ottawa

Twenty-six Canadian universities have won infrastructure grants worth Can$36 million (US$24 million) under the first competition held by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). The CFI is an independent non-profit organization set up by the Canadian federal government last year to support research infrastructure.

More than 400 new faculty members will have their careers launched with buildings and equipment funded by the first CFI programme, called New Opportunities.

The CFI has Can$800 million over five years to invest in infrastructure for research and development in Canadian universities, colleges, hospitals and other non-profit institutions (Nature 385, 759; 1997). It will typically provide 40 per cent of project costs, with the rest coming from local government, industry or the voluntary sector.

The response to its first competition, launched in December, has been overwhelming. Proposals worth almost Can$3 billion were submitted, of which the CFI's share would have been Can$1.2 billion. “All of us were quite flabbergasted,” said David Strangway, the CFI president.

The contributions of other partners mean the CFI's Can$36 million investment represents a total of Can$90 million for equipment and buildings. Strangway says the money will help young researchers recognized for tackling problems in priority areas for Canadians. These include understanding molecular processes in herbicide resistance, developing robotic systems for dynamic or dangerous situations, and building safer roads.

Robert Giroux, president of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC), said the CFI was set up to end 10-15 years of serious underfunding of infrastructure that prevented Canada from capitalizing on emerging fields of research.

AUCC surveys show that better facilities, salaries and research funding abroad meant that many of the best researchers left the country, Giroux said.

CFI vice-president Carmen Charette said the criteria used to assess projects were research quality, infrastructure suitability, innovation capacity and potential benefit to Canada. She said New Opportunities would allow access to the best facilities.

Further competitions will be announced in autumn 1999 and the year 2000, and conferences in the next three to four years will consider future programmes. About half of the Can$800 million will be available in the next two years.