How NSERC Establishes New Target Areas and Research Topics

The Strategic Project Grants (SPG) program invests approximately $44 million annually in a limited number of identified strategic areas of research and training deemed to have the greatest potential to strengthen Canada’s future development. These investments are intended to lead to innovations in industry (wealth creation) and to help to set policy, standards and regulations (public policy), thereby strengthening our economy and improving the quality of life of Canadians.

To ensure that the program remains aligned with Canadian needs and current research priorities, NSERC periodically conducts extensive reviews to determine SPG target areas and research topics. The review for the 2006-2010 funding cycle is now complete. Details about the consultation and selection process follow.

Target Area Selection Criteria

While the wording of the criteria has been updated since the previous review, the criteria remain founded on the same principles. Target areas must:

• offer significant potential opportunities for social or economic benefit for Canada;
• have a critical mass of research expertise in Canada and a need for that expertise to be strengthened to take advantage of Canada’s leading role or niche position;
• face a pressing or anticipated need for more qualified personnel in Canada; and
• have a strong potential to lead to an identified application or opportunity for Canadian industry or address the priorities of government.

The primary goal of the SPG program is to address the research challenges identified in the target areas and to present a credible pathway for the application of results. Researchers are expected to use emerging and transformative technologies (e.g., nanotechnology, microelectronics, advanced materials, quantum information, modeling, mathematics, genomics and biotechnology) in their projects, but the goal is finding solutions to the research challenge.

The Process for Determining Target Areas

The NSERC Committee on Research Partnerships (a standing advisory committee to Council) launched the review in November 2003 with an extensive discussion of the structure of the Strategic Projects Grants program, its selection criteria, and parameters such as the number of areas and degree of focus.

In the next phase of the process, NSERC staff:

• analyzed national and international studies and consultations performed by other governments to define the application and performance priorities that were strategically important to their own nations;
• analyzed documents resulting from Canadian efforts to establish research and application priorities. These included initiatives to set priorities at both the national and regional levels as well as initiatives specific to particular sectors of the economy;
• consulted officials leading federal science-based departments to determine their ideas on which research challenges should have top priority in the next decade and where their departments are seeking support from university researchers;
• consulted leaders in industry and industry associations to determine where they see the greatest need for university research; and
• examined all suggested areas of research against the required criteria for target areas, eliminating those areas not meeting the criteria.

From all the information collected, 11 priority research areas were identified and presented to the NSERC Committee on Research Partnerships in May 2005. Based on the Committee’s advice and following further consultations, the number of areas was reduced to seven.

In October 2005, NSERC Council approved the seven target areas along with the process for identifying the specific research topics within each target area.

The Process for Determining Research Topics Within Each Target Area

The second major task involved defining, within each target area, those research topics most likely to generate significant benefit for Canada (see criteria). To this end, NSERC consulted university Vice-Presidents of Research and leading researchers specializing in each research area to determine the range of priority research topics. NSERC then established seven focus groups to synthesize the results from all the analyses and consultations. Their recommendations were presented to the Committee on Research Partnerships at its November 2005 meeting and discussed again at two subsequent special meetings in December. Following further refinement and an endorsement by NSERC Council, the topic areas were made public.

Participants

All told, some 500 senior university researchers, 100 industry representatives and 125 government and non-governmental researchers, research managers and policy leaders contributed to the review.

NSERC is particularly grateful to the focus group members who helped identify the research topics within the program target areas. The focus groups faced the enormous task of assimilating the huge volume of information gathered from the university, industry and government research communities and shaping it into a tightly focused set of recommendations that Council was able to adopt with confidence. The successful conclusion of the review is in no small measure due to their dedication and commitment.

Membership of the Focus Groups

Advanced Communications and Management of Information

André T. Salama
Professor
University of Toronto
Scientific Director of Micronet

Charles Despins
President of PROMPT-Québec (an industry-university research consortium)
Adjunct professor, INRS-EMT, Université Laval, University of Alberta

David V. Plant
Professor
McGill University
Principal Investigator and Director of the Agile All-Photonic Network (AAPN) and of the “Centre pour les systèmes et technologies avancés en communications” (SYTACom)

Rainer Iraschko
Optical Networking Strategist
TELUS Technology Strategy Team

Alan Bernardi
Director of Technology Innovations
Bell Canada and the Bell University Laboratories

Robert Hadaway
Vice-President
Design Services, Global Supply Management
Nortel

Joel Martin
Senior Research Officer
National Research Council Canada

Dan Gale
Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer
CMC Microsystems

Biomedical Technologies

Molly Shoichet
Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry
University of Toronto

William Davidson
Vice-President, Science and Technology
MDS SCIEX

Yves De Koninck
Director, Cellular Neurobiology, Centre Robert-Giffard
Université Laval

William Gentles
Vice-President
BT Medical Technology Consulting

Josh Leon
Dean of Engineering
Dalhousie University

Roxanne Deslauriers
Director of Research, Institute for Biodiagnostics
National Research Council Canada

Max Beck
President and CEO
Easter Seals Canada

Sally Brown
President and CEO
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

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Competitive Manufacturing and Value-Added Products and Processes

Michel M. Dumoulin
Director
Advanced Materials Design, Industrial Materials Institute
National Research Council Canada

Kornel Farkas
Research and Development Manager
Van-Rob Inc.
Adjunct Research Professor, University of Western Ontario

Claude Lamothe
Sales Manager
Wood Division
Abitibi-Consolidated Inc.

Don McIntosh
Senior Fellow and Manager
Manufacturing Technology
Pratt & Whitney Canada

Alan Potter
Executive Director
Forest Research Opportunity BC

Milena Sejnoha
Manager
Climate Change Technology Development Group
Office of Energy, Research and Development
Natural Resources Canada

Healthy Environment and Ecosystems

Donald Lush
Senior Consultant
Stantec Consulting Ltd.
Special Advisor to the IAEA

Hadi Husain
Director of Research and Development
Zenon Environmental Inc.

David Layzell
Professor
Department of Biology, Queen's University
CEO and Research Director, BIOCAP Canada Foundation

Ed Mallet
President and CEO
Ontario Centre for Environmental Technology Advancement

Yvon Maranda
Chief, Watershed Management
Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs du Québec

Jonathan Russell
Chief Forester
Millar Western Forest Products Ltd.

Barbara Sherwood Lollar
Professor
Department of Geology
University of Toronto

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Quality Foods and Novel Bioproducts

Maurice Moloney
Chief Scientific Officer
SemBioSys Genetics Inc.

Deborah Buszard
Professor
McGill University

Malcolm Devine
Research Director
Plant Biotechnology Institute
National Research Council Canada

Clément Vigneault
Engineer, Research Scientist
Horticulture Research and Development Centre
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Allan Paulson
Professor
Dalhousie University
Associate Scientific Director of the Advanced Foods and Materials Network of Centres of Excellence (AFMNet)

Gord Surgeoner
President
Ontario Agri-Food Technologies

Tillmann Benfey
Professor
University of New Brunswick

John Kennelly
Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Home Economics
University of Alberta

Bryan Harvey
Vice-Chairman – Board
Canadian Agri-Food Research Council (CARC)

Safety and Security

Edward McBean
Professor
University of Guelph

Louis Bélanger
Chief Technology Officer
Communications Security Establishment

Cam Boulet
Director, CRTI
Defence R&D Canada

Jack Cornett
Director, Radiation Protection Bureau, Safe Environments Program
Health Canada
Adjunct professor at Trent and Carleton Universities

John Detombe
Director of AEPOS
Information Security Division
ADGA Group Consultants

Adam Hatfield
Manager
Technology and Academic Resources Development
Canadian Emergency Preparedness College
Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada

David Keating
Chief
Security Technology Technical Standards
Transport Canada

Sustainable Energy Systems (Production, Distribution and Utilization)

Kenneth Putt
Consultant
K.W. Putt Consulting Inc.

Randal Goodfellow
President
Goodfellow Agricola Consultants Inc.

Graham R. Campbell
Director General
Office of Energy Research and Development
Natural Resources Canada

Wyman Pattee
Manager
Vehicle Emissions and Fuels
Ford Motor Company of Canada

Vicky Sharpe
President and CEO
Sustainable Development Technology Canada

Angus Bruneau
Chairman
Fortis Inc.

Gerry Ertel
Manager
Regulatory Affairs
Shell Canada Ltd.

Alain Forcione
Research Engineer
Hydro-Québec

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Criteria for Selecting Research Topics Within the Target Areas

NSERC examined each proposed research topic in the light of six criteria, screening according to the questions below.

Supports the goal of a target area

• Will research within this topic most likely lead to significant outcomes within five to ten years?
• Is this a research topic where the SPG program can make a significant difference, or are other programs and sources of funding more important?

 Canadians might benefit economically and/or socially

• Will research within this topic most likely create economic benefits for Canadians?
• Will research within this topic most likely generate jobs?
• Will research and training within this topic expand the business capacity of current leading Canadian companies or an existing industry sector?
• Will research within this topic most likely lead to a new industry sector in which small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) could grow and/or spin off companies?
• Will research within this topic most likely generate social benefits, and how great is the potential impact of these benefits?

Canada currently has a leading role to play or a niche in this area of research, or is expected to develop such a role or niche in the ten-year time frame

• Is Canada currently considered a world leader in this area of research?
• Could Canada potentially lead in this area of research in the near future?
• Is Canada one of the only players in this target area/research topic and will continued research maintain that niche advantage?

Sufficient receptor capacity

• Are there companies and/or government departments (as appropriate) available to partner in this target area/research topic to help receive, validate and exploit the research results?

Demonstrated need for highly qualified people, now and in the future

• Is there a demonstrated need for more highly qualified people in this field of research?
• Is there the potential for job creation in this field of research?
• Is there a need for more university researchers in this field of research?

 Sufficient number of Canadian researchers

• Is there currently a significant core of university researchers working in this field?
• Could existing university researchers refocus their research interests to work in this field?
• Have universities demonstrated support for increasing research capacity in this area of research, i.e., by establishing new centres or clusters?