Increasing and Coordinating Public and Private Funders Support for Wheat Research

The Role of Public Research and Funding Organizations

Wheat for the FutureEXPO Milano 2015 - 3 June

Dr. Gilles Saindon, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada

Role of Public Research and Funding Organizations

• Canadian Mechanisms– AAFC Sector Strategies + Funding (internal + external) = Coordination and Cooperation

• International Mechanisms– Wheat Initiative, DFATD, Strategic Alliances= Coordination and Cooperation

• AAFC - Partnerships for Impact– National science capacity is integrated to address core

priorities of the agri-food sector through our sector strategies and partners priorities

= Coherence of action

AAFC: Research Partnerships • Formalized via various agreements– Research Support Agreements

• cash or in-kind contribution• simple, short agreement; quick execution• where funder does not seek any rights in exchange for

contribution

– Collaborative Research and Development Agreements• bring funding, expertise/intellectual property• more detailed

– Licenses/Material Transfer Agreements• permit access to material/intellectual property • often leverage joint publications, future collaborations and

enhanced international relations

Basic Partnership Questions• Clear roles for partners?• Funding in place to do work?• Effective governance system for decision making?• Agreements that bind partners?

– Commitment of resources– Sharing of data and access to all in Alliance– Joint reporting of results and communication – Management of intellectual property– Training

• Graduate students• Organization to organization / lab to lab

Challenges in Managing Collaborations

• Collaborations increasingly required for necessary funding and expertise

• Multiple types of collaborators– Government: federal, provincial, foreign– Universities– Industry: SMEs, grower associations, multi-national

companies• differing policies and priorities result in complex negotiations and

agreements

• Key = clearly establishing expectations, rights and responsibilities

Success =

• Resources– Easier to pool activities than pool resources

• Partnership– Trust and Commitment– Multi-party agreements not multiple agreements

• Focused– Critical mass for ambitious targets

• Questions? Comments?