Canada recruits 64 researchers from U.S. universities in $504 million talent push
Federal funding draws international academics including Harvard and MIT professors; University of Toronto among Canadian institutions offering research chairs to compete globally.
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Canadian universities have recruited 64 foreign scientists and researchers, many of them from prestigious U.S. institutions including Harvard and MIT, in the first intake of a federal program designed to attract world-leading academics.
The hiring is being funded over eight years by $504 million from the federal government. All four of the highest-paid Eddie Goldenberg Distinguished Research Chairs, as well as dozens of others, were previously at U.S. institutions. The researchers are being hired by universities across the country, including the University of British Columbia, McGill, and the University of Toronto.
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly announced the recruits Thursday at the University of B.C. in Vancouver, saying Canada was "doubling down" on science at a time when others were turning away from it. "Attracting top talent will deliver breakthroughs that improve Canadians' lives and advance Canada's position as a global leader in science and innovation," she said in a statement.
Among the nine research chair hires at the University of B.C. is Peter Caravan, a molecular imaging scientist who was a radiology professor at Harvard Medical School. Caravan told the B.C. university in online remarks that there was a "personal dimension" to his appointment. "I did my undergraduate degree at Acadia University in Nova Scotia and my PhD right here at (the University of B.C.), and I spent the years since building my research career in the United States," he said. "I now get to bring back and reinvest in the country and the university that gave me my start."
The research chairs are named after Eddie Goldenberg, a policy adviser and chief of staff to former prime minister Jean Chrétien, who died last month. Ottawa said the chairs were renamed to honour his "decades of leadership that helped strengthen the Canadian research and innovation landscape."
More than $37 million in other funding will support recruitment of 63 "emerging leaders" over the next year, according to Ottawa's announcement.
By the numbers
How much federal funding supports this researcher recruitment program?
$504 million in federal government funding supports the program over eight years.
How many foreign researchers were recruited in the first intake?
64 foreign scientists and researchers were recruited in the first intake, many of them from prestigious U.S. institutions including Harvard and MIT.
How much additional funding will support recruitment of emerging leaders?
More than $37 million in other funding will support recruitment of 63 emerging leaders over the next year.
