Thanks again to all of you for being here. It's a real honour to have you. I must admit, I don't think I've seen so many Order of Canada pins before a committee in one single meeting. It's truly an honour.
I'm going to start with Dr. Patry.
Thanks for mentioning my friend Pieter Cullis and his work on lipid coating in mRNA. I really appreciate that. It shows what Canada can do.
You mentioned how important fundamental research is, but you also touched on the support for grad students who are master's and Ph.D students. Many years ago, almost 50 years ago, I received an NSERC scholarship that allowed me to go to a university and study biology, so I appreciate that. However, in talking to my colleagues now in the biology field, they point out that funding from NSERC, and perhaps the other councils, hasn't gone up in many years. Those rates have been stagnant and it's not surprising that young people are perhaps looking elsewhere.
I wonder if you would comment on that aspect. You touched on it. I would ask you to mention it again.