Position Papers in Strategic Research Areas

In the autumn of 2006, Genome Canada launched the first Request for Position Papers – an approach in which funding is targeted to strategic research themes in nationally recognized areas of interest and of socio-economic importance to Canadians – and invited the scientific community to join other stakeholders to identify strategic research themes through the writing of position papers.

The involved communities then selected leaders who agreed to manage the process leading to the submission of completed position papers. The position papers were subject to an international peer review and so far, four of them have been recommended for funding to the Board of Genome Canada. The first two successful position papers (in Agriculture-Plants and in Bioproducts) provided the foundation for Genome Canada's competition for project funding "Applied Genomics Research in Bioproducts or Crops (ABC)" launched in April 2008.

The four selected position papers can be viewed in PDF format:

• Agriculture – Plants, "Crop genomics for a healthy Canada"
• Bioproducts, "Securing Canada's future bio-based economy through genomics"
• Agriculture – Animals, "Aquatic and Terrestrial Animal Genomics"
• Children's Health, "Child Health Genomics: An Investment in Canada's Future"

The position paper process is currently under review. A re-launch of this process, or of a new process for identifying strategic research areas, will be made through Genome Canada's web site and widely disseminated using electronic mail.

To find out more about the Position Paper Process, background documents are available:

• Request for Position Papers
• Guidelines and Evaluation Criteria for Position Papers