Organization: Simon Fraser University

Survey: Canadian universities are increasingly cutting fossil fuels from their investment portfolios

A growing number of Canadian universities, including some of the country’s largest, are significantly reducing the industrial carbon in their investment portfolios, a R$ survey shows. Less than a handful of universities are divesting specifically from fossil fuel holdings, but many schools also are using a “responsible investing” approach which considers environmental, social and governance factors.

The Short Report, March 11, 2020: Anonymizing research applications mitigates gender bias; Superclusters spend a fraction of their budget; Athena Pathways aims to train 500 women in AI

Three maritime research projects led by researchers at the Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR) have received more than $3 million in funding through a joint international funding initiative between the Agence nationale de la recherche (ANR) in France and the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ). The projects address issues related to sustainable ocean transport, the effects of…

The Short Report, March 4, 2019: Kirsty Duncan moves for a standing committee on science and research; Alberta cuts post-secondary education funding; Canadian miners make an action plan

The Short Report: New Parliamentary standing committee proposed for science and research; new Protein Industries Supercluster projects; Alberta cuts post-secondary education funding while Ontario increases it; boosting competitiveness of Canada’s mining sector; creating research internships for students; Canadian science for the Moon; developing small nuclear reactor technology; and more.

Federal research funders endorse plan to improve research assessment

Five major Canadian research funders have signed the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), a set of recommendations for improving the way the output of scientific research is evaluated. The signing comes at a time when the values of academia and society are increasingly at odds with academia’s traditional system of incentives and rewards.