Feds invest $118M in research and development collaborations
by CM Staff
New grants program provides opportunities for partnerships between university researchers and the private, public and not-for-profit sectors
PHOTO: Getty Images
OTTAWA — The Government of Canada announced close to $118 million in funding for 414 projects across the country through Alliance grants, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s (NSERC) new research partnership program. Alliance grants encourage collaboration in research and development by supporting projects between university researchers and partner organizations from the private, public or not-for-profit sectors.
“Our Government remains committed to supporting Canada’s researchers as part of our vision for science,” said François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, in a prepared statement. “With the Alliance grants program, our government is helping to bring together the full range of Canada’s expertise across sectors and enabling the development of new opportunities that will help turn promising research into real benefits for Canadians.”
These research projects are led by collaborative teams with different perspectives and skills. They will generate new knowledge and accelerate the application of research results to create benefits for Canadians. Areas of research range from manufacturing and aerospace to energy, the environment and agriculture.
For example, funding awarded to Professor William Quinton at Wilfrid Laurier University helped develop a research project in the Northwest Territories involving four universities, three territorial government departments, and a regional First Nations government and educational council. These research partners are all working together to improve understanding of permafrost and the ability to predict and mitigate the impacts of permafrost thaw on their shared water resources. This research alliance will co-produce new knowledge, science-based predictive tools and user-driven mitigation and adaptation strategies needed by northern communities and governments to manage and minimize the impacts of unprecedented permafrost thaw. This will help ensure the development and application of environmental management approaches needed for conditions of widespread permafrost thaw, and will help generate positive outcomes for environmental and community health.
