NRC nanotechnology institute gets $120M from federal and Alberta governments

New funding model could prove lucrative

Successful funding of a new Alberta-based centre for nanotechnology research marks a dramatic turning point in how the National Research Council (NRC) plans to operate its institutes in the future. The mid-August announcement of $120 million in funding over five years for the National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) caps a three-year effort by the NRC to establish a presence in Alberta. It also helps the federal government fulfil a vow to increase innovation-related spending in the oil rich province.

Ottawa has made a firm commitment to continue funding for the NINT at a minimum of $12 million annually, although the Alberta government has yet to follow suit.

For the first time, the NRC will be jointly funding a new institute that is also a shared facility with the Univ of Alberta (U of A). Research programs will be aligned with those offered at the university and exchange between scientific personnel will be at a higher and more substantive level than ever before.

Following a Cabinet directive, the federal government will provide $60 million for the NINT. On the provincial side, an equal amount will be provided, with the involvement of the Ministry of Innovation and Science, Ministry of Health and Wellness, Ministry of Gaming, U of A and the Alberta Research and Science Authority. Federal and provincial officials are current negotiating the details on cash flow for the project, but NRC VP Dr Peter Hackett says all parties are committed to making the NINT happen as quickly as possible.

“We’ve positioned this activity so that the federal government is making a commitment to the long-term interests of the provincial economy and Alberta is committing to the national innovation structure of Canada,” says Hackett. “I’ve been working on what and how to do something in Alberta since I became VP three years ago. We had a false start with proteomics but then we came back and I had the idea of nanotechnology as a key platform and everyone jumped on it.”

It was Hackett who spearheaded a Banff conference on nanotechnology in early 2000 that stimulated enthusiasm for the new institute and a determination to move quickly. He is also hoping that the new approach to NINT helps to establish a model that can be replicated across the constellation of NRC institutes that are now situated in every province in Canada. Given the joint federal-provincial funding of the NINT, such a model would dramatically boost NRC’s operating capital, and circumvent the apparent unwillingness of the federal government to provide adequate base funding.

The NINT will operate as a traditional research institute providing a full spectrum of research and institute activities. But it will also serve as a shared facility, providing large-scale infrastructure for nanotechnology research between NRC and the U of A. And alignment of research programs between the two research entities will see NRC researchers appointed as adjunct professors at the U of A, while university researchers have the opportunity to become visiting fellows at the NINT.

“The Institute comprises three elements which, when combined together, will provide a new model for the way the NRC runs its institutes. We hope to develop this opportunity in new ways and expertise will flow across the barriers that previously existed between the two levels of research,” says Hackett. “This is a ground-up exercise and we will build it to be fully interdisciplinary from day one. Canada has decided to do something in the area of nanotechnology and we’re putting out a challenge to integrate the NRC and university to get there. The best practices of the two research performers is designed to get the best innovative outcome for Canada.”

FIVE YEARS BEFORE FULL OPERATION

In the hot but fledgling field of nanotechnology, however, research results are still many years away. Once a memorandum of understanding and governance structure are completed and given Treasury Board approval, the NINT will begin operations in temporary quarters provided by the U of A’s engineering faculty. It will occupy a full floor in a new seven-storey, $72.7-million structure which is slated to open in September (R$, March 9/01).

Over the next three years a new 18,000-sq-m facility will be constructed on campus to house the NINT, but Hackett says it will be another two years before it begins to “fire on all cylinders”.

For the U of A, NINT represents a major opportunity for its researchers currently focused on various aspects of nanotechnology. Dr David Lynch, dean of U of A’s Faculty of Engineering, says the NINT will involve researchers from the faculties of engineering, science, medicine and dentistry and pharmacy.

The new Institute will also offer opportunities for researchers in other Alberta universities as well as researchers nationally and internationally. Lynch says the U of A’s existing collaborative activities will be dramatically boosted via NINT.

“This is the largest single, focussed initiative ever announced for a Canadian university,” he says. “We wish to see the Institute up and running by early 2002.”

The immediate task of NINT organizers will be to develop a joint research plan, specific research direction and intellectual property policies. NRC officials will meet with representatives of several U of A departments to begin honing NINT’s initial research agenda but several areas have already been identified including medical and life sciences (bio materials, biodevices, proteomics, etc), information technology (electronics and computing) and energy (fuel cells and catalysts used in the oil and gas sector).

RECRUITMENT NOW UNDERWAY

Work has also begun on recruitment for project leaders who will be responsible for assembling teams for specific niche areas selected for research. Within five years, NINT is expected to employ 200 people, strengthening research in areas for which the U of A and the Edmonton region are already highly regarded. Indeed, the strength of nanotechnology-related research in the province has already generated several small firms and the arrival of NINT plays into the NRC’s concept of a cluster strategy for developing world-class niche expertise in selected technology areas.

The Banff conference also identified other Canadian cities — Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal — that could benefit from the creation of NINT nodes and Hackett acknowledges that the concept has been discussed. “We’ve taken the first step which is the Institute itself but there’s nothing definite beyond that yet,” he says.

The field of nanotechnology — the science of working with nano-scale materials and creating nano-scale machines — has caught the attention of several other nations — notably Japan and the US — which are now pouring money into the research end. They hope to strike early and grab a portion of the economic benefits, which are estimated to be worth $1 trillion within 15 years.

R$