iCORE Overview

• Informatics Circle of Research Excellence

• Created in 1999, funded by Province of Alberta

• Mandate: increase profile of ICT in Alberta

• “Lightning rod” model for research funding in strategic niche areas of ICT (bold and nimble)

• Strategy and recruiting guided by a team of outstanding international scientists

• 3 grant programs investing in scientists working on fundamental and applied problems in informatics

• Scholarship programs for recruiting best students

• iCORE Summit held annually (August) in Banff

iCORE Programs

• CPE (Chair and Professorship Establishment)• Attract world-class researchers and support

research teams• Up to $1M/year for 5 years (renewable)

• ICE (Industry Chair Establishment)• Industry partnership program • Minimum $100k/year industry• Potential matching from iCORE and NSERC• Leverage of 3-to-1 or 4-to-1

• Visiting Professor & Recruitment Grants• $5k-$100k grants for recruitment activities and

capacity building

• ICT Graduate Student Scholarships• Co-managed with Alberta Ingenuity Fund

iCORE Financial OverviewiCORE Financial Overview

• iCORE’s current base budget is $10.7M per year

• With AET & Alberta Ingenuity, iCORE, a $6M graduate student scholarship program

• $3M for ICT• $3M for Nanotechnology

Fiscal Y

ear B

udget

iCORE Research Clusters

• 29 research chairs

• Established Areas:

• Networks and Wireless

• Intelligent Software Systems

• New Architectures

– (e.g., Nanotechnology,

Quantum Computing)

• Emerging Areas:

• Cyberinfrastructure

• Systems Biology/Life

Sciences

• Sensor Networks/Integrated

Resource Management (IRM)

iCORE Chair PortfolioiCORE Chair Portfolio

• iCORE’s business plan is to achieve and sustain critical mass in both research and industry chairs

• Currently 17 CPEs • 11 Chairs • 6 Professors

• iCORE’s industrial impact by industry chair program• Currently 12 active Industry Chairs

• Sun Microsystems• Syncrude/Matrikon• Suncor/Matrikon• Silicon Graphics• Hewlett-Packard• Alberta Power Consortium

• SMART Technologies• Calgary Scientific Inc.• TELUS• General Dynamics Canada• IBM• Micralyne

Research Highlights

Research Highlights

Research Highlights

Dr. Barry SandersUniversity of Calgary

Research Highlights

Dr. Michael BrettUniversity of Alberta

Nano-scale devices

GLancing AngleDeposition (GLAD)

Thin films

iCORE’s ROIiCORE’s ROI

• First class research academy– Quality people (iCORE chairs have 90% NSERC success

rate, cf. Canadian average of 52%)

– 32 chairs have been established with enormous generation of HQP

– Current surveys show ~56% HQP remains in province– Increase in quality and external assessment

• e.g., Robert Wolkow “Nobel-level achievements…”• e.g., Gane Wong “novel and bold scientific goals…”

• Investment leverage– Current commitment of ~$93M to 2014– Leverage of more than 3-to-1 on iCORE investment

SummarySummary

• iCORE currently has 29 research chairs

• Current investment of about $93M to 2014, leveraged more than 3-to-1

• Currently involves over 1000 research personnel (faculty, technical, graduate students)

• Broadening informatics base, with increasing emphasis on cyberinfrastructure, sensor networks/integrated resource management, systems/life sciences

• High impact in Alberta, in Canada, and globally