Ministry of Research and Innovation Research Programs International Society for Computational Biology July 23, 2008

2 Ministry of Research and Innovation The Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI) was established three years ago to: –Develop and lead an integrated and coherent research and innovation agenda –Deliver research and commercialization programs to support the innovation agenda –Foster a culture of innovation and showcase Ontario’s innovation excellence nationally and internationally

3 The Ontario Innovation Agenda The Ontario Innovation Agenda (OIA), supported by close to $3 billion in spending over eight years, is a long-term view, “living agenda” designed to respond to changing needs, emerging issues and new opportunities The agenda supports industry-academia partnerships in areas of Ontario’s global leadership: –Bio-economy and clean technologies –Advanced health technologies –Pharmaceutical research and manufacturing –Digital media and information and communication technologies The Ministry currently is in the process of aligning its research, commercialization and outreach programs to meet the objectives of the agenda

4 Research Programs MRI Research Programs are: –Open to Ontario’s publicly supported research institutions on a competitive basis –Internationally peer reviewed for excellence –Aligned with Ontario’s priorities Program area incorporates three funding streams: –Operations Ontario Research Fund – Research Excellence –Equipment and Facilities Ontario Research Fund – Research Infrastructure –Research Talent Early Researcher Award Premier’s Discovery Awards Premier’s Catalyst Awards Postdoctoral Fellowships

5 INFRASTRUCTURE: Ontario Research Fund – Research Infrastructure supports modernization, development and acquisition of new infrastructure (small/individual to large/institutional). Administered in concert with federal counterparts. PEOPLE: Research talent programs, a central part of the knowledge creation ecosystem, support attraction and retention of researchers throughout their career development. The programs complement the federal CRC initiative. OPERATIONS: Ontario Research Fund –Research Excellence (ORF-RE) supports transformative, internationally significant research projects. While the federal tri-council grants complement ORF-RE, they are generally much smaller in scale.  ORF-RI: Small Infrastructure Grants to Attract and Retain Researchers Leaders Opportunity Fund (LOF)  Premier Discovery Award (PDA)  Premier Catalyst Award (PCA) Canada Research Chairs (CRC) Tier 1  Post-Doctoral Fellow Program (PDF)  Early Researcher Awards (ERA) Canada Research Chairs (CRC) Tier 2  ORF-RE Builds research teams (graduate students, PDFs) led by established scientists (principal investigators and co-investigators) Tri-Council Grants (CIHR; NSERC; SSHRC)  ORF-RI: Large-Scale Infrastructure Grants for Transformative Research Leading Edge Fund (LEF) Talent development/capacity building continuum Research Programs complement each other Alignment of Research Programs

6 Research Excellence (ORF-RE) ORF-RE provides operational support for the large- scale, leading-edge research initiatives: –Focuses on scientific excellence and strong commercialization –At least one call for proposals per year To date, MRI has committed $ 230 million for 45 projects committed through 2 rounds of funding: –This investment leveraged $460 million from 280 industry and other partners –RE projects will train and/or provide capacity for approximately 7000 HQPs to develop Ontario’s research talent –ORF-RE Round 3 is currently underway

7 Research Infrastructure (ORF-RI) ORF-RI provides grants to match awards made by Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) for: –Major research infrastructure funding (LEF/NIF) –Grants to attract and retain researchers (LOF) Since 2004, MRI has announced 727 projects totalling over $271 million in ORF-RI grants: –$400 million in leveraged partner funding –over 2,300 HQPs –8 spin-off companies –246 private or public sector jobs –94 patents and licensing agreements

8 Early Researcher Award Program The $68 million ERA program aims to attract and retain research talent by helping promising, recently-appointed Ontario researchers build their research teams of graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and research associates To date, the Ministry has committed $47.2 million for 337 projects through 4 rounds of awards –This investment leveraged a commitment of $14.2 million from 24 institutional partners –ERA projects will train approximately 1250 highly qualified people (HQP) and will reach 88,200 students

9 Premier’s Discovery and Catalyst Awards Postdoctoral Fellowships The Premier’s Discovery Awards (PDA) celebrate the excellence of Ontario’s finest researchers. Four annual awards totaling $1.5 million to recognize and profile achievement in: –Life sciences and medicine ($0.5M) –Natural sciences and engineering ($0.5M) –Social sciences and humanities ($0.25M) –Innovation leadership ($0.25M) The Premier’s Catalyst Awards provide five awards of $200,000 annually for developing a commercially successful product or service based on a breakthrough technology To date, the Ministry has committed: –$4.8 million committed through two rounds of PDA and PCA funding, supporting 17 leading researchers and entrepreneurs in variety of fields ranging from healthcare to a cleaner environment –$4.8 million committed through 2 rounds of Postdoctoral Fellowships funding, supporting 96 outstanding scientists with two-year fellowships at Ontario’s research institutions

10 MRI Investments in Bioinformatics Since 2003, MRI has invested close to $50 million in approximately 30 projects related to bioinformatics In addition, Ontario continues support number initiatives that provide platforms for advancing the science of bioinformatics, including: –High Performance Computing The High Performance Computing Virtual Laboratory (HPCVL), Queen's University ($11.5 million) Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Computing Network (SHARCNET), University of Western Ontario ($11 million) SciNet, University of Toronto ($8 million) –Genomics/Proteomics Structural Genomics Consortium ($25 million) Barcode of Life ($6 million) Genome Canada matching ($20 million)

11 Contact Information Jane Kirkwood Manager, Research Branch or Allison Barr Director, Research Branch or