Devil is in the details as Quebec plans to merge granting councils under chief scientist

The Quebec government says the amalgamation of the province's three granting councils will help brand Quebec internationally as a place to do research, reduce administrative costs and capture aspects of research that currently fall between the cracks. But the president of the health research granting council says the benefits of the merger must not come at the expense of a governance structure that fails to recognize their unique role in mobilizing and orienting research in the province and overseeing the strategic direction of their respective communities.

"The exact form of the governing body must be well thought out. We are not there yet," says Dr Yves Joanette, president of the Fonds de le recherché en santé du Quebec (FRSQ). "It has to take into account that each Fond is not just an ATM for research central for Quebec … We need to maintain our ability to be strategic and mobilizing."

The merger of the three granting councils — FRSQ, Fonds québécois de la recherché sur la nature et les technologies (FQRNT), Fonds québécois de la recherché sur la société et la culture (FQRSC) — was first announced in the recent provincial Budget (R$, April 9/10). The decision was made without prior consultation, raising alarm bells that the multi-faceted interaction between the three agencies and their communities would be seriously impaired.

The June 28 release of the Quebec Research and Innovation Strategy (QRIS) by the Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade (MEDIE) provided key details including the name of the merged entity (Fonds Recherche Québec) and the creation of a chief scientist position to oversee its direction and operations.

"The chief scientist is to coordinate action to strengthen research leadership and structure the research vision for Quebec and overseas. Some things fell through the cracks such as multi-disciplinary research. We need to break down barriers," says MEDIE minister Clément Gignac. "My intention is not to cut fundamental research funding, just the opposite … I want to protect the Fonds and save on administration and re-inject savings into the Fonds."

Joanette acknowledges that QSRI contains welcome new funding for FRSQ, boosting its three-year funding envelope by $28 million or 11%, from $255 million to $283 million. The new funding will support a new program for research centres ($22 million) and facilitate better partnerships with biopharma companies ($6 million). The province's previous research and innovation strategy also contained new money for FRSQ — $20 million for training and the formation of research groups and networks.

Joanette says a key measure of the success of the amalgamation is to maintain the expertise of the councils' respective boards. Gignac says a selection committee headed by former FQRNT president Sylvie Dillard will select the chief scientist, at which time the status of the three boards and their composition will be determined.

"The new structure will have a chance to work if conditions are such that it respects the specificity of the three cultures. It won't magically work and the devil is in the details ... We need to bring to the table all those brains that contribute to profound thinking so that decisions will not be made that are counterproductive," says Joanette, who applauds the new strategy and its attempt to inject some "pull" into an innovation system primary geared to "push".

"My main goal is to make sure ... we will not take decisions that will lessen or destroy the historical advantage and positions we have enjoyed."

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