Thank you.
I am Mark Dale, the dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research at the University of Alberta, and the president of the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies, as mentioned.
Thank you for this opportunity.
It is broadly acknowledged that programs of higher education research are important to the future of this country. We have heard from our colleague from CIHR already today. What I would like to emphasize to this group is that the institutions offering graduate programs in this country exist in a very competitive environment. We compete in the funding of graduate students and their research, in providing the best quality of experience in those programs, and to attract the best young researchers from around the world to our programs.
So our recommendations, which you have in your brief, are: first, the creation of a dedicated post-secondary education transfer system to the provinces; and second, to maintain and increase levels of funding for the federal research granting councils.
In fact, in our colleague's presentation, he mentioned Dr. Shapiro and his research on diabetes. He did much of his groundbreaking research while he was a graduate student.
Third, we would like to suggest promoting mobility for our graduate students. This enhances their experience, and, as I said, we are in competition with other parts of the world. In Europe, for example, there is a well-established program for graduate student mobility; in fact, it is expected. It helps them build their career, build networks, and gain experience.
Fourth, we suggest creating funding to attract the best international students to graduate programs in Canada. That advantage is not only for international students but for our Canadian students here at home. It advantages our programs by bringing the best brains to them.
Our fifth recommendation is ample funding for Statistics Canada's survey of earned doctorates. The argument there is fairly simple and straightforward: the best statistics enable us to make the best decisions on our futures.
Thank you very much.