CIFAR and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) establish CAD $1M research agreement

The funds will support international research collaborations addressing the most important questions facing science and humanity

TORONTO, May 12, 2021 /CNW/ - In a memorandum of understanding signed today, CIFAR and CNRS agreed to work together on research projects that address issues of global importance, such as the environment, quantum computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and the microbiome.  Both organizations will commit a minimum of CAD $500,000 over five years to support interdisciplinary research collaborations.

"Fundamental research has the potential to address the most pressing questions of our time," says CIFAR President & CEO Dr. Alan Bernstein. "This agreement will bring together world-renowned researchers from both organizations to exchange ideas and knowledge, build upon important technologies such as AI and quantum computing, and generate new ways forward that will have global impact."

"Canada and France have a long tradition of scientific cooperation in many fields," says Antoine Petit, Chairman and CEO, CNRS. "This agreement with CIFAR aims to mobilize researchers from our two institutions and encourage them to cooperate. W expect their mobilization around essential social issues, environment, quantum computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and the microbiome, issues for which the contributions of fundamental research are indispensable to society."

Under the agreement each partner will contribute CAD $500,000 to joint scientific research activities over five years, and will support research on cutting-edge science and technology as well as its ethical application.  The agreement amplifies existing collaborations between CIFAR and CNRS, including a series of CIFAR AI & Society workshops in 2020 that addressed societal implications of AI.

Bernstein and Petit were joined at the virtual signing ceremony by Chief Scientific Advisor Mona Nemer, Canada's Deputy Head of Mission et Ministre plénipotentiare, Amy Baker, Canada's Chief Trade Commissioner, Sara Wilshaw, and French Ambassador to Canada, Karen Rispal.

About CIFAR
CIFAR is a Canadian-based global research organization that convenes extraordinary minds to address the most important questions facing science and humanity.

By building long-term, interdisciplinary, global communities of collaboration, we provide the world's top researchers with an unparalleled environment of trust, transparency and knowledge sharing. Our time-tested model inspires new directions of inquiry, creating a culture of risk-taking, accelerating discovery, and yielding breakthroughs across borders and academic disciplines.

Through knowledge mobilization, we are catalysts for change in industry, government and society.

In 2017, the Government of Canada appointed CIFAR to develop and lead the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy, the world's first national AI strategy.

Our community of researchers includes more than 400 researchers from 161 institutions in 18 countries. Our fellows, chairs, scholars, and advisors are among the most highly cited researchers in the world. Twenty Nobel Prizes have been awarded to CIFAR-affiliated researchers.

We are supported by the governments of Canada, Alberta and Quebec, as well as foundations, individuals, corporations and partner organizations around the world.

About CNRS

The French National Center for Scientific Research is one of the most recognized and renowned public research institutions in the world. For more than 80 years, it has continued to attract talent at the highest level and to nurture multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary research projects at the national, European and international levels. Geared towards the public interest, it contributes to the scientific, economic, social and cultural progress of France. The CNRS is above all 32,000 women and men, more than 1,000 laboratories in partnership with universities and other higher education institutions bringing together more than 120,000 employees and 200 professions that advance knowledge by exploring the living world, matter, the Universe, and the functioning of human societies. The CNRS ensures that this mission is carried out in compliance with ethical rules and with a commitment to professional equality. The close relationship it establishes between its research missions and the transfer of acquired knowledge to the public makes it today a key player in innovation in France and around the world. Partnerships with companies are at the heart of its technology transfer policy, and the start-ups that have emerged from CNRS laboratories bear witness to the economic potential of its research. The CNRS also provides access to research findings and data, and this sharing of knowledge targets many audiences: scientific communities, the media, decision-makers, economic players and the general public.

SOURCE CIFAR

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