By Diltaj Atwal
The University of Calgary wants to do more energy research and they’re looking to private donors for help.
During a community report last week, the U of C announced it raised a record $123.7 million, mostly from philanthropists and corporate donors. From this sum, $40 million was donated by the Taylor family.
“The budget work is not done. We know that there are still some tough choices to make, challenges ahead and we are committed to work with [the community] to make the right decisions for this university,” said U of C president Elizabeth Cannon. “It’s about having a continual dialogue with all of [the community] to ensure that we align the resources we have with our priorities.”
Of the money raised, $54 million was used to fund research at the U of C, $13.3 million in financial awards was given to 5,338 undergraduate students and $4.2 million was given to 593 graduate students.
Much of the presentation was also about the emphasis the U of C will put on research in energy.
“The University of Calgary is located at the core of the energy industry of Canada,” said U of C vice-president research Ed McCauley. “This access presents an opportunity and responsibility for our university to be the leader in Canada — and one of the few leaders in the world — in high-impact energy research.”
The Energy Research Strategy report states that funding for research comes from scholars working for provincial, national and international revenue sources. The university will provide $1 million in matching funds to help scholars develop partnerships and compete for external funds.
The university also plans to recruit over 30 assistant professors, postdoctoral scholars and research chairs for energy research.