Genome Canada process criticized

Several VPs of research at Ontario universities are upset with a Genome Canada process that puts financial viability ahead of scientific merit, says an executive with the Council of Ontario Universities (COU).

Jamie MacKay, VP policy & analysis at the COU, says his group plans to send a letter to Genome Canada later this month on behalf of the Ontario Council of University Research, asking that the review process be changed. It wants Genome Canada to conduct the scientific review first, before its financial and management audit. If the project has scientific merit, he says projects should be given time to finalize funding arrangements, as is done at the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

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