Government spells out intent and timing of massive new university research fund

Universities seeking to build on areas of research that can demonstrate significant investment and global impact have access to a powerful new funding mechanism with the launch of the $1.5 billion Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF). Announced by prime minister Stephen Harper on December 4th, CFREF will hold two competitions in 2015 — $350 million and $950 million respectively — with a final $250-million competition slated for FY21-22.

The deadline for notices of intent is February 2/15 and the first recipients will be announced in July/15 following Treasury Board approval of funding.

CFREF was unveiled earlier this year in the 2014 Budget in response to a joint proposal by the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities and the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC). It commits to providing $50 million in FY15-16, rising in annual $50-million increments to $200 million in FY18-19 and remaining at that level for seven years.

The funds will be allocated through internationally peer-reviewed competition — a key change from the original concept for allocating money to institutions based on their success in securing granting council funding.

In an interview with RE$EARCH MONEY, Dr Heather Munroe-Blum, board chair of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and former principal and vice-chancellor of McGill Univ, says CFREF is a critical tool for building on previous investments in post-secondary research and facilitating top institutions in their quest for recognition of their distinct contributions at the global level.

"We've got some fundamentals in place now let's do some extraordinary things … Everybody ought to think about what their niche is going to be, whether you're a community college or a university," says Munroe-Blum, who was instrumental in advocating for the new fund. "What are our distinctive advantages and how do you take advantage of those in competition to play to excellence in the areas where we are committing ourselves to perform."

CFREF will award large, multi-year, non-renewable grants to institutions with applications assessed on scientific merit and demonstrated capacity to lead on an international scale, the quality of the implementation plan and their strategic relevance to Canada.

The latter criterion — which includes a provision that only initiatives aligned with the government's priority research areas will be funded — led to the simultaneous release of the refreshed federal science, technology and innovation strategy, which added and dropped several priority areas compared to the 2007 iteration (see page 1).

"Whether you're Waterloo or Western, Nipissing or Trois-Rivières, you ought to be able to come in and compete in a way that's aligned with your strategy and aligned with your commitment to performance and play the game," says Munroe-Blum.

Potential for more

Munroe-Blum acknowledges that CFREF is being funded at half the level called for in the U15-AUCC's November/13 proposal for an Advantage Canada Research Excellence (ACRE) fund (R$, February 24/14). She says the government shouldn't wait until the fund runs its course before boosting its value when federal finances permit.

"It's an excellent start and I would hope the economy will allow this fund to get up to a competitive level," says Munroe-Blum, adding that new funds should be provided "the minute we can do it". "It's not hard to start out in the first round or two with this scale of investment because it allows everyone to refine the processes and (focus on) getting it right."

Although the fund has a nominal duration of 10 years, there's potential for extending it.

"We've known that this is not a one-time allocation. It's $200 million in steady state," says U15 executive director Suzanne Corbeil. "It builds on excellence that we already have and funds university research at a higher international level ... There are no carve outs or allowances for small universities."

More details on CFREF will be released December 15th, but Dr Steven Liss, VP research at Queen's Univ, says enough is known now about its parameters and intent for institutions to begin assembling applications.

"This fund targets areas of research that are globally competitive or pre-eminent and have the opportunity to have a global impact — areas where we're already well positioned," says Liss. "The intent is not to spread the pie thin but to concentrate it ... There's significant advantage to developing and enhancing key areas of research (and) there's an appreciation for the total costs of research."

Liss notes that, although CFREF has a strong STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) focus, there may be opportunities for other disciplines to segue into the applications.

Align with research infrastructure support

In addition to adhering to federal STI priority areas, there's also advantages to aligning CFREF projects with the massive investments Canada has made in research infrastructure. The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), which is reportedly seeking more than $2 billion in the next Budget, has had a transformative impact on the Canadian research landscape and its president and CEO says CFREF could be equally influential.

"It has the potential to be as important as CFI, particularly if the investments are sustained ... It's a clearly bold initiative and we're looking at it very closely. There has to be some connection (to CFI) but it's still early," says Dr Gilles Patry. "I would suspect that for the next (second) tranche (of awards) there have to be some linkages to infrastructure. You can't do world class research without having access to state-of-the-art facilities ... The fund does allow the institutions a small amount of money to address their infrastructure needs (but) it won't have the same leveraging effect that CFI does. We'll need to monitor that and advise the government accordingly."

AUCC VP and COO Christine Tausig Ford says CFREF has the potential to make Canada the "research excellence destination" of choice for top-flight international talent and that universities are ready to move quickly.

"Universities have known it was coming ... They can apply in both rounds or some universities may choose to wait until the second round.

Tausig Ford also thinks the fund could be larger but adds there's no rush to push for an expansion until institutions become familiar with the process and program's parameters.

"I'd like to think there will be more investment going forward but at this point, the government will want to evaluate," she says, adding that there have been no complaints about the complexity of the criteria. "At this point, there are no concerns about the burden. Universities are ready and keen."

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