Dispute Over the Future of Basic Research in Canada
International EducationMarch 07, 2014
加拿大将科研重心转向产业对接
海外教育2014年03月07日
Canada’s
National Research Council is the country’s premier scientific
institution, helping to produce such inventions as the pacemaker and the
robotic arm used on the American space shuttle. But last year, its mission changed.
The Canadian
government announced a transformation of the 98-year-old agency,
formerly focused largely on basic research, into a one-stop “concierge
service” to bolster technological innovation by industry — historically
weak — and generate high-quality jobs.
加拿大政府宣布这个成立长达98年之久的科研机构将进行转型——之前主要致力于基础研究的加拿大国家研究委员会将转型开展一站式“礼宾服务”，以支撑行业技术创新这个长期薄弱领域并带来高质量的就业机会。
This has set off a
dispute over the future of Canada’s capacity to carry out fundamental
research, with university scientists and academic organizations
uncharacteristically vocal about the government’s blunt preference for
commercially applicable science.
这种转变引发了一场关于加拿大未来基础研究能力的争议。对于政府对可商用科技毫不掩饰的偏好，大学科学家和学术组织罕见地纷纷高调发表看法。
“We are not sure
the government appreciates the role that basic research plays,” said
Kenneth Ragan, a McGill University physicist and president of the
Canadian Association of Physicists: “The real question is, How does it
view not-directed, nonindustrial, curiosity-driven blue-sky research? I
worry the view is that it is irrelevant at best and that in many cases
they actually dislike it.”
“我们不确定政府足够重视基础研究所发挥
的作用，”麦吉尔大学(McGill University)物理学家兼加拿大物理学家协会(Canadian Association of
Physicists)主席肯尼思·拉根(Kenneth
Ragan)说，“真正的问题是，它怎样看待无指向性的、非产业化的、由好奇心驱动的非实际研究？我担心，在最乐观的情况下，他们会认为这样的研究起不到
作用，许多时候，他们甚至讨厌它。
诺曼·胡纳是一位国际知名的植物生化学家和生理学家，他的研究基金被削减了一大半。
Dave Chidley
The remodeling of
the research council is one in a series of policy changes that have
generated fierce pushback by Canadian academics in recent years. The
Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper is also under
fire for closing research libraries,
shutting down research facilities and restricting when government
scientists can speak publicly about their work. Last year the Canadian
Association of University Teachers began a national campaign, “Get
Science Right,” with town-hall meetings across the country to mobilize
public opposition to the policies. Scientists have even taken to the
streets of several Canadian cities in protest.
近年来，加拿大一系列政策调整遭到当地学者的强烈抵制，重塑加拿大国家研究委员会就是其中之一。因关闭科研图书馆、
停用研究设施及限制政府科学家公开谈论工作的场合，保守党政府总理斯蒂芬·哈珀(Stephen
Harper)也饱受抨击。去年，加拿大大学教师协会(Canadian Association of University
Teachers)发起了一场名为“让科学回归正常”的全国运动，以期动员公众反对这些政策。相关市政厅会议遍布全国。在加拿大几个城市，科学家们甚至走
上街头表示抗议。
While the
transformation of the National Research Council has been criticized, the
government as well as some science-policy analysts say that better
connecting businesses with research is an important step for Canada.
虽然国家研究委员会的转型备受批评，但政府和一些科学政策分析师称，这能更好地结合商业与研究，对加拿大而言是至关重要的一步。
Having examined
models in other countries, the National Research Council chose to
streamline its operations to act as “the pivot between the two worlds”
of industry and academics, with an eye toward new products and
innovations, said Charles Drouin, a spokesman for the council. He said
the agency had not moved away from support for fundamental research but
wanted to focus such efforts better. “There is basic research, but it is
directed, as opposed to undirected as you would find it in
universities.”
加拿大国家研究委员会发言人查尔斯·德劳
因(Charles
Drouin)说，该机构在研究其它国家的发展模式后，决定精简业务，成为工业界和学术界这“两个世界的枢轴”，并着眼于新产品和创新。他说，委员会并没
有抛弃对基础研究的支持，而是希望更好地专注于这些努力。“未来仍然会有基础研究，但将是有指向性的，与大学里看到的无指向性研究不同。”
Another
battleground for the future of basic research has been the Natural
Sciences and Engineering Research Council, a federal granting agency
that serves as the first stop for financing fundamental research by
Canadian scientists.
未来基础研究的另一个战场是自然科学与工程研究委员会(Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council)，这家联邦政府授权机构是资助加拿大科学家进行基础研究的第一站。
In 2011-12, the
latest year for which data are available, the council’s “discovery”
grants for fundamental research accounted for 38.4 percent of its
budget, down from 50.1 percent in 2001-2. Its “innovation” grants, which
encourage the transfer of university-developed technology to industry,
rose to 31.4 percent in 2011-12, up from 25.3 percent a decade earlier.
(The council also directs part of its roughly $1-billion budget to
postdoctoral fellowships and other awards for young researchers.)
在2011-2012年，即有相关数据披
露的最近一年里，加拿大自然科学与工程研究委员会的基础研究“探索”津贴占其总预算的38.4%，而这一比例在2001-2002年高达50.1%。鼓励
将大学开发的技术应用到产业中的“创新”津贴占比从十年前的25.3%增加到2011-2012年的31.4%。（该机构还将其约10亿加元总预算中的一
部分用到博士后奖学金和其它给年轻研究员的奖励中。）
“The government has
invested proportionately more on the innovation side, where it was seen
that we had more challenges,” said Pierre J. Charest, vice president of
research grants and scholarships at the government agency. He noted
that the council was “on track” to double the number of scientists
forming partnerships with industry.
“在创新方面，我们面对的挑战更多，因此
政府相应地增加了更多的投入，” 加拿大自然科学与工程研究委员会负责研究补助和奖学金事务的副主席皮埃尔·查理斯特(Pierre J.
Charest)说。他指出，该委员会正稳步走在让结成产研伙伴关系的科学家的数量翻一番的道路上。
Mr. Charest said
criticism about a smaller percentage of funds for discovery grants
missed a larger point — that the budget had grown over the past decade
to almost $325 million in 2012-13. However, much of that increase comes
from a special supplement for a select group of researchers to explore
potentially transformative concepts.
查理斯特先生说，批评“探索”资助金比例减少的人们忽略了很大的一点：过去10年来，该预算一直在增长，2012-2013年已达到约3.25亿加元。但是，在这个增长中，有很大一部分来自于对一些少数研究员的特别增资，用于潜在的变革性研究。
One who has felt
the pinch is Norman Hüner, an internationally recognized plant
biochemist and physiologist at the University of Western Ontario, who
holds a prestigious Canada Research Chair in environmental-stress
biology. A longtime recipient of discovery grants, he and his research
collaborators are exploring a potential breakthrough in the use of
photosynthesis to trick plants to grow in suboptimal conditions —
relevant research in Mr. Hüner’s view, given concerns about climate
change.
西安大略大学(University
of Western Ontario)的诺曼·胡纳(Norman
Hüner)感受到了这一转型带来的阵痛。作为一名国际知名的植物生化学家和生理学家，以及环境压力生物学的权威首席科学家(Canada
Research
Chair)，他一直受国家探索资助。在此资助下，他和研究伙伴们正在利用光合作用诱导植物在未达到标准的条件下生长方面寻求潜在突破，鉴于目前围绕气候
变化的担忧，这一研究在胡纳先生看来相当重要。
But in 2012, after
applying for a new grant to continue his research, the professor
received $50,000 a year for five years — a sharp drop from the previous
award of $132,000 a year over five years. “I was shocked, absolutely,”
he recalled. “I am disillusioned beyond words.”
但在2012年，当他为继续研究申请新的资助时，却只收到了5年期每年5万加元的资助，与之前5年期每年13.2万加元相比大大缩水。“当然，我感到非常震惊，”他回忆称，“我的失望完全无法用语言来形容。”
The cut has led to
the departures of some senior scientists from his lab. And save for one
new postdoctoral student with her own funds, Mr. Hüner is not
replenishing his stable of young researchers. At 67, Mr. Hüner now plans
to retire several years ahead of schedule.
这样的资助削减使得一些高级研究员放弃在他的实验室工作。除了一位新的自费博士后学生，胡纳先生不再补充年轻研究员了。67岁的胡纳先生现计划比预定提前几年退休。
Even those involved in commercialization efforts question the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s new approach.
即使那些参与商业化的科研人员也质疑自然科学与工程委员会的这一新举措。
“If you have ideas
that are going to lead to commercialization opportunities, you should
absolutely get seed-stage funding,” said James E. Colliander, a
mathematician at the University of Toronto. He acknowledged that funding
for applied research was “crucially important” but said he was “not
sure that the principal vehicle for funding basic research should be the
path to get those dollars.” Mr. Colliander has received several major
discovery grants and is also involved in an effort to bring to market a
web application for large-scale academic exam assessment.
“如果你觉得那将带来商业化的机会，你完
全应当得到种子期资助，”多伦多大学(University of Toronto)数学家詹姆斯·科利安德(James E.
Colliander)说。他承认对应用型研究的资助是“至关重要的”，但他“并不确定应当从基础研究的主要资助渠道获取那些钱。”科利安德先生已经收到
几份重要的探索资助，并且也参与了向市场引入一个用于大规模学术考试评估的网络应用的工作。
Beyond the changes
in the two councils, some wonder if Canadian industry is prepared to
step up its role in research innovation. In Canada’s largely
foreign-owned industrial sector, research is often carried out at
corporate headquarters abroad, while home-grown businesses lack the
appetite or budget.
除了这两个科研机构发生的变化，一些人也想知道企业是否已经准备好扮演在科研创新中的角色。在加拿大外资主导的工业领域，研究工作通常在国外的企业总部进行，本土企业缺乏科研意愿或预算。
Some liken the federal strategy to pushing on a string.
一些人把联邦政府的这一策略比喻成推绳子这样徒劳无功的活动。
The current policy
appears to be trying to “push” technology from universities to industry,
but what is needed to increase the level of innovation is for industry
to get better at investing in new ideas and well-qualified researchers,
said Arthur Carty, a former science adviser to the prime minister and a
former head of the National Research Council. “Companies have to have
innovation in their philosophical strategies, and they don’t have it,”
said Mr. Carty, now executive director of the University of Waterloo’s
Institute for Nanotechnology.
总理前科学顾问兼国家研究委员会前主席亚
瑟·卡蒂(Arthur
Carty)说，目前的政策看上去是在努力把技术从学校“推动”到行业，但提高创新水平真正需要的是行业改善对新点子和高素质研究员的投资，“企业必须要
把创新放到总体发展策略中，可是它们却没有这么做，”现任滑铁卢大学纳米技术研究所(University of Waterloo’s
Institute for Nanotechnology)执行董事的卡蒂先生说。
Uncertainty over the response of industry is a common refrain even among those who see merit in the federal strategy.
常见的说法是行业响应的不确定性，即使在那些认为联邦策略有可取之处的人中也不乏这样的观点。
“Canada has had
most of its eggs in the basic-research basket for quite a long time,”
said Richard W. Hawkins, Canada research chair in science, technology
and innovation policy at the University of Calgary. He has also spent
years outside Canada as an adviser to governments and international
agencies on innovation policy. “Governments want to invest in science
and technology because they think it will lead to growth and
innovation,” he said. “Governments all over the world have the same
rationale.”
“相当长一段时间以来，加拿大把大多数鸡
蛋都放在了基础研究的篮子里，”卡尔加里大学(University of Calgary)加拿大首席科技与创新政策家里查德·霍金斯(Richard
W.
Hawkins)说。他也在国外待了几年时间，担任国外政府和国际创新政策机构顾问。“政府想投资于科学和技术，因为他们认为这将带来增长和创新，”他
说，“全世界所有的政府都这么想。”
What’s missing in
Canada, he said, is a deep understanding about how sectors of the
economy could exploit knowledge to diversify and create new industries.
“In Canada we know relatively less about our situation than most of our
competitor countries,” he said.
他说，对于各个经济部门能够怎样利用知识寻求行业多元化发展并产生新行业，加拿大缺少的是深层次的理解。“相对我们大多数竞争对手而言，加拿大对自身情况的了解相对少一些，”他说。
But some senior
scientists warn of risks to Canada’s higher-education system if pure,
scholarly research is perceived as unimportant.
但一些资深科学家警告称，如果不重视纯学术研究，加拿大的高等教育体系将面临风险。
“One of the major
contradictions of the Conservative government at the moment is that no
one in Canada will question the need to have the best universities in
the world,” said Daniel E. Guitton, a professor of neuroscience at
McGill University. “Now how do you get them? You’re not going to get
them by having people focus on an industry-related problem.”
“保守党政府目前面临的一大矛盾是，在加拿大所有人都认为这个国家需要有世界上最好的大学，”麦吉尔大学神经系统科学教授丹尼尔·吉顿(Daniel E. Guitton)说。“那么你要怎样做到呢？肯定不是把精力都聚焦到一个与产业相关的问题上。”
Science policy
analysts say it is too early to judge the impact of the government’s
current strategy. But on one point, there is little debate. “To be
honest, I’ve not seen this level of advocacy from the scientific
community before,” said Paul Dufour, a fellow at the University of
Ottawa’s Institute for Science, Society, and Policy. “That’s new in this
country, and I think that’s a healthy thing.”
科学政策分析师们说，现在要评判政府目前
策略的影响还太早。但有一点，这次的争论很少。“坦白说，我以前在科学界从未见过如此级别的拥护，”渥太华大学科学、社会与政策研究所
(University of Ottawa’s Institute for Science, Society, and
Policy)的研究员保罗·杜福尔说。“这在加拿大算是新鲜事，我觉得这是健康的。”
Copyright © 2013 The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.
翻译：Charlie
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