Alberta Ingenuity Fund off to strong start but needs province to increase endowment

The Alberta Ingenuity Fund (AIF) has innovative plans to bolster targeted research excellence in the province but it’s being constrained by an endowment that hasn’t increased as originally anticipated. With the recent addition of a third Ingenuity Research Centre — the AIF’s showcase program designed to align with provincial priorities — it is proceeding with plans to launch even more.

But AIF’s long-term vision can’t be implemented until the province follows through on its original commitment to boost AIF’s endowment from $500 million to $1 billion by 2005. The initial endowment of $500 million was made in 2000 with the majority invested in equities (R$, March 17/00).

The downturn in the stock market pushed AIF’s value down to $420 million but it rebounded nicely and now stands at approximately $520 million. The original pledge was dependent upon sufficient government funds, and while money was relatively tight in the 2001-2002 timeframe, a recent surge in oil and gas revenues have pumped millions into the provincial treasury.

“Without new money, we can’t think any grand new thoughts about what we ought to do. We’re almost spent out,” says Dr William Bridger, AIF’s outgoing president and CEO. “I remain highly optimistic that something will be done about our endowment in short order, the target being 2005.”

WATER RESEARCH CENTRE

For Bridger, the launch of the Alberta Ingenuity Centre for Water Research (AICWR) last fall epitomizes the kind of research the AIF can facilitate (R$, October 27/03). Funded with $7.5 million over five years, the AICWR brings together research expertise from Alberta’s three universities. It has recently appointed an executive director who will be named in the coming weeks.

While the AICWR has the flexibility to set its research agenda, it takes care to ensure that projects are aligned with provincial priorities. Projects in groundwater research, urban waste water management and future water sources have emerged as priorities.

“It’s a joy to behold. We’re thinking big and recruiting world class researchers,” says Bridger. “The AIF is helping universities pay higher salaries that are required to recruit by providing substantial top-ups. Each virtual centre we establish has AIF funds of $280,000 a year for training and that allows them to hire post docs.”

The concept of the Centres is to identify research areas where Alberta has disproportionate strength and where it is looking for long-term benefit over a 20-year horizon. Other proposals are now being evaluated with announcements due as early as July.

With the increase in provincial R&D initiatives, some programs are focusing on similar areas of research. Bridger says his successor will have to deal with instances of overlap between AIF-funded projects and those funded within the province’s growing research institute structure.

“There are no structural assurances of cooperation and planning since I don’t have a seat on ASRA (Alberta Science and Research Authority),” he says. “The separation is historic and goes back to the early days of the AHFMR (Alberta Heritage Fund for Medical Research) when they wanted to make it clear that they were independent. This approach was also applied to us but the existing institutes ... overlap with areas of AIF research.”

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