. Yuichiro Anzai, president of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, who now becomes vice-chair. As GRC chair, Pinto will represent the interests of Canada’s major research granting agencies.