Scientists and their research programs are increasingly underfunded, and their findings kept from reaching the public. The Conservative government’s policies have undermined public access to knowledge, weakened evidence-based policy decisions, and increased corporate influence on our campuses and in our research.
The GSAÉD is working alongside the Canadian Federation of Students on the Liberate Science campaign to highlight how these changes affect students and the health of our systems of higher learning. We aim to raise awareness about publicly accessible research among graduate students, whose work can be some of the most directly affected. To get involved in the campaign, contact Lindsey Thomson, External Affairs Commissioner. We are also working closely with Evidence for Democracy.
Our goal is to:
Defend against the commercialization of campus and university research. Public post-secondary institutions are responsible for delivering both high-quality education and research in the public interest. This responsibility requires the right for academic researchers to exercise independent inquiry that is free of influence or restrictions from both the government and private industry.
Remove targeted research funding earmarks within the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and award research funding based on academic merit determined through a peer review process.
Support public access to public knowledge by demanding that all government science and research findings be publicly available, that all government scientists and researchers be free to disseminate their findings without undue government restrictions, that Libraries and Archives Canada be adequately resourced and remain entirely public, that Statistics Canada reinstate the long-form census and increase funding to its education branch for the collection and analysis of statistics to properly track the impact of student debt on post-secondary education completion rates and the fulfillment of labour-market demands, and by opposing the defunding of politically inconvenient science research and the stacking of granting council governing boards.
Oppose elimination of funding for research deemed to be “political” and the organizing of funding council administration bodies.
CURRENT ACTIVITIES
THIRD EDITION OF SCIENCE ON TAP : ELECTION SPECIAL
For this election special, we had three panelists:
Robert Ramsay, a Professional Officer for the Canadian Association of University Teachers. CAUT is the national voice of 68,000 academic and general staff at more than 120 universities and colleges across Canada.
Katie Gibbs, Executive Director of Evidence for Democracy. E4D is the leading fact-driven, non-partisan, not-for-profit organization promoting the transparent use of evidence in government decision-making in Canada.
Christina Muehlberger, Chairperson of the National Graduate Caucus of the Canadian Federation of Students. The NGC represents 60,000 graduate students at 31 campuses across Canada.
SECOND EDITION OF SCIENCE ON TAP
Join us for the second edition of our Science on Tap lecture series to grab a beer and food while we discuss the importance of making science accessible!
This is a part of the Liberate Science campaign that aims to raise awareness about publicly accessible research among graduate students and calls for independent science policy that puts public interest first.
Our second panelist, Robert Ramsay, is a Professional Officer for the Canadian Association of University Teachers. CAUT is the national voice of 68,000 academic and general staff at more than 120 universities and colleges across Canada.
For more information on the event, follow the Facebook event page.
FIRST EDITION OF SCIENCE ON TAP
Join us for the first Science on Tap lecture series to grab a beer and food while we discuss the importance of making science accessible!
This is a part of the Liberate Science campaign that aims to raise awareness about publicly accessible research among graduate students.
Our first panelist, Nadine Wiper-Bergeron, is a faculty member in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Her research focuses on understanding how stem cells turn into fat, bone, and muscle cells.
For more information on the event, follow the facebook event page!