Update from the CFI: Meeting of the Council of Chairs of Canadian Earth Science Departments Ottawa (ON), October

Topics Current Context for the CFI Status of current competitions Cyberinfrastructure Initiative Other programs news: JELF, CIIF CFI’s Navigator

A VIBRANT RESEARCH ECOSYSTEM BENEFITS TO CANADA Canada’s readiness for innovation

The Value of the CFI Model $1.00 $1.38 $2.97 The CFI foundation model leverages $2 for every $1 invested by the Government of Canada, while ensuring excellence, accountability and efficiency in delivery. To date, the CFI has received $5.49 billion from the GoC; generated $1.36 billion in interest income; and leveraged a total investment of more than $14 billion in research infrastructure.

2015 – A critical year CFI awards to institutions will reach historical lows in 2016 & 2017 No funds to sustain previously supported facilities have been allocated No funds to meet system growth or seize new opportunities have been allocated Current Major Science Initiatives funding ends in 2017; no funds for unique, national facilities have been allocated

Current Schedule of disbursements to institutions

What’s needed today for success tomorrow Sustainability of previously funded facilities: Invest in growth and opportunities Operational support for unique, national research facilities Total CFI request: $450 million per year over the next 5 years to maintain and enhance social and economic returns on investment

MSI 2014 Special competition $25M, 23proposals NOICallAppBoard College-Industry Innovation Fund Stream 1, $8M, 30 proposals Call NOI AppBoard Innovation Fund 2015 $325M, 350 proposals Call NOI App Board MSI 2011 Mid-term review $75M, 4 proposals App Board College-Industry Innovation Fund Stream 2, $2M, 5 proposals NOI BoardAppBoard John R.Evans Leaders Fund $20-25M, proposals Board AppBoard AppBoard AppBoard AppBoard AppBoard App Call Cyberinfrastructure initiative $50M, staged Board App

Cyberinfrastructure Initiative “Enhance the capacity of Canadian institutions and researchers to conduct leading-edge research by supporting infrastructure needs of computationally- and data-intensive research.” Two-pronged approach for CFI support: A limited number of research data infrastructure projects developed in collaboration with Compute Canada Upgrading and modernizing the computational and data storage capacities of the pan-Canadian advanced research computing platform, managed by Compute Canada.

Cyberinfrastructure Initiative $50M budget, planning for 2 competitions under each challenge CHALLENGE # 1: research data infrastructure projects institutions and researchers to come together to form consortia and propose research data infrastructure projects that create tailored, shared and integrated data resources (e.g. databases, data repositories) capable of enabling leading-edge research. involve multi-institutional consortia of researchers, data scientists, data analysts and software developers, to design and construct research data infrastructure projects for community of researchers to advance their research programs. Between 5 and 10 projects funded per competition

Cyberinfrastructure Initiative CHALLENGE # 2: modernizing and upgrading the advanced research computing platform The advanced research computing community, through Compute Canada, to propose a set of capabilities and services that will meet the needs of Canadian researchers conducting data-intensive and computationally challenging research over the next five years. Phase 1 for pressing needs, Phase 2 for support of projects under Challenge 1 Consultative process, driven by research needs, single proposal with scenarios/options

Cyberinfrastructure Initiative: proposed timeline Key dates Challenge 1: Research data infrastructure proposals Challenge 2: Compute Canada November st competition call for proposals released Call for the Stage 1 proposal to address pressing immediate needs January st Competition deadline for submission of expressions of interest April 2015 Submission of the Stage 1 proposal May st competition deadline for notices of intent June st competition invitation to submit full proposal CFI DECISION on Stage 1 proposal (tentative) October st competition deadline for full proposals; 2 nd competition call for proposals released March 2016CFI DECISION on 1 st competition proposals

J. R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) New name - same objectives New institutional allocations JELF utilization plan required if large unused allocation Allocations must be committed by March 31, 2017 $182M

What is it? Searchable online directory of CFI-funded research facilities and the expertise they offer Created to help businesses connect with researchers at universities, colleges/cégeps and research hospitals