CFI awards support operations and maintenance of 12 major science facilities

Mark Henderson
January 17, 2017

Compute Canada tops list with $69.5 million

 

The Canada Foundation has awarded $328.5 million into 17 research facilities at 12 universities across the country, leveraging $492.75 million for a total of $821.25 million. The funding was made through the CFI’s Major Science Initiatives (MSI) Fund, a key mechanism for operations and maintenance (O&M) support of major science facilities.

The successful projects were selected from a field of 41 applicants.[rs_related_article slug="CFI announces results of special $25-million competition for major science facilities"]

The competition is the third held under MSI, which was created in 2010 by the previous Conservative government. In 2012, $177 million was up for grabs, while a special competition in 2014 provided $25 million. That funding came from interest on CFI funding that was provided by the former Liberal government during a period when CFI was not funded on an as-needed basis.

[rs_related_article slug="CFI seeking predictable funding as it rolls out initiatives under new strategic roadmap"]Compute Canada, the Canadian Light Source and Ocean Networks Canada received the largest awards, representing 50% of the competition total (see chart).

The MSI program is a key component of the CFI’s efforts to take a systematic approach for evaluating and addressing the O&M funding needs and the scientific performance of national “big science” research facilities.[rs_related_article slug="Office of National Science Advisor sends science framework out for consultation"]

The creation of the MSI program capped years of advocacy by major facilities such as the Canadian Light Source and TRIUMF, and was the subject of a 2005 framework developed by the Office of the National Science Advisor. That was followed up two years later by a position paper jointly written by the CFI, National Research Council and the three federal granting councils.

[rs_related_article slug="Big science operating costs resurface after two years in policy limbo"]

CFI MSI Competition 2017-2022

Compute Canada Western Univ 69.5
Canadian Light Source Inc Univ of Saskatchewan 48.0
Ocean Networks Canada Univ of Victoria 46.6
Canada’s Genomics Enterprise Hospital for Sick Children 32.0
SNOLAB Facility Operations Queen’s Univ 28.6
International Vaccine Centre Univ of Saskatchewan 19.3
Research Icebreaker Amundsen Laval Univ 18.2
Centre for Phenogemomics Mount Sinai Hospital 15.4
Ocean Tracking Network Dalhousie Univ 11.4
Cancer Trials Group & Statistics Centre Queen’s Univ 8.7
National Design Network Queen’s Univ 7.0
Canadian Research Data Centre Network McMaster Univ 5.9
Metabolics Innovation Centre Univ of Alberta 6.0
Research Platform in Human and

Social Sciences

Univ of Montreal 4.1
Centre for Electron Microscopy McMaster Univ 3.8
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry for

Environmental Radionuclides

Univ of Ottawa 2.6
Super Dual Auroral Radar Network Univ of Saskatchewan 1.6

 

 

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