Science and Research committee  The smallest universities are struggling. As you have heard, 79% of the funding would be concentrated into particular areas, including my own university. If we are to think of something more beneficial for a large number of graduate students studying in all universities in Canada, we have to step outside of the current funding model to see how we could support those students, who are struggling to receive funding support despite the fact that they are academically bright and very talented.

Science and Research committee  I've lost my thoughts on that.

Science and Research committee  Maybe it will come to me, and then I'll let you know.

Science and Research committee  Thank you for asking this amazing question. One of the things we want to do is make graduate education accessible. I think that is the number one priority. If Canada wants to succeed in the current global political economy, we have to consider graduate education as a top priority for the nation.

Science and Research committee  It's a very difficult question. Universities don't receive really all the support for housing or for offering what we call “living subsidies” to graduate students. In the current environment and in what we normally do, I would say that only about 10% of our students are funded externally by granting councils.

Science and Research committee  No. We are separating it completely. Our focus is exclusively on graduate student fellowships, which would not be tied to the success rates of faculty members' grant applications. That would be a separate issue. Graduate students, regardless of their location and regardless of their affiliation, should be able to apply for fellowships based on their academic merit and excellence.

Science and Research committee  The second one that we are proposing is something that Canada does not necessarily have now. It creates a bigger challenge for students who, for many different reasons, cannot go to another location to pursue their academic degrees but have to be in their hometown. Despite the fact they are talented, they don't necessarily have the resources to go to another institution to participate in research activities or academic activities that are unavailable to them.

Science and Research committee  One thing I could highlight is that graduate education is always about recruiting talent, and it has always been. For this particular program, the policy changes would really help us nurture a culture of skill and talent. This applies especially in the current context, where we are witnessing a significant skills gap, so this proposal would help us address that issue.

Science and Research committee  I can say two things. You can look at it from a graduate student's perspective; there are numerous reasons why a graduate student would not really want to move from the place where they're currently situated, due to their caregiving responsibilities, family responsibilities and other financial responsibilities.

Science and Research committee  I think there are two things we are proposing. One is to change the current distribution model, which indeed rewards various specific institutions and various specific groups of students. We want it to be widely available to students studying in all universities. The quota system is not going to be determined by the successes achieved by faculty-led research initiatives.

Science and Research committee  I would be happy to do so. I think the current system is structured around two assumptions. They're not directly related to students' funding support; they're related to the support faculty members would normally receive from tri-agencies. Based on the success rate of the faculty members, each university would receive quotas for doctoral students and master's students.

Science and Research committee  Good morning. My name is Fahim Quadir. I'm the vice-provost and the dean of the school of graduate studies and post-doctoral affairs at Queen's University.

Science and Research committee  We strongly believe that the current models for distributing federal research funding in Canada are outdated and ineffective in achieving their core mission of supporting the next generation of researchers. In particular, the current concentration of Canadian research funding among a few universities has created an inequitable and, at times, inaccessible research funding ecosystem in this country.

Science and Research committee  To effectively support graduate student research, as well as to foster a culture of innovation in Canada, CAGS proposes a model for distributing funds based upon the size of an institution's graduate student population. This new model would be supported by three fundamental principles and/or assumptions: All universities in Canada, regardless of their size and location, have centres of research excellence and exceptional graduate students; equity in graduate education and scholarship is fundamentally enhanced when graduate students from different types of institutions and disciplines have access to federal funding; and academic excellence and merit of the students should be the primary driver in distributing federal research funding.

Science and Research committee  We recommend two specific policy changes. The first is establishing a new framework for research funding and distribution quotas determined by the number of graduate students enrolled in research-based programs at each institution. This would shift the current allocation of funding to a model that is balanced, based upon academic merit of the students and aligned with the proportion of researchers in each of the three tri-agencies.