Our colleagues at ScienceInsider report Wednesday that Canada's prime minister Stephen Harper is taking a different tack from U.S. president Barack Obama in funding for science in that country's economic recovery package. In Harper's new budget, released Tuesday, funds for the three councils that support research in science, engineering, and the humanities will be cut $113 million over the next three years.
Harper's budget does increase funds for maintenance and upgrades of Canada's scientific infrastructure. Some $1.62 billion of a total of $10 billion for infrastructure improvements is devoted to scientific facilities. The budget also proposes $71 million for 1,500 graduate scholarships and $1.6 million for a feasibility study of a new Arctic research station.
Some of Canada's scientific leaders feel Harper is missing an opportunity. Pierre Noreau, president of the French-Canadian Association for the Advancement of Science told the CBC that the budget focused too much on the short term and missed the big picture of research spending. "Infrastructure spending is ... important for the research world," said Noreau. "But it's a very short-term decision. Yes, you need the building, but in the long-term you need people, and to get them you need to commit to work that may not have an immediate benefit."
The difference in direction in research funding between the United States and Canada also has some scientific leaders worried about a new brain drain from Canada. Claire Morris, president of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, told ScienceInsider, "You know how many people we attracted back with our Canada Research Chairs program. The flow can go both ways." The Research Chairs program, described in Science Careers in 2004, was designed to keep more of Canada's home-grown talent from going outside for opportunities and attract more international scholars.
Harper's budget does increase funds for maintenance and upgrades of Canada's scientific infrastructure. Some $1.62 billion of a total of $10 billion for infrastructure improvements is devoted to scientific facilities. The budget also proposes $71 million for 1,500 graduate scholarships and $1.6 million for a feasibility study of a new Arctic research station.
Some of Canada's scientific leaders feel Harper is missing an opportunity. Pierre Noreau, president of the French-Canadian Association for the Advancement of Science told the CBC that the budget focused too much on the short term and missed the big picture of research spending. "Infrastructure spending is ... important for the research world," said Noreau. "But it's a very short-term decision. Yes, you need the building, but in the long-term you need people, and to get them you need to commit to work that may not have an immediate benefit."
The difference in direction in research funding between the United States and Canada also has some scientific leaders worried about a new brain drain from Canada. Claire Morris, president of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, told ScienceInsider, "You know how many people we attracted back with our Canada Research Chairs program. The flow can go both ways." The Research Chairs program, described in Science Careers in 2004, was designed to keep more of Canada's home-grown talent from going outside for opportunities and attract more international scholars.
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