The Government of Alberta has committed $55 million in its 2024 budget for a new multidisciplinary science hub at the University of Calgary.
The new hub will house an incubator space for researchers to work side-by-side with industry partners. It will focus on seven “high-demand” program areas: chemistry, energy innovation, energy pathways, quantum-nanotech chemistry, health innovation, agriculture and plant biotechnology, near-Earth and space, and neuroscience.
The funding, which will be delivered over three years, is expected to relieve the growing enrolment demand facing the university’s faculty of science by adding at least 2,000 full-time graduate and undergraduate enrolment spaces.
“This new facility reflects Alberta’s commitment to maintaining our great province’s science advantage for decades to come,” Kristin Baetz, dean of the University of Calgary’s faculty of science, said in a statement. “We are going to get science done in service of Alberta’s students, industry, and economy, and drive new innovations that benefit all of us.”
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Alberta initially invested $5 million in September to help plan the project, which is expected to be completed in 2029. The $450-million facility will include a student success centre to teach workplace skills, host startup incubators, and industry collaboration spaces for internships and hands-on learning.
The University of Calgary has played a key role in supporting Alberta’s tech ecosystem. The province invested $23 million into the university in 2022 for the development of a quantum hub, named Quantum City, to help fill tech talent roles in the province and accelerate the development of Alberta-grown quantum technologies.
The university is also gearing up to launch ElevateIP Alberta, an Albertan iteration of the federal intellectual property (IP) program. The program aims to help more than 2,500 startups in Alberta understand, manage, and leverage their IP.
Since June 2020, the university’s pre-seed startup investment fund, UCeed, has become one of Canada’s most active pre-seed and seed-stage investors. Since its inception, UCeed has expanded from two to six funds, all of which back early-stage tech startups developing health, social impact, and energy-related solutions.
Feature image courtesy University of Calgary. Photo by Riley Brandt.
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