Massive new federal funding urged for nanotechnology research

Canada must pay to play in emerging field

A multi-sectoral group advocating dramatically increased spending on nanotechnology research is developing a proposal for federal funding on par with the US, Japan and Europe. The group, which so far includes the Canadian NanoBusiness Alliance (CNBA) and the National Institute of Nanotechnology (NINT), is calling for a coordinated strategy and a commitment of at least $500 million over the next five years to boost strategic research underpinning niches in which Canada shows strong potential.

The call for the creation of a Canadian National Nanotechnology Initiative (CNNI) is modeled on the US National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), which was adopted by the Clinton administration in 1996 and has resulted in billions being devoted to nanotechnology research relating to science, medicine, energy and the military. Japan and Europe have also ramped up research spending on nanotechnology, creating pressure on nations like Canada to ante up or lose the race before leaving the starting gate.

“Canada must match some of these initiatives. We need vision, courage and a lot of money,” says Dr Neil Gordon, CNBA president and a partner specializing in nanotechnology with Sygertech, a Montreal-based consulting firm. “Canada does not have a science and technology policy and we’re losing our ability to participate in many fields.”

Gordon asserts that $100 million annually is the minimum the government must contribute to pull Canada up to par with what the US federal government is spending. The US NNI now accounts for $700 million in research funding annually, and Gordon estimates that funding from a variety of states provides another “fifty cents on the federal dollar”.

To push for a federal nanotechnology initiative, Gordon teamed with Dr Uri Sagman, a medical oncologist and president of C-Sixty Inc, a Delaware-based firm developing carbon molecules for a delivery system to combat cancer, AIDS and other ailments. Since forming the CNBA last spring, they have been busy soliciting support among the business, investment, academic communities while lobbying government on the need to establish and fund a national initiative that coordinates, educates and promotes Canadian nanotechnology capabilities and expertise. A meeting held last week included representatives from several other agencies, but Gordon won’t divulge their identities until their participation is formalized.

Both Sagman and Gordon recognize that nanotechnology holds incredible promise but the effort in Canada is currently fractured. They hope the CNBA will act both to integrate and enhance current activity and act as a glue to advance the business of nanotechnology. Canada currently has five strong nanotechnology research nodes in Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver and Ottawa. The aim is to help solidify those nodes and tie them together in a coordinated, strategic fashion so that new resources can be marshaled effectively.

“Canada has a significant role to play with its expertise and resources. We want to divide, conquer and consolidate the various players to develop something meaningful,” says Sagman. “We hope to become a catalyst to consolidate the sector. Our long-term focus is to be applicable to all stakeholders, expand as much as possible and develop linkages to global markets. The National Research Council has a lot invested in nanotechnology and we’d like to use it as an example to leverage research with the business and investment communities.”

As a first order of business, CNBA is establishing a so-called Nanotech SWAT Team to develop a position paper that delineates and advocates the need for a CNNI. In addition to NINT, Gordon and Sagman are lining up other supporters within government, the granting agencies and business. Sagman says major companies such as Dow, IBM, Intel and Mitsubishi are already investing in nanotechnology research and are expressing interest. Within the university sector, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research is developing a program and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council has established a national innovation platform to coordinate and stimulate targeted research.

“It’s important for Canada to have a nanotechnology policy that’s part of a clear national S&T policy ... We need to know where we can stimulate research in Canada and avoid being a training centre for highly qualified personnel in the US,” says NINT DG Dr Dan Wayner. “Canada’s investment compared to other countries does not scale with our economy so we are losing ground on a year-to-year basis. We need to scale up to our competitors on a per capita basis and scale back on our scope of what we want to do or we won’t lead in anything.”

EDUCATION IS KEY

At this stage, much of the CNBA’s work entails education — getting the word out on the tremendous potential nanotechnology holds for Canada. That includes attending national and international gatherings, as well as encouraging and collaborating with municipalities in which nanotechnology research is already underway. Separate but parallel initiatives are underway in Toronto, Montreal and Edmonton, often with the assistance of the municipal governments. In Edmonton, that city’s economic development office is leading the charge to establish the tentatively titled Nano Alberta, a regional cluster group that would parallel CNBA’s activities on a local level. The cluster’s research anchor would be NINT, which is now gearing up operations on the campus of the Univ of Alberta and hiring senior researchers.

“We have an interest in participating in a national initiative as an Alberta-based cluster to position NINT as a comparable type of organization. The cluster would provide an Alberta presence led by NINT but including governments, cities universities and industry,” says Andrew Gilliland, NINT’s director of stakeholder relations and former regional director of IRAP Alberta.

Gilliland says NINT has a keen interest in CNBA’s lobbying effort for a national initiative and new funding . He notes that in the US, nanotechnology research receives funding at both the federal and state levels. “We have to be smart enough to see Canadian participation in the same light,” he says. “NINT is a collaboration between the federal and provincial governments and Nano Alberta is essentially being seed funded by Edmonton’s economic development office.”

In Quebec, nanotechnology research is being modestly supported at several levels, including the recent formation of Nano-Quebec, which was established last year with $10 million in funding from Valorisation-Recherche Québec (R$, November 28/01). A nanotechnology park in Montreal is in the planning stages and the NRC’s Industrial Materials Institute (IMI) is acting as a catalyst to bring players together with its first annual Nanomaterials Crossroads conference this week in Montreal. The event — hosted by the newly minted, not-for-profit Quebec Materials Network — follows up on a gathering at the Canadian Space Agency earlier this year and has generated considerable interest from sponsors and researchers across the country. (FMI: www.quebecmaterialsnetwork.ca).

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