Topic: STEM

Responding to racism in Canadian science

Racism seeps into all corners of life, including the apparently rational confines of science. Dealing with it calls for more than just good intentions.

The Short Report – April 14, 2021: Alberta invests in vaccine R&D, Ottawa brings wireless tech to mining industry, CIB shores up Ontario’s energy grid, and more

In this week’s The Short Report, the Government of Alberta contributes $20 million for vaccine R&D, a Canadian Infrastructure Bank invests in Ontario’s energy grid, 5G wireless tech to increase safety and reliability in the mining industry, Palette Skills leads consortium to address talent gaps in a post-COVID economy, and more.

The Short Report, June 5, 2019 – McMaster endowment, AI, timber research, green jet fuel

BDC Capital has launched the $250-million Industrial Innovation Venture Fund to invest in early to late stage tech firms and entrepreneurs accelerating the transformation of core Canadian industries including ag-tech, advanced manufacturing, oil and gas and mining tech. Venture capital veteran Joe Regan joins as the fund’s managing partner. “Industrial sectors tend to be slow…

UVic gets $2.5M for research-focused scholarships

Univ of Victoria has announced $2.5 million worth of graduate scholarships that are focused on research in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The fund is part of the $12-million initiative earlier announced by the province to boost its technology and innovation sectors by attracting and retaining top talent. About 16,000 domestic students enrolled in…

BC invests $125M in tech, innovation opportunities

The provincial government of British Columbia is investing more than $125.1 million in the next three years to support its technology and innovation sectors, primarily through talent development for research, entrepreneurship and job opportunities. The biggest investment — at $102.6 million through the BC Knowledge Development Fund (BCKDF) — will support 75 post-secondary research projects.…

CanCode program to equip K-12 teachers, students with digital skills

The federal government is funding 21 projects across Canada in a program that will help develop the computer skills of the future in students from kindergarten to Grade 12. Funding will come from the $50-million CanCode program which is good for two years, starting 2017-18, and intended to equip up to one million students in…

Innovation sectors continue to fail spectacularly at gender equity and diversity

The UK, US and Canada still haven’t managed to break the average 20% threshold for gender equity across STEM academic disciplines. In some cases, the numbers of women are actually declining and certain disciplines that like to boast higher numbers are still well below parity. To address the lack of progress being made by universities, Canada’s Science minister has made accessing research funding dependent on achieving gender equity and diversity and has called on university presidents to address the lack of women in the Canada Research Chairs program.