The end of the year is a good time for taking stock and research infrastructure is something worth considering. The economic future in northern Ontario will be in services
and the knowledge economy will feature heavily in this sector. Creation of new knowledge and its application
in the servicing of population needs as well as servicing the traditional transportation
and resource sectors will be the future.
Northern Ontario universities are on the front line when it comes to
research and the knowledge economy and they have been successful in boosting
their research activity. One measure of
research success is their ability to attract funding for and then recruit
research chairs.
The role of a research chair is to boost research activity
in a specific field or specialty by providing a faculty member with concrete resources
to conduct their research as well as provide teaching release that enables them
to focus more on their research. A
research chair can often be financed by the public sector: for example, Canada Research Chairs. They can also be from private donors as the
result of fund raising activity by universities or by universities investing their
own budgetary resources.
In the case of federal Canada Research Chairs (CRC), there
are two types: Tier 1 Chairs, tenable for seven years and renewable, are for
outstanding researchers acknowledged by their peers as world leaders in their
fields. For each Tier 1 Chair, the university receives $200,000 annually for
seven years. Tier 2 chairs, tenable for five years and renewable once, are for
exceptional emerging researchers, acknowledged by their peers as having the
potential to lead in their field. For each Tier 2 chair, the institution receives
$100,000 annually for five years.
A list of research chairs at northern Ontario universities
was compiled from the Canada Research Chair web site as well as university
research pages and is presented at the end of this post. Research chairs in northern Ontario
universities are primarily dominated by CRCs.
There are 24 CRCs currently listed as being held at northern Ontario
universities: 1 at Algoma, 10 at Lakehead, 9 at Laurentian and 4 at
Nipissing. Northern Ontario accounts for
just under 2 percent of Canada’s population and holds just over 1 percent of
CRCs. As well, most of the CRCs held at
northern Ontario universities are generally more junior Tier 2 Chairs.
Along with these 24 CRCs, there appear to be another 14
assorted research chairs listed on university websites as currently being held. These are funded internally (for example a
Lakehead University Research Chair), by the Ontario government (Ontario Research
Chairs) or other funding agencies or resources (for example, Fednor or the
Northern Ontario Heritage Fund). These
additional research chairs bring the total in northern Ontario up to 38.
What is conspicuous by their absence in this list of northern
Ontario research chairs is private donor financed named chairs in which an
endowment is donated to finance a named research chair in perpetuity. This is something that is more common at
much older, more established and more research-intensive universities. All these northern
Ontario chairs ultimately rely on short-term financing, which once expired ends
the chair meaning there is fragility to the current research chair
infrastructure at these universities.
A challenge for northern Ontario’s research future is for its
universities to engage in efforts to attract larger endowments to fund more
permanent research chairs. This is of
course a great challenge for any university in the current fund raising environment. In general, the weaker economy in northern
Ontario poses unique challenges that are reinforced by the absence of corporate
headquarters in the region. There are
two other more specific challenges.
First, it is often easier to raise money for things rather
than human resources. Donors can see the
outcome from a new building or piece of scientific equipment but it is more of
a challenge but not impossible to sell a research chair. Very often, private donors with a passion in
a certain area of study will look for an opportunity to fund their
passion. Finding and building such
relationships is a long-term investment of development office resources.
Second, given current conservative rates of return – circa 4
percent – it would take an endowment of four million dollars to generate
$160,000 in income. The salary, benefits
and research funding such an amount can support at best means a relatively junior
hire. It goes without saying that the fund-raising required to attract a more
senior scholar near the top of their field is much more substantial.
Knowledge intensive economic activity will be the front edge
of economic activity in northern Ontario.
The challenge for northern Ontario universities is to grow their investment
in research activity with research chairs representing key anchor points in
their research infrastructure. Part of
this growth must involve greater efforts to attract private donor funding to
support those research chairs.
RESEARCH CHAIR INVENTORY FOR
NORTHERN ONTARIO UNIVERSITIES
Algoma
University
Canada Research Chairs
Antunes, Pedro
Tier 2, Natural Sciences and Engineering, Plant and Tree
Biology
Lakehead
University
Canada Research Chairs
Chen, Aicheng
Tier 2, Natural
Sciences and Engineering, Analytical Chemistry
Fatehi, Pedram
Tier 2, Natural
Sciences and Engineering, Chemical
Engineering
Greenwood, David
Tier 2, Social Sciences
and Humanities, Education
Levkoe, Charles
Tier 2, Social Sciences
and Humanities, Geography
Mushquash, Christopher
Tier 2, Social Sciences
and Humanities, Health Psychology
Rakshit, Sudip
Tier 1, Natural Sciences
and Engineering, Chemical Engineering
Rennie, Michael D.
Tier 2, Natural
Sciences and Engineering, Evolution and
Ecology
Reznik, Alla
Tier 2, Natural
Sciences and Engineering, Physics
Sameshima, Pauline
Tier 2, Social Sciences and Humanities, Education
Tocheri, Matthew W.
Tier 2, Social Sciences
and Humanities, Anthropology
Other Research Chairs
Dr. Peter Hollings, Geology, Lakehead University Research
Chair in Geochemistry and Ore Deposits (2017-2019)
Dr. Sandra Jeppesen, Lakehead University Research Chair in
Transformative Media and Social Movements (2017-2019)
Dr. Kristin Burnett, Department of Indigenous Learning:
Lakehead University Research Chair in Indigenous Health and Well-Being
(2014-2017)
Dr. Doug Morris, Department of Biology,
Research Chair in Northern Studies
Dr. Mitchell S. Albert, Department of Chemistry, Thunder Bay
Regional Research Institute, Chair in Molecular Imaging and Advanced
diagnostics
Dr. Lew Christopher, Director of the Biorefining Research
Institute and Senior Ontario Research Chair
Laurentian
University
Canada Research Chairs
Basiliko, Nathan
Tier 2, Natural
Sciences and Engineering, Soil Science
Crozier, Gillian
Tier 2, Social Sciences
and Humanities, Philosophy
Gunn, John
Tier 1, Natural Sciences
and Engineering, Evolution and Ecology
Kraus, Christine
Tier 2, Natural
Sciences and Engineering, Astronomy and
Astrophysics
Merritt, Thomas
Tier 2, Natural Sciences and Engineering, Molecular Biology
Schinke, Robert
Tier 2, Social Sciences
and Humanities, Other in SSH
Schulte-Hostedde, Albrecht
Tier 2, Natural
Sciences and Engineering, Evolution and
Ecology
Walker, Jennifer
Tier 2, Health Health Services Research – General
Ye, Zhibin
Tier 2, Natural Sciences and Engineering, Chemical Engineering
Other Research Chairs
Dr. Doug Boreham
Radiation and Health
Dr. Greg Ross
FedNor Algae and Environment
Dr. Michael Lesher
Mineral Exploration
Dr. Nadia Mykytzuk
NOHFC - Biomining, Bioremediation and Science Communication
Dr. Nancy Young
(No Specification)
Dr. Serge Miville
Franco-Ontarian History
Dr. Sheldon Tobe
HSF/NOSM Chair in Aboriginal and Rural Health
Dr. Tammy Eger
Occupational Health and Safety
Nipissing
University
Canada Research Chairs
Bruner, Mark
Tier 2, Social Sciences
and Humanities, Psychosocial Behavioural Research - General
Greer, Kirsten
Tier 2, Social Sciences
and Humanities, Geography
James, April
Tier 2, Natural
Sciences and Engineering Hydrology
Zarifa, David
Tier 2, Social Sciences
and Humanities, Sociology
