Presented by Isabelle Blain Vice-President Research Grants and Scholarships NSERC Forum on enhancing international cooperation Tainan September 28, 2005 Opportunities for International Collaboration 1

About NSERC NSERC Key Facts An arm’s length agency of the federal government that reports to Parliament through the Minister of Industry: NSERC is a “granting agency”, it does not conduct research and has no research facilities Governed by a Council with regional and cross-sectoral representation, 22 members appointed by government; Complements two other agencies, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC); Supports research in 70 universities across Canada; About 330 employees, with headquarters in Ottawa and two regional offices (3 more planned). 2

innovation Productive use of new knowledge in all sectors of the economy and society We invest in: discovery Competitive research in science and engineering, providing access to new knowledge from around the world people Highly skilled, well educated and capable of lifelong learning USING NEW KNOWLEDGE Partnerships of universities with industry and other sectors for project research WORKING IN ALL AREAS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Scholarships and fellowships for undergraduate students, postgraduate students, postdoctoral fellows and some university faculty EXCELLENCE Our goal is Canadian excellence in: CREATING KNOWLEDGE Research Grants for basic research in the universities We do this through peer-reviewed competitions in three programs Prosperity and high quality of life for Canadians NSERC also works towards its goals by exerting INFLUENCE beyond our program reach Vision & Mission: Help make Canada a country of discoverers and innovators for the benefit of all Canadians. 3

NSERC budget : ($millions) Total budget: $862.2 million How do we support R&D? 4

Source: Science and Technology Statistical Compendium (2004) OECD. R&D in Canada Int’l benchmark How do we compare ? Total expenditure on R&D 2002, percent of GDP Total expenditure on R&D 2002 (or latest available), percent of GDP   Top 4 invests over 3% of their GDP in R&D.   In 2002, Canada was 15th, investing less than 2%.   The objective is to be amongst the top 5 by

Source: Observatoire des sciences et des technologies Top 40 Countries of Canadian Internationally Co-authored Papers in the Natural Sciences and Engineering, 2003 (% of Canadian International Papers) Country% 1. U.S U.K Germany France Japan China Italy Australia Russia Netherlands3.1 Country% 21. Finland Norway New Zealand Taiwan Hungary Mexico Austria Iran Greece Singapore0.8 Country% 11. Spain Switzerland Sweden Poland South Korea India Brazil Denmark Belgium Israel1.7 Country% 31. Czech Rep South Africa Argentina Turkey Chile Ireland Romania Portugal Thailand Egypt0.3 6 International Collaboration

7 Mechanisms for collaboration…... People   Outgoing: Postdoctoral fellowships and Graduate Scholarships available for tenure abroad; Summer Programs (in Taiwan and Japan)   Incoming: Visiting Fellowships in Canadian Government Laboratories; Canada Research Chairs & Industrial Research Chairs   On-line databases of Canadian experts   Peer Review Process   Going Global S&T Fund at Department of International Trade

8 Mechanisms (cont’d)… … Discovery Flexibility for use of funds in grant programs Special Research Opportunity (SRO) program … Innovation   Non-university partners (e.g. industry) can be foreign, though they must bring their own funding to the collaboration AND there has to be a technology receptor in Canada (benefit to Canada) International Collaboration

Special Research Opportunity (SRO) Grants Support new and emerging national or international research opportunities and accelerate time-sensitive research   Exploratory “pre-research” activities (e.g. workshop)   Collaborative research projects   Program budget is $10M per year   Individual researcher or teams of researchers may apply   No deadline date for application submission 9

Examples of Collaborations Research Projects  Deep Sub-micro CMOS technology for highly-integrated RF broadband system  Study of QoS over IP network  Sample sequencing of the Streptomyces clavuligerus genome Workshops  Bridge Technology  Natural Disaster Prevention  Aeronautical research and technology HPQ Exchange  Summer Program in Taiwan

11 International Collaboration Resources to facilitate collaboration… NSERC Awards Search Engine: contains the results of NSERC competitions and information on its funding since NSERC Chair Holder Database: is designed to connect you with some of Canada’s leading scientists and engineers. Canada Research Chairs: This database contains short profiles of each of the Canada Research Chairs to date.

For Future Reference Policy & International Division: Denis Leclerc Manager Tel: (613) Jean-Pierre Rodrigue Int’l Relations Analyst Tel: (613) NSERC’s Website: International Cooperation: Bilateral Relations: 12