The Canadian government has expanded its Networks of Centers of Excellence (NCE), adding around US$13 million in funding and calling for four new categories of networks, including one for genomics and related research. But because of legislative changes, the funding for the new categories is set to end in 14 years—a stipulation that some find troubling.

Established in 1990 to facilitate the commercialization of new technologies developed from basic research, the NCE funds projects in which scientists from multiple academic and industrial groups collaborate, and the program's annual budget, which in 1997 stood at $47.4 million, will be increased by $90 million over the next three years. But government changes in the NCE funding rules mean that each category will be evaluated at 7-year intervals, and none can receive government funding for more than 14 years. “The assumption,” according to Richard Snell, program officer for the Ottawa NCE, “is that if people are doing the same kind of thing after 14 years, they might not be at the cutting edge.”

The call for proposals for genomics technologies specifies that such a network should address genotyping, functional genomics, bioinformatics and the ethical implications of related technologies. Snell did not offer a specific rationale for holding basic genomics research to the same time limit as less-speculative areas of research, such as information and transportation technologies, but suggested that the program's long-term survival could be supported by biotechnology companies that may step in to provide funding after the government pulls out.

Robert Hodges, scientific director of the Protein Engineering NCE (PENCE), says his program is now exploring the idea of having companies pick up the funding shortfall. Funding for the PENCE, established in 1990, is scheduled to end in 2005, and 17 of the 20 projects are now partially supported by corporate partners. Still, Hodges describes the time limit for NCE funding as “something I think the government has to change its mind on,” particularly for evolving fields in biomedical research.

Lap-Chee Tsui, geneticist-in-chief at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and a member of the Canadian Genetic Diseases Network, one of the original NCE groups, explains that the NCE program “was intended to create structures that would be self-sustained…and therefore would no longer require federal funding.rdquo; Unfortunately, the NCEs have so far had only mixed successes in spinning off companies. “Many scientists in the network have not been able to attract venture capital to finance their start-up businesses. That relates to the rather conservative approach of Canadian investors,” says Tsui.