The German innovation minister has promised better protection for research after an investigation revealed institutions like McGill have partnerships with a university commanded by the Chinese army.
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“If we need to do more with the provinces, we will do that. We will call them,” said François-Philippe Champagne, Minister for Innovation, Science and Industry yesterday.
“If we need to take additional measures to protect scientific research at universities, we will do so,” added the former foreign minister.
At his side, Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for the Internal Market, said he was “extremely vigilant” during his visit to the tribune of the International Relations Council (CORIM) in Montreal.
“We’re not naive at all,” he said.
McGill pointed out
A Globe and Mail poll yesterday found that McGill University ranks 3rd among the universities most closely collaborating with the National University of Defense Technology of China by number of publications (between 2005 and 2022).
In comparison, Concordia University is ranked ninth in the rankings by Toronto Daily and Strider Technologies Inc.
Prompted by Le Journal for a response, McGill University defended itself, saying it was trying “to be as open to global collaborations as possible”.
“We were the driving force behind the creation of the Government of Canada – Task Force on Universities, which worked on a strategy to keep the Canadian research company safe,” she noted.
McGill recalled that Ottawa had new national security research guidelines in July 2021.
“The Coalition of Research Universities of Canada (U15) takes seriously the issue of protecting Canada’s research ecosystem, in addition to its commitment to maintaining a collaborative and open research ecosystem,” the university said.
McGill said yesterday it was working with our allies on a G7 task force on research safety and integrity as it was an “ongoing concern of major importance”.
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