How does the CFI track research outcomes?
OTTAWA, ONTARIO – The Canada Foundation for Innovation has invested more than $7.7 billion in over 10,000 projects since its inception in 1997. What does Canada’s research community have to show for these investments? To remain accountable and to better understand how Canada benefits from CFI-funded infrastructure, we rely on researchers at our funded institutions to report annually on a number of metrics to help demonstrate the impact of state-of-the-art research infrastructure.
The information is rolled up into the CFI’s annual Report on results, a snapshot of data in any given year related to the CFI’s four key objectives: to attract and retain researchers from around the world, to support the development of the next generation of researchers, to promote collaborations and to fuel innovation-related outcomes in Canada.
Some highlights from the 2016–17 Report on results:
- More than 25,000 postdoctoral fellows and higher education students used CFI-funded infrastructure to advance their research.
- Eighty percent of students and postdoctoral fellows who completed their training during the year secured employment in Canada — more than half in the private sector.
- Almost all newly recruited project leaders said CFI-funded infrastructure positively influenced their decision to join their research institution.
- For those recruited from outside Canada, almost half were foreign citizens, suggesting that CFI-funded infrastructure contributed to attracting international talent.
- Project leaders reported more than 1,200 jobs created inside and outside of their institution as a result of the funding.
Read the 2017 report, along with past reports, and watch the video to learn more about how and why the CFI tracks the progress of its funded projects.