[cmath] Re: Résultats de notre demande de subvention

[Nassif Ghoussoub]

Dear Francois Lalonde,

At a time when individual discovery grants are being cut by 17%,  
NSERC's decision to increase the funding of the 3 math institutes was  
supposed to be an occasion to celebrate. Yet, you have elected to  
diffuse widely a memo (see below), claiming that:

``The CRM has ranked first amongst the Canadian Institutes in the  
NSERC MRS competition."
but also stating
  ``these results are worrisome.... because it (the CRM) is the  
least  supported by NSERC in proportion to its overall budget: indeed  
the NSERC grant represents only 20 % of our budget, far behind PIMS,  
BIRS and MITACS which receive between 30 and 50 % of their funding  
from federal agencies. "

Notwithstanding that the CRM numbers on its own web page show that  
31% of its budget (firmly anchored on historic in-kind contributions)  
comes from NSERC,  and that no other director has received the  
information and reports that you claim you have from NSERC,  I find  
myself particularly miffed --but not surprised-- by your choice of  
PIMS, BIRS and MITACS to dump on, in what should have been a "victory  
speech".

To that I say:

1) That a MITACS Board member points a finger at the network --which  
is not funded by NSERC's MRS-- at  a point in time where the whole  
country is proud of MITACS' achievements,  is irresponsible and  
clumsy at best. MITACS --which was explicitly praised only a few days  
ago in the federal budget-- attracts huge amounts of provincial and  
industrial cash, and supports hundreds (soon to be thousands) of  
graduate students, post-docs and interns across the country. Its  
recent  successes in getting provincial funds are unheard of:  BC  
($10M), Quebec ($225K ), Atlantic Canada ($1M), Alberta ($1M),  
Prairies ($375K) etc...No other organization (public or private) has  
as many industrial contributing partners (over 250 at last count).

2) Your figure of BIRS  --which was not part of this MRS  
competition-- is outright false and totally uncalled for.  I know of  
no other Canadian research institution where NSERC cash support  
($2.87M) is substantially inferior to provincial matching (Alberta  
alone $3.4M) and foreign funding (NSF alone $3.1M). A mere 21% of the  
BIRS budget. I invite you to join the rest of Canada in being proud  
of what BIRS is accomplishing for the international scientific  
community (2300 participants from over 50 countries every year ).

3) You say: ``the CRM will have to find research funds outside of  
Canada", and we say that yes a lesson or two can be learned from  
others' pioneering efforts in attracting opportunities to Canada.  
BIRS attracts the largest NSF grant to Canada. The ``Laboratoire  
CNRS  associe a PIMS" brings huge resources to Canada, albeit  in  
terms of  talented researchers with full salaries  paid by the French  
government, or by the access to European granting agencies,  that  
this affiliated Laboratoire allows. Stay also tuned for what PRIMA is  
about to accomplish on an even larger scale.

4) It is a pity that the lessons of the first re-allocation exercise  
have been so quickly forgotten by NSERC's staff who --if your  
statements are indeed correct-- seem to be back into the unproductive  
business of foolishly assigning ranks that no serious scientist can  
take  seriously, since they are neither substantiated nor useful.  
What a waste of a joyful opportunity to re-assure the community!

5)  You had the wit to duplicate and adapt the PIMS collaborative  
programme, the PIMS Industrial problem solving workshops, the PIMS PI  
in the Sky magazine, among other concepts pioneered by PIMS.  NSERC  
rewarded you for it. So, there is no need to either break the arm  
that fed you, nor poke the eye of those who inspired you.

I say that some humility and gratitude is in order. It is high time  
for bitterness to take the back seat, and to allow for a celebration.  
Good (French) Champaign should be offered to the armies of math  
scientists who helped you (and the other directors) achieve this  
success.

Nassif


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2007 12:00:04 -0400
From: "[ISO-8859-1] François Lalonde" <directeur at CRM.UMontreal.CA>
To: liste-25jan07 at CRM.UMontreal.CA
Subject: [ISO-8859-1] Résultats de notre demande de subvention

ENGLISH FOLLOWS

Chers collègues et ami(e)s,

     j'ai appris hier que le CRM vient de se classer premier parmi  
les instituts canadiens dans le concours ARM (Appui aux ressources  
majeures) du CRSNG qui est le programme par lequel sont maintenant  
financés les instituts canadiens. Voici les résultats du concours  
pour la période 2008-2013:

CRM:  1 200 000 $ par an
Fields: 1 200 000 $ par an
PIMS:  1 100 000 $ par an

   Ces résultats sont encourageants car ils montrent la  
reconnaissance de la qualité et de l'impact du travail réalisé au CRM  
en collaboration avec l'ISM et nos universités partenaires du Québec  
et de l'Ontario au cours des 5 dernières années. Les rapports des  
comités d'évaluation sont particulièrement élogieux. Cette subvention  
représente une augmentation de 25 % de notre financement dans une  
période difficile et dans un concours où les rares  fonds disponibles  
étaient âprement disputés.

    Mais ces résultats sont également inquiétants: depuis 1997, date  
à laquelle le CRM recevait du CRSNG une subvention de 875 000 $,  
jusqu'à 2013 où le CRM recevra 1 200 000 $, l'augmentation n'aura pas  
atteint 50 % en 15 ans !!!  Bien que le  CRM soit l'institut le plus  
performant au Canada, il est le moins bien financé au prorata de son  
budget par le CRSNG: notre subvention du CRSNG ne représente en effet  
que 20 % de notre budget total, loin derrière les autres instituts  
qui recoivent entre 30 et 50 % de leurs fonds des agences fédérales.  
Cela signifie que le CRM devra continuer de trouver hors du Canada  
ses fonds de recherche -- une situation étonnante dans laquelle le  
premier institut au Canada se trouve, plus que tout autre, projeté  
hors du pays.

   Merci à tous ceux et à toutes celles qui ont tant travaillé, aussi  
bien sur le plan scientifique, administratif que logistique, à ce  
succès.
cordialement,
François Lalonde

Dear colleagues,

    I just learned yesterday that the CRM ranked first amongst the  
Canadian Institutes in the NSERC MRS competition, the program that  
now funds all Canadian Institutes. Here are the results for the  
2008-2013 competition:

CRM:  1 200 000 $ per year
Fields: 1 200 000 $ per year
PIMS:  1 100 000 $ per year

    These results are encouraging as they are the recognition of the  
quality and impact of the work carried out by the CRM in  
collaboration with the ISM, and our partner universities in Quebec  
and in Ontario over the past five years. The reports by the  
evaluation committees are highly praiseful. This grant is a 25 % 
increase from NSERC and comes at a difficult time when few funds were  
available.


    But these results are also worrisome. Since 1997 when the CRM  
received an NSERC grant of 875 000 $ until 2013 when the CRM will  
receive 1 200 000 $, the net increase will have been less than 50 %  
within 15 yeasrs !!! Though the CRM is the highest performing  
institute in Canada, it is the least supported by NSERC in proportion  
to its overall budget: indeed the NSERC grant represents only 20 % of  
our budget, far behind PIMS, BIRS and MITACS which receive between 30  
and 50 % of their funding from federal agencies. This means that the  
CRM will have to continue to find research funds outside of Canada --  
a surprising situation in which the premier institute in Canada finds  
itself, more than any other, projecting outside of the country.

   I would like to thank all those who have contributed, on a  
scientific, administrative or logistic level, to this success.
Sincerely,
François Lalonde



   ********************************************************
Nassif Ghoussoub, FRSC
Scientific Director, Banff International Research Station
Distinguished University Scholar, University of British Columbia
Adjunct Professor, University of Alberta
http://www.pims.math.ca/~nassif/