Scientists urge Ottawa to boost grant funding so researchers can earn ‘living wage’ – National
Canadian scientists are urging the federal authorities to spice up its funding for scientific grants in order that post-doctorate college students and researchers are being paid a “dwelling wage.”
In an illustration on Parliament Hill on Thursday, roughly 100 college students and researchers unfurled a 60-metre-long open letter with 7,100 signatures calling on the Liberals to extend the amount of cash it provides out in science and analysis grants with a view to sustain with the tempo of inflation since 2003.
That’s when organizers mentioned the quantity of funding was final up to date.
Organizers cited suggestions made by the Home of Commons Standing Committee on Science and Analysis in June 2022, which mentioned that the worth of scholarships and fellowships for graduate college students and post-doctorate researchers needs to be listed to the patron value index.
One of many key issuers of federal grants, the Pure Sciences and Engineering Analysis Council of Canada (NSERC), has stored award quantities “stagnant” for 20 years, mentioned the organizing group Help Our Science, which is made up of graduate college students and researchers.
NSERC grants for masters’ college students are $17,000 per yr, $21,000 per yr for Ph.D college students, and $45,000 per yr for a post-doctorate researcher.
“As NSERC is seen as prestigious, these award quantities … ship a message that that is the appropriate pay degree for all non-NSERC funded college students and staff,” the group mentioned.
The median household income in Canada in 2020, the final yr information is obtainable, was $66,800.
Inflation in Canada hit 8.1 per cent in June, the best degree in nearly 4 a long time, whereas the price of meals has soared by 8.8 per cent, in response to Statistics Canada.
