Simon Fraser University (SFU) has been awarded approximately $23 million in funding through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada's (NSERC) Lab to Market program, to expand their award-winning Invention to Innovation (i2I) suite of programs over the next five years. The i2I programs provide bilingual innovation and entrepreneurship training for graduate students, researchers and faculty in STEM and healthcare fields.
The Honourable Terry Duguid, Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, announced the grant today on behalf of the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, at Red River College Polytechnic.
The expansion of the National i2I Network is supported by a coalition of 13 co-applicant institutions, to deliver these training opportunities across Canada. Partner institutions include Queens University, University of Waterloo, Université Laval, Dalhousie University, University of Alberta, University of Manitoba, and the University of the Fraser Valley, among others, and 57 collaborating organizations including national i2I expansion partner, Mitacs. With this funding, the program will expand opportunities such as a full-time commercialization post-doctoral program and a Faculty Innovation Fellows program, focused on overcoming barriers in STEM and healthcare research commercialization.
"Expanding and strengthening the National i2I Network will better mobilize Canada's world-class research into impactful innovation," says SFU Associate Vice President, Knowledge Mobilization & Innovation, Elicia Maine. "We are thrilled to receive support to build a more robust Canadian science innovation ecosystem. We are grateful for our academic and industry partners as well as instructors, mentors, and alumni, who have championed i2I innovation skills training."
This program helps to solve global challenges while unlocking the underutilized potential of Canada's top research talent. The National i2I Network's goal is to transform the mindset, skills, and culture of Canadian STEM and healthcare researchers through tailored programs that bridge the critical gap between invention and innovation. By equipping researchers with the skills and tools they need to mobilize their discoveries, they can strengthen Canada's innovation ecosystem while becoming translational scientists, industry innovation champions, or the founders of university spin-off ventures.
Simon Fraser University (SFU) is also proud to co-lead, along with the University of British Columbia (UBC), the Pacific hub of Lab2Market (L2M), a successful NSERC-funded network led by Dalhousie University. The i2I programming is designed to ladder into the L2M Validate programming for researchers following a venture or industrial pathway, further fostering innovation and entrepreneurship across the region.
SFU's commitment to innovation has seen it named as Canada's top university for innovation and second for industrial application, according to the World University Rankings for Innovation (WURI) 2024 rankings. Globally, SFU ranks 15th among innovative universities in the WURI rankings.
"This funding recognizes SFU's leadership in fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in Canada's research ecosystem," says SFU President, Joy Johnson. "The National i2I Network is an essential platform for empowering researchers to transform their discoveries into real-world solutions."
