Perimeter secures provincial and federal funding

The Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics has secured more than $50 million in federal and provincial commitments in its bid to secure $100 million in public support. The new money augments the $120 million committed by three executives of Research in Motion Ltd, including $100 million from RIM president Mike Lazaridis. The latest funding announcements involves the federal and Ontario governments. Ottawa is contributing $25 million over five years. It made the announcement at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Institute in Waterloo ON , and was attended by prime minister Jean Chrétien and Industry minister Alan Rock. Ontario’s contribution was made in two stages. The first came from the Ontario R&D Challenge Fund (CF) ($5.95 million) and the Ontario Innovation Trust (OIT) ($5.6 million), the latter as the government’s matching contribution to a Canada Foundation for Innovation grant announced earlier this year. CF funding will support the operation of the research centre, while OIT’s money goes to infrastructure. An additional $15 million over three years — starting in FY04-05 — was announced as part of the province’s Budget initiatives. The Perimeter Institute is also in discussions with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council through am associate memberships program. It allows select researchers to participate in the Institute’s research programs on a cost-sharing, time-sharing basis. To date, Perimeter has signed agreements with 23 Canadian universities....