Thank you for your invitation today.

Thank you for the opportunity to address this parliamentary committee today.

The University of Calgary is one of Canada's research-intensive universities. We are Canada's entrepreneurial university, having started over 90 companies in the past five years, which is more than any other university in Canada over this period.

We have one of the fastest-growing rates of research funding, with $589 million in externally funded research revenue in the past year. One-third of that funding comes from industry and our community, which speaks to the relevance of the research we do.

Our scholars consistently demonstrate excellence and transdisciplinary collaboration, which are among the reasons why our external funding continues to grow and it's why the prospect of the capstone research organization is so exciting.

UCalgary welcomed the renewed investments in innovation and talent, as well as the plan to create a capstone research organization in budget 2024. This investment follows important historical investments by previous governments, both Conservative and Liberal, that built Canada's excellent research ecosystem.

When creating the capstone organization, I urge you to keep in mind the common definition of a capstone. In building our architecture, it's a stone that lies on top that adds strength and protects the function of the pillars underneath. If we create an organization that truly reflects the common meaning of a capstone, we will have a better research ecosystem in Canada that will flourish, attract investment and build new partnerships with sectors of Canada and internationally.

The implementation of a capstone organization that increases synergies across the granting agencies and includes governance structures supporting interdisciplinary and mission-driven research is a big enhancement to Canada's research ecosystem.

As you consider the implementation of the new capstone, I have four requests for this committee.

First, establish governance for the capstone that maintains a balance across the scientific disciplines and is inclusive of all actors within the research ecosystem. The implementation of a capstone organization recognizes that science is not siloed. It has the potential to result in better integration and processes across disciplines, with streamlined access to international partnerships, and with resources for mission-driven and interdisciplinary research for the 21st century.

Some coordination gains were made through the Canada research coordinating committee and the tri-agency institutional programs secretariat, but results were limited. Both entities encouraged coordination, but integration without governance relies on relationships for progress.

Greater integration is achieved when governance demands it. The capstone therefore must be equipped with a clear mandate, structures and resources to facilitate integration across the granting agencies.

Second, move toward more harmonized processes across the councils over time, without disrupting research cycles during transition or unnecessarily losing discipline-specific cultures. A healthy harmonization of processes and systems across the research ecosystem is a positive opportunity and, in fact, there are many benefits.

Third, maintain political independence of funding decisions and the core commitment to academic freedom, peer review and the free pursuit of knowledge. Federal support for research in Canada is based on rigorous, independent review that rewards the merits of applications and is considered the best practice internationally. Maintain this political independence for both discipline-specific and mission-driven research. Funding decisions should always be guided by scholarly excellence based on competitive applications and merit-based peer review.

Finally, the capstone mission-driven and interdisciplinary research should be funded through a new envelope, rather than redistribution of existing granting agency funds. This will ensure that Canada is best positioned to compete on a global scale.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you today.

I look forward to your questions.