"Applied research is booming at colleges and institutes"

Over the past five years, applied research activity has seen a significant boom in colleges and institutes across Canada that, now more than ever, play an essential role in the country’s innovation ecosystem. According to CICan’s 2015-2016 applied research survey this clear trend is driven by increasing industry partnerships but remains limited by insufficient federal research funding.

According to the survey, colleges and institutes worked with over 6,800 partners from the public and private sectors last year on a variety of applied research projects, showing a steady growth over five years. Since 2010-2011 the number of applied research partnerships with small and medium-sized enterprises has increased by 23% while the number of partnerships with large enterprises has increased by 51%.

However, the largest growth since 2010-2011 has occurred in partnerships with micro-enterprises, defined as having less than five employees, which increased by an astounding 560%. Meanwhile, partnerships with the non-profit sector increased by 76%. This positions colleges and institutes has key players when it comes to supporting local innovation with real impacts in communities all over Canada, including through local clusters where they provide skills, expertise and access to specialized labs and facilities.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              https://www.collegesinstitutes.ca/news-centre/news-release/applied-research-is-booming-at-colleges-and-institutes/?utm_source=Academica+Top+Ten&utm_campaign=1800d6200c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b4928536cf-1800d6200c-51945761