Université de Montréal moving to recruit American researchers

The Université de Montréal sees an opportunity to attract American scientists as the United States makes significant cuts in various research fields, including health. It is announcing a $25 million campaign to recruit top researchers south of the border, but also more broadly internationally.

To date, $12 million has been raised, including $8.7 million from the Courtois Foundation. The new philanthropic initiative launched Wednesday is part of a larger campaign, called “L’Heure est brave,” which aims to raise $1 billion.

The $25 million will be used, among other things, for recruitment in the university’s research fields, such as health, nature and technology, and the humanities and social sciences. The funding will also strengthen and sustain programs that attract researchers.

“It will also be used to recruit postdoctoral researchers, that is, people who are pursuing additional training between their PhD and, for those who are pursuing it, an academic position. This is a career transition that is often a bit tricky and for which we currently have no existing mechanism in Canada,” explains Vincent Poitout, Vice-Rector Designate for Research and Innovation at the Université de Montréal.

“So, we want to support postdoctoral fellowships, some of which could eventually lead to faculty recruitment,” he explains.

Securing threatened research projects

A portion of the funds will also be allocated to research departments affected by the funding cuts in the United States. It should be noted that the Trump administration has cut funding and staffing for several agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

“The cuts in the United States don’t just affect health,” Poitout is keen to point out. “The National Science Foundation has also suffered quite significant cuts, […] this is also true for other American agencies that fund research projects in various sectors. Anything related to funding, for example, projects on gender identity, equity, and diversity, are projects that aren’t necessarily in health, but more in the social sciences, and which are also affected by the cuts in the United States.”

Poitout is reassuring about the future of research in Canada, which draws part of its funding from the United States. He clearly states that Canadian research does not depend on American funding. According to his estimates, between 2 and 4 per cent of the research budgets of major Canadian universities come from American agencies.

“So the overall effect will be quite limited because we still have fairly solid mechanisms in Canada that support research. On the other hand, there are teams in specific sectors that, for various reasons, receive a large portion of their funding from American agencies. I’m thinking, for example, of teams working on HIV/AIDS in large-scale collaborative projects where a substantial portion of their research program is supported by NIH funds,” explains Poitout.

At his university, no team has lost funding so far. “But it’s clear that there are threats, especially in research areas that are now banned by the American administration,” he emphasizes.

A portion of the funds raised during the campaign will therefore be used to temporarily offset affected research projects so they can continue their activities.

Repatriating Canadians and Quebecers

Poitout explains that Canadian or Quebec researchers who have gone abroad are easier to recruit for the university, partly because there are no immigration issues. “They may be more inclined to want to return to Canada or Quebec than people who aren’t from here at all. So, yes, we’re definitely interested in these people,” he says.

The Université de Montréal has already been approached by candidates. “We’ve been contacted by several people, and I know that many of my colleagues at other universities in Quebec and Canada have been contacted as well,” he says. “Several research groups have been directly contacted by their colleagues. […] There are very active contacts, and it’s in this context that our philanthropic initiative also fits,” says the Vice-Rector.

“It’s a combination of factors. We were contacted by Canadian philanthropists who wanted to contribute to this repatriation or recruitment effort. We were contacted by people who wanted to explore the possibility of coming or returning to Quebec.”

The Université de Montréal isn’t only targeting the United States, but it believes the current context will be favourable for recruitment.

Poitout gave the example of a researcher who was at the NIH and left his position “because he felt he could no longer conduct his research with sufficient freedom and autonomy.”

The university is in discussions with the researcher.

—

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews

The Canadian Press’s health content receives funding through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. The Canadian Press is solely responsible for editorial choices.