Andrew Park’s letter (Bulletin, June 2011) is troubling. He laments that neither he nor his colleagues at the University of Winnipeg know what the rules are regarding NSERC’s view of what constitutes highly-qualified personnel (HQP). He is not alone.
     
I serve on one of NSERC’s evaluation committees and my sense is that most committee members have a vague idea of the HQP component but the idea is poorly formulated. A definition of “highly-qualified personnel” might be useful, but like other NSERC values, the definition might very well change without anyone being aware of the change.
     
At one time the view was that if you considered research as important, if you carried out some form of research that you were proud of, that others thought interesting, that you published that research, then NSERC felt you should be supported. At that time, NSERC consisted of the research community like you and me.
     
The Americans and Europeans looked longingly at NSERC. It was a democratic system in which you knew you might not survive, but if you didn’t, it wasn’t because you hadn’t dotted your i’s and crossed your t’s. Today such is not the case.
     
It is not sufficient today just to do good work. It is not sufficient today to train a few people who will go out into the world as productive human beings. It is not sufficient for you to work on systems that are of interest to you and that the rest of the community thinks it interesting that you should think them interesting. NSERC no longer represents your interests, nor does it represent mine.
     
NSERC today is a bureaucracy in which dictates come from the top and the top does not tolerate dissent. It does not have to be this way.
     
We all know good researchers who have been cut out of the system because they have not published in high-quality journals or because they have not listed 20 to 30 HQP who have peristaltically passed through their laboratories.
     
Complain. Ask your colleagues to complain. Ask your spouse, your partner, your children to complain. Above all, ask your students to complain. They should complain to the committees, to the head of NSERC and to their MPs.
     
It is in Canada’s best interest to have an active research community. It is not in our best interests to fund only the very best. We cannot distinguish them from the very good nor from the good.

Jack Kornblatt
Professor Emeritus
Concordia University