$39M in federal funding announced for U of A research

The federal and provincial government announced a new $39-million investment into research and the completion of several infrastructure projects at the University of Alberta that had previously received funding.

The announcement was made at a press conference on October 11 at the Student Innovation Centre in CCIS. The $39-million investment in research will be from the federal government. Further, government officials discussed how previously announced funding of $56.3 million from the federal government and $26.5 million from the province was used to renovate ten different spaces on campus, modernize facilities, and purchase new equipment.

Various federal and provincial government ministers attended the event, as well as U of A president David Turpin.

More money for researchers

Federal Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi announced an investment of $39 million to support research at the U of A. This would fund 150 researchers working at the university.

“This funding will allow us to actually make peoples lives better,” Sohi said. “We will see this from the kind of recipients that we are supporting.”

Sohi said the research being supported will help create better environmental sustainability and enhance economic opportunities. Turpin added that this money will enhance the U of A’s ability to perform world-class research.

U of A renovation projects funded

The completion of various renovation and upgrading projects, which received provincial and federal government funding three years ago, was also discussed at the press conference.

Ten U of A spaces were renovated and supplied with new equipment. Some of those projects include laboratories in the Central Academic Building, science labs in Campus Saint-Jean, upgraded internet network access, and the creation of the Student Innovation Centre in CCIS.

Turpin said the new research spaces will allow students, faculty, and members of the community to develop new groundbreaking ideas and solve problems society faces today.

“The government has answered the calls of the post-secondary community,” Turpin said. “This is a critical investment.”

Alberta Advanced Education Minister Marlin Schmidt said some of the spaces renovated with provincial funding were “long overdue” for modernization, and that the upgrades will help current and future students continue to work in spaces conducive to research.

“The biology labs (at Campus Saint-Jean) predated the discovery of DNA,” Schmidt said. “That is how old they were and… much in need of renovation so that students can learn.”

Following the press conference, Students’ Union president Reed Larsen said he’s “thrilled” with some of the new renovations, and that he’s happy the projects were completed in a reasonable time frame. However, he added there are laboratories on campus that still need an upgrade.

“I would say it addresses the first tip of the iceberg of what needs to be done for lab spaces on campus,” he said. “A good example would be the chemistry wing. They got about half of them done but there’s still about half of them that were built in the 40s that still need to be renovated.”

Members of student groups were also present at the press conference to celebrate the newly renovated spaces and the Student Innovation Centre.

Callie Lissinna, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student and director of AlbertaSat, said she is excited by the potential the renovations will create for her group.

“This funding has guaranteed that my group will have a wider variety of workspaces,” Lissinna said. “It opens a lot of opportunities for collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas with other student groups.”

Tuition Review due for release in November

Following the announcement, The Gateway asked Minister of Advanced Education Marlin Schmidt about the upcoming tuition review.

In a previous funding announcement at the U of A, Schmidt said that the long-awaited tuition review would be released in the fall sitting of the legislature. Once completed, the review will create a new system for setting university tuition for domestic students.

The review was expected to be completed in the fall of 2017. The government delayed its release and instead froze domestic student tuition for the 2018-19 year. Schmidt said the review will be ready for November.

“We are preparing legislation for introduction in the fall session… [starting] in the beginning of November,” Schmidt said. “Shortly after the fall session begins is when we will be introducing legislation.”

Schmidt said he has heard “loudly” and “clearly” that there is also a need to provide international students with certainty with regards to tuition.

“There is a need to provide international students with certainty around their cost of education,” Schmidt said. “The legislation will lay out our plan for providing them that certainty.”

With files from Nathan Fung.