CFI commits $422 million to new and continuing research programs as government ponders expanded role

University research infrastructure received a $422 million boost with the announcement of the last major general competition by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). The awards were made through the CFI's Leading Edge Fund (LEF) and New Initiatives Fund (NIF) and fully commit the non-targetted component of CFI funding. The only remaining funding envelope is the delayed Research Hospital Fund, which will issue a call for proposals in the coming weeks.

Since the CFI provides 40% of a project's funding, the value of the infrastructure funded in the latest competition is valued at over $1 billion. It's now up to the successful institutions to firm up the remaining 60% of project funding before the CFI money flows.

The competition marks the first time the CFI has made awards under the LEF and NIF funds, which were created from the original Innovation Fund. The split was implemented following calls from the research community calling for follow-on support to upgrade and renew existing facilities that had previously won CFI support.

"The LEF has helped to concentrate resources in the major strengths of the universities. Institutions are gradually becoming more specialized and differentiated and that is the direction that needs to be pursued for competitiveness and innovation," says CFI president and CEO, Dr Eliot Phillipson.

The Univ of Waterloo's Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) is a major beneficiary of the LEF. The IQC won the largest single award in the competition, receiving $18 million for a $50.3-million technology incubator for its nanotechnology program.

In the competition, there were 40 awards under the LEF worth $141.4 million, while the NIF funded 46 projects worth $183.4 million. A further $97.5 million was awarded to provide 30% operating support for the successful projects. The competition attracted 487 proposals worth a total of $1.4 billion.

EXPANDED MANDATE?

With CFI funding essentially exhausted, it's now up to the government to determine whether it will re-finance the organization. The recent Fiscal and Economic Update sent strong signals that the Harper government is not only considering funding renewal, but may expand the CFI's mandate to include commercialization.

The Update stressed the importance of maintaining Canada's leading position in university research and strengthening the movement of knowledge down the pipeline towards commercialization. And it also pledged to introduce "competitive funding, potentially via the Canada Foundation for Innovation, that levers investment by the private sector and other levels of government in large-scale, national scientific projects and commercialization partnerships".

Phillipson says it's unclear exactly what the government has in mind, but he's encouraged by the statement of intent.

"CFI could play a useful role in this area (early-stage, pre-commercialization support). In the area of knowledge translation, there's a need for the research community and technology development and the private sector to work together," he says. "The infrastructure needed for this stage is very different than for discovery research. Lab prototypes and proof-of-principle is an area where we could play a useful role."

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