by Ted Hewitt

Benefits of research extend beyond practical end products, well-informed policy making and curing disease. In fact, applied and social science research is a primary driver of innovation in this country, fulfilling a critical role in promoting social and economic health.

With more than $223 million in research funding last year, the University of Western Ontario and its affiliates made the largest per capita investment in public research of any university located in one of Canada’s 10-largest cities. Over the past five years, research funding at the university has risen more than 36%, providing broad spin-off benefits that have helped our region grow and prosper.

Fueled by a highly collaborative academic community, one of the country’s strengths is the breadth and depth of talent, programs and institutions that have been established from coast to coast to answer the world’s largest questions. While the federal government needs to focus its efforts and renew its commitment to funding basic research, countries around the world are scrambling to implement funding programs similar to ours.

It hasn’t always been this way. Only over the past decade have our provincial and federal governments begun funding university research in earnest – despite a much higher percentage of research being performed at universities than at private companies in Canada. This is not the case in the U.S. or other developed nations.

By nature, research takes time to flourish. Without a renewed commitment to funding programs in this country, many of our governments’ positive efforts toward establishing leading centres and facilities could be for nought. It would be a shame to lose what momentum we have generated. In a nation with as many climates as cultures, Canadian researchers across the country have a rich and unique environment in which to study and discover. We should continue to capitalize on this advantage.

At the heart of the country’s postsecondary research efforts are the federally funded Tri-Council programs: Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Last year, researchers at Western and its affiliates alone earned more than $60 million from these agencies in peer-reviewed grant competitions, which support operational research efforts.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and its provincial matching program, the Ontario Research Fund (ORF), are similarly important. Since 1998, researchers at Western have received more than $270 million from these two programs – the second-highest total in the province, behind the University of Toronto – to build unique and leading facilities like the Biotron Experimental Climate Change Research Facility and The Insurance Research Lab for Better Homes, which are unique not only in Canada, but in the world. Without sufficient and forward-thinking funding support, facilities like these on campuses across the country would cease to operate – and still others would never get off the ground.

Over the next five to 10 years, Western will focus its energies to strengthen its expertise in core areas of established and emerging strength, including research related to the environment and renewable energy, medical devices and imaging, and wind engineering. Despite our successes, we are redoubling our efforts to build support structures that provide ongoing assistance to faculty for accessing increasingly competitive Tri-Council programs and partnerships with industry. We are also committed to providing research infrastructure and support necessary to ensure a strong position among Canada’s leading research-intensive universities.

We do, however, need to do a better job of making our broader communities aware of the highly successful research activities already being carried out in their backyard. Without knowing, for example, that a researcher at Western is closer to developing a vaccine for HIV/AIDS than anyone else in the world, or that other researchers are providing viable solutions to a growing energy shortage, it can be easy to forget the importance of research underway at institutions across the country. Take a look in your community, though, and it’s pretty hard to miss the wider-reaching benefits – be they economic, social or cultural.

Ted Hewitt (Hewitt@uwo.ca) is vice president, research and international relations at the University of Western Ontario.

COMPETITION LAUNCHED FOR R&D INTERNSHIPS
OTTAWA, ON - Jim Prentice, minister of industry has announced the launch of the Industrial Research and Development Internships (IRDI - www.nce.gc.ca) program to create new opportunities for science and technology graduates. This investment of $8.64 million over the next two years will create internships with the participating businesses for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. The IRDI program will introduce interns to practical business problems while allowing them to apply their expertise to help meet the research needs of Canada's private sector. It is expected that the first internships will begin at the end of the spring 2008 academic year.

FUEL CELLS TO RUN ON AMMONIA
OTTAWA, ON - Acumentrics Canada Ltd. is partnering with Natural Resources Canada's CANMET Energy Technology Centre to investigate the use of ammonia as a fuel for Acumentrics' solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The fuel cell will convert ammonia to hydrogen and nitrogen internally and release only water vapor and nitrogen. Ammonia is already widely available as a synthetic fertilizer, and is both relatively inexpensive to produce and easy to transport. Pipelines for anhydrous ammonia currently exist in the U.S. and the ammonia is transported as a liquid in tankers at pressures similar to propane.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS FOR IMAGING RESEARCH
WINDSOR, ON - A $5-million Ontario government investment will help establish the Institute for Diagnostic Imaging Research at the University of Windsor. The institute will work collaboratively with private-sector partners to develop new acoustical imaging technologies for use in the automotive, health care and public safety sectors. Industry estimates peg the global market for such applications at $21 billion.

$68.8M FUND INDUSTRY RESEARCH
OTTAWA, ON - Industry Minister Jim Prentice says an investment of $68.8 million over four years has been allocated to renew three networks of Centres of Excellence (NCEs).

The three renewed NCEs and their funding levels are:
• Auto21 Network of Centres of Excellence (based at the University of Windsor), $5.8 million per year;
• Canadian Water Network (based at the University of Waterloo), $5 million per year;
• Stem Cell Network (based at the University of Ottawa), $6.4 million per year.

The decision to renew these networks was made after an evaluation of their scientific accomplishments, their future research goals, and their training and knowledge transfer activities. This review is required for any network applying for a second seven-year funding cycle. The funding amounts are granted for four years, after which the networks are re-assessed in a mid-term review.