A major announcement expected today from the provincial government is the icing on the cake for Alberta researchers, who will soon be digesting $55 million in funding announced over the past week.
The $26.8-million initiative, announced jointly Wednesday by Alberta Innovation and Science and the Alberta Science and Research Authority (ASRA), which includes members of the business community, will be directed towards several projects.
It’s the latest in a series of cash grants aimed at reversing the province’s brain drain.
“Targeted investments in Alberta researchers and specific projects, combined with Alberta’s overall quality of life, is making Alberta a magnet for some of the brightest and best minds from across Canada and around the world,” said Innovation and Science Minister Lorne Taylor.
On Tuesday of this week, the province announced a $10 million commitment to establish two new provincial health research facilities.
And last Friday, the Alberta government stepped up to the lab bench to give researchers an $18.8 million shot in the arm for 45 projects at post-secondary institutions across the province, including the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and the University of Calgary.
The new Health Research Innovation Centres will complement the two new provincial Centres of Excellence in cardiology and joint injury research and treatment announced last month for the University of Alberta and the U of c, respectively.
“This is an important step in developing an infrastructure where medical research can be taken from the laboratory to the patient,” said Taylor.
While critics have charged the government with handing out basketfuls of pre-election goodies, Innovation and Science department spokesman Val Mellesmoen notes the ASRA announcements coincide with the annual funding cycle in the departments $100 million budget for research grants.
Last February, the department directed $22.3 million towards research projects at Alberta universities and research institutions, plus $24 million in funding for research infrastructure.
The Alberta Science and Research Fund was established in 1997 to “support important strategic science and research initiatives that will produce human, social, environmental, or economic benefits for Albertans.” It advises the government on where to commit research dollars.
ASRA chair Bob Church said this year’s grants represent an investment in Alberta’s future.
“To get these awards, you have to be among of the best of the best in the field on a global basis. If we want Alberta to be competitive . . . we have to operate at that level,” Church said at a cheque-presentation ceremony in Calgary on Friday (Feb. 2).
Researchers at the University of Calgary will apply their $8.8 million share from Friday’s grant announcement to 14 different projects, from building advanced space science instruments to studying genetics and biochemical engineering.
“Our view on the future of Alberta is one in which the knowledge-based economy is a critical plank in our economic and social future, and we’re delighted to be a partner in that,” said Keith Archer, vice-president of research at the U of C.
Archer noted that once federal government and industry partnership funding kicks in, the actual value of the contribution adds up to more than $20 million, which he says will help the university recruit and retain top researchers.
SAIT, which received $225,000, will use the money in developing a new $2.3 million Innovation and Technology Development office to promote practical, industry-driven technology development projects.
University of Alberta president Rod Fraser noted that all post-secondary institutions in Alberta operate in a fiercely competitive environment to generate the new knowledge-based economy.
“We have that heat coming up, almost like an industrial-strength vacuum cleaner from south of the border,” he observed.
“It’s this kind of program . . . that will enable us and other research-intensive universities to attract and retain here in Alberta our outstanding researchers.”
The University of Alberta received $8.3 million for 25 projects, while the University of Lethbridge received $326,000 for two projects.
Athabasca University ($258,000) and Olds College Centre for Innovation ($133,400) were also recipients.
Several of the projects being funded at the U of C have potential business applications, including:
* a new seismic system to provide time-lapse monitoring of C02 injection and other acid gases in depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs and deep aquifers in Alberta;
* determining strategies for new building technologies including seasonal passive ventilation and innovative window blinds;
* a research transition facility to provide early-stage incubator space for University spin-off companies.
The additional $26.8 million announced today will be allocated to:
* A one-time grant for research equipment for the province’s four universities ($5 million);
* $10 million to the Alberta Network of Proteomics Innovation (ANPI) for equipment. Proteomics is the study of the way proteins work inside cells;
* $2 million to the Genome Prairie Project to support three large-scale genome research projects;
* $9.8 million to ensure Alberta researchers have access to the Canadian Light Source, the country’s first dedicated synchrotron facility to be located at the University of Saskatchewan.
High-intensity synchrotron light has become a revolutionary tool for probing the structure of matter. Millions of times more powerful than a medical X-ray, it can be trained on a spot smaller than a grain of oil sand.
