Major grants program facing suspension unless government increases funding

SSHRC Shocker

The Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) may axe the next competition of its largest research grants program unless the federal government comes through with a major funding increase. The decision was taken by SSHRC’s governing council at a March 2/02 council meeting and communicated to the relevant research communities via an open letter from its president.

SSHRC’s rapidly escalating funding crisis was not addressed in last year’s federal Budget which provided SSHRC with a meagre $9.5-million annual increase to its base budget, far short of the $18-million minimum requested. At the time, Renaud said the granting agency would no longer be able to maintain a 40% success rate for its standard research grants and maintain support for its 22 Community University Research Alliance projects (R$, December 17/01).

But the governing council decided to proceed with a so-called “high risk option”, meaning that CURA will continue after a one-year hiatus and the success rate for applicants to the Standard Research Grants (SRG) program will remain at approximately 40%. The consequence of funding both is a budgetary shortfall of $20 million in FY03-04, increasing to $40 million in FY04-05. If government does not respond with a significant increase in funding, upcoming competition in the SRG program will be cancelled, as legislation prohibits the granting agencies from going into debt.

“It’s a time gamble,” says SSHRC president Dr Marc Renaud. “We’re not doing our job if we do not support what we feel should be supported for the good of the country. If there is no significant budget increase next year, we’re in trouble.”

Renaud rejects the notion that SSHRC is over extending its resources as a pressure tactic for increased government funding. On the contrary, he says the decision acknowledges the growing momentum in his diverse research community as evidenced by a new breed of professor who aggressively seeks research funding.

“This is all for the public good. Should we cut the dynamism we are seeing? No,” he asserts. “The ball for the money is in the government court and the ball on our side is to get people to understand and get them to express their opinions.”

In recent years, SSHRC has introduced a number of new programs to address the new trends and demands of its broad research community, including the Initiative on the New Economy with $100-million over five-year in special funding. Renaud says these new programs have been very successful and will continue, but they do little to assist the large majority of the research community. The SRG program funds more than 2,000 researchers (including 700 new applicants annually).

And while funded applicants represent only a small fraction of the research community, they account for more than $50 million annually, by far SSHRC’s largest program. Cutting the program would have a devastating impact on Canada’s social sciences and humanities research output, but for the situation to change, politicians must be convinced of their intrinsic value and contribution to national innovation.

“It’s a matter of political choice at this point. We’re not trying to get money out of the other granting councils but we can’t deliver on our mandate unless we receive significant new funding,” says Renaud. “Politicians are worried about making a visible contribution to social sciences and humanities research.”

Renaud has met with both Industry Minister Alan Rock and Maurizio Bevilacqua, secretary of state for science, research and development, to make the case for more funding. As a result of the discussion, he says he believes there is a “sincere support” for SSHRC’s demands and the beginning of an understanding of what’s at stake.

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