Scientists, engineers pen letter to request increase to federal research funding for graduate students, fellows

Canadian scientists and engineers have penned an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister of Science, Innovation and Industry François-Philippe Champagne about the discrepancy between the federal funding graduate students receive and the cost of living. The letter requests that Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) raise the amount offered through scholarships, as scholarships have remained the same size since 2003 and increases in inflation have put recipients under the poverty line. They write that postdoctoral fellowships have also not been increased since 2015, when they were raised to $45K. Without improved supports, some noted that talented students will be driven to go to the United States. Over 270 professors signed the letter. The Star| Globe and Mail Note: Archived stories may contain dead links or be missing source links.