Queen's Vice-Principal (Research) Steven Liss (left)  joined Minister of State (Science and Technology) Gary Goodyear for a major funding announcement at Stirling Hall.

A new federal research funding program will target large university projects with multiple partners across the country that have already received at least $25 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

The $185-million Major Sciences Initiatives (MSI) program was announced at Queen’s today by Science and Technology Minister Gary Goodyear. Recipients will receive, on average, 40 per cent of the total operating cost of their facilities over a five-year period beginning 2012-13.

“Thank you to the Government of Canada for recognizing the imperative of sustaining these initiatives and crucial platforms where leading-edge research that is having a global impact is taking place across Canada and here at Queen’s University,” said Vice-Principal (Research) Steven Liss. “This is great news for universities that support major science initiatives.”

“CFI support enables our faculty and post-doctoral fellows to access the critical equipment and infrastructure required to conduct their leading edge research,” says Queen’s University Principal Daniel Woolf of the announcement. “Through the new Major Science Initiatives program, researchers at Queen’s and universities across the country can continue to engage in large-scale collaborative projects.”

Conditional upon receiving this funding, the CFI will set out governance and management best practice expectations; require appropriate corporate strategic planning and reporting; and undertake periodic reviews of the projects’ science, management and governance as a condition of funding.

The CFI is an independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to fund research infrastructure and strengthen the capacity of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals and non-profit research institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development. This funding is part of a $600-million investment announced by the Government of Canada in its 2009 budget.