Speaking points
Dr. Mona Nemer
Chief Science Advisor of Canada
SRSR Committee Meeting: Federal Scholarships and Fellowships Study
Ottawa, Ontario
June 6, 2023
Check against delivery
Good morning, Mr. Chair, and thank you for the opportunity to exchange with you and your committee on a very important topic. As a scientist, educator, and former university vice president of research, I am pleased to share my perspective on our country’s scholarships and fellowships system.
In my career, I have trained more than 100 graduate and postgraduate students and have mentored and counseled scores more. Today, these individuals work in government, in the biotech and pharma industry and in our colleges and universities. Many have become leading researchers in key areas from neuroscience to cancer. Some are practicing health professionals while others have become entrepreneurs starting and growing companies. Many were international students and over 50 percent of them chose to make Canada their new home upon graduation. What all my graduate students have in common is fulfilling the requirements of their postgraduate degrees largely through research.
This is not specific to my group or to my area of research in biological sciences. What I just described is how graduate programs in science are structured.
In these programs, the bulk of learning happens through hands-on experimenting and problem solving while carrying out a research project under the supervision of an accredited professor — which is why graduate degrees are in reality apprenticeship programs. The stipend graduate students receive, whether a direct scholarship or one paid from the research funds of the supervisor — acknowledges the work they perform while training, just like trade apprentices or medical residents.
In the past 20 years, the research intensity of our post-secondary institutions has significantly increased thanks in no small part to federal support to research infrastructure and to programs like the Canada Research Chairs and Canada Excellence Research Chairs. Attracting leading researchers to Canada has in turn increased training capacity in research, including in key sectors such as artificial intelligence, data sciences, health and environmental studies. This flourishing research ecosystem further enhanced Canada’s position as a world leader in many advanced technologies with significant economic impacts.
Unfortunately, during this time, the number of scholarships and the value of research grants has not risen as fast as our growing number of graduate students. Consequently, access to scholarships has become limited and the value of stipends has not kept pace with the cost of living. At a time of workforce shortages and intense international competition, we need to review our programs to better support graduate training opportunities and make these programs more attractive and accessible to all communities in Canada.
There are many reasons why we urgently need to address the issue of graduate and postgraduate training. I will focus on three.
First, graduate programs help people develop their individual talent and skills. Training people through research is one of the best ways to ensure that they are “job ready.” Beyond technical expertise gained, doing research helps individuals acquire the transferable competencies that most employers are looking for: problem solving, adaptability, resilience and team work, to name a few.
Second, a robust graduate training sector contributes to a growing economy. Talent is the magnet that draws industries to a country and region. By helping our universities develop talent, we are making Canada attractive for international investment and spurring regional economic development.
Third, modernizing and diversifying our graduate landscape now will reap enormous benefits for our future. Canada’s reputation as a talent powerhouse is attracting the leading industries of tomorrow, from health and food products to electric battery manufacturing and giants of the auto industry. By enhancing training and postgraduate job opportunities, we will keep talent at home, attract top international students, and amplify the virtuous circle that links research and training through research to prosperous societies.
In short, now is not the time to rest on our laurels. Just like we couldn’t predict a few years ago how artificial intelligence or even the pandemic would impact society, we can’t always predict what the next big discovery or technical development will be or what profound changes it will usher in. Making our scholarships more competitive and equally accessible to all, will ensure we have the diverse talent pool and workforce needed to take on the as-yet-unknown challenges and opportunities to come.
I cannot think of a better way to “future proof” our communities and societies.