Linkages and the research environment

In today’s highly competitive research environment, external research linkages are essential, and research infrastructure acts as a catalyst for the creation and maintenance of those linkages. Of the projects funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation in 2010-11, 1,487 (or 67 percent of the total) had external linkages. And of those projects, 403 had linkages with the private sector, contributing to the lab-to-market innovation process. Relationships between institutions and the public and non-profit sectors, which were present in 372 projects, help these sectors seek solutions to emerging and future challenges facing society. About a quarter of the projects had linkages with representatives from at least two sectors. Through such linkages, researchers are placed at the heart of knowledge and technology exchanges between sectors, creating a more integrated and efficient research environment.