HOME | THE NCE PROGRAM | Walking into the sunset

When the NCE program began operations 15 years ago, the horizon, though far off, was always in clear view.

It was decided at the outset that networks could qualify for two terms of seven-year funding after which, having successfully built enduring avenues of co-operation between researchers, industry and government, their work would be done. They would have reached the end of their horizons.

In 2004, four original networks successfully completed full-term funding. The work they undertook has been successfully completed. But it is not over. In each case, the collaborations they created will carry on well into the future. While they may be walking into the sunset, their work has made a brand new day.

The Canadian Bacterial Diseases Network

Living up to its credo of "putting science to work," the Canadian Bacterial Diseases Network (CBDN) has forever changed how microbiology research is conducted in this country.

In 1990, the landscape consisted of isolated areas of excellence from which sprang occasional attempts to transfer knowledge into commercial applications. By 2004 that scenario had been replaced by one in which a network of universities (14 per year, on average) had linked with more than three dozen industrial allies, 17 federal or provincial partners and 14 foundations or organizations. In all, CBDN projects attracted about $133 million – almost $10 million per year – in cash or in-kind support.

Perhaps more importantly, CBDN created a culture shift in which competitors became co-operators.

"All of us had a long history of being fierce competitors," said Dr. Donald Woods, CBDN Scientific Director from 1996 to 2002. "For years we had competed against each other for funding, for jobs, for students, for postdoctoral fellows, for everything. What was clear was that there had been a shift in attitudes about research. It took some years for it to happen, but my laboratory benefited from this. I have looked back over my Annual Reports for CBDN and come up with a list of collaborators that looks like a Who's Who of Canadian Science."

IRIS – The Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Systems

Precarn Incorporated, the national not-for-profit consortium that manages IRIS, plans to continue to build on the successes the network generated from 15 years of NCE funding.

During the current transition year, IRIS is focusing its efforts on ensuring that the value of its research is not lost. It has extended some existing activities, such as the highly successful T-GAP program to fund spin-off technologies and the Precarn-supported Scholars Program. In addition, IRIS is enabling technology diffusion workshops and the marketing of early-stage technologies. Finally, Precarn is examining ways to continue supporting the university research network it built over 15 years.

During its network lifespan, IRIS generated more than $26 million in cash or in-kind contributions from industry – an amount equal to about one-third of its NCE program funding. IRIS linked, on average, 120 professors at 22 universities across Canada each year. In all, IRIS supported some 3,000 students, postdoctoral fellows and other highly qualified people. More than 80% of graduating students stayed in Canada, with most applying their skills in academia and industry.

Commercially, IRIS succeeded beyond all expectations: A total of 37 spin-off companies were started, 28 of whom are still in operation.

What is the IRIS legacy?

"There are, of course, new technologies and new products and services. There are many highly skilled professionals contributing to Canada's economic growth," said Paul Johnston, President and CEO of Precarn Incorporated. "But, beyond that, there is a much stronger integration between universities that are doing research and the companies that are the receptors of that research."

Micronet – Microelectronic Devices, Circuits and Systems

Probably no network witnessed as much rapid change in its field of excellence as Micronet, which worked co-operatively with universities, industry and government to advance microelectronics in Canada.

When Micronet began operations in 1990, fewer than five in 100 Canadians used cell phones. Now, at the conclusion of Micronet's full term of NCE funding, cell phones are ubiquitous, as are hand-held personal computers and all manner of microchip-empowered wireless electronic devices.

Clearly Micronet, which took a "system on a chip" approach to enabling microelectronic technologies, was a network in the right place at the right time.

It also had the right people: Founded by Dr. André Salama, who remained its Scientific Director throughout the network's lifespan, Micronet linked 25 universities with 78 companies across Canada. Each year it engaged some 75 professors and more than 300 graduate students in its project work. Micronet led to the creation of 12 spin-off companies.

"Micronet contributed significantly to bringing focus to research, particularly an industrially relevant focus to research," said Dr. Salama.

All told, more than 700 students went on to graduate as Masters of Science while almost 300 more acquired doctorates. It's important to note that 80% of Micronet's grads are now employed in Canada, where they are helping to improve productivity and fuel economic growth.

PENCE – The Protein Engineering Network of Centres of Excellence

Founded by the late Dr. Michael Smith, the 1993 Nobel Prize winner for chemistry, PENCE has reason to be proud of its past.

PENCE carried on in the tradition of its founder, who developed a system for making mutations at any location along a DNA molecule, thereby allowing the engineering of proteins. This development underpins much of the current biotech industry and has provided a valuable tool for academic scientists to probe both healthy and diseased cells.

Like Dr. Smith, PENCE was unafraid to shift the focus of its investigations when a new area of discovery with strong potential opened up. In 2001, having already established itself as the country's research leader in proteins and protein engineering, PENCE took on a leadership role in the emerging field of proteomics, which involves global analysis of the structure, function, and interactions of the proteins produced by genes. As a result, PENCE's annual Canadian Proteomics Initiative conference has become a national clearinghouse for new thinking on proteomics. And it will carry on – the 2006 conference in Edmonton will draw more than 300 participants.

While PENCE produced more than 55 issued patents (120 filed), numerous licence agreements and was responsible for the establishment of seven new companies, its strongest legacy is in the more than 900 highly qualified personnel that were trained over 14 years.

"What we could do through the network was attract students who were interested in a bigger picture," said Stephen Withers, PENCE's Scientific Director. "The network gave those students the opportunity to see how collaboration works, it gave them the opportunity to travel and learn from the experts, rather than just reading about it in the published papers. And it became easier for them to be exposed to interfaces with industry."