From lab to lobby: PhD candidate leads advocacy for Canadian research funding increase
Programs: Graduate, Disruptive Innovation, Inclusive community
Image courtesy of CPAC
Kaitlin Kharas speaking at the 2024 budget press conference with Deputy Prime Minister Freeland
By
Jenni Bozec
Kaitlin Kharas is a PhD candidate in the lab of Dr. Michael Taylor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology. When not in the lab, she has spent her time advocating for the rights of her fellow graduate students and postdocs, a role that has seen her stand side-by-side with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland, to announce federal funding increases that will benefit many of her peers in research.
It seems Kharas was always destined to get involved in politics in some way. Hailing from Ottawa, she comes from a family of political scientists. However, she chose to follow in her grandfather’s footsteps, as he graduated from the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. “I was always much more drawn to the sciences.” However, she soon realized that the two cannot be separated. “I find it very interesting how science and government interact – they cannot exist without each other. Government is our biggest source of research funding and good government requires research to make good policy. I find that dynamic fascinating and how it can work in the most efficient and productive way.”
Shortly after starting her PhD in LMP, she joined the Toronto Science Policy Network (TSPN), a student club at U of T that provides an opportunity for grad students and postdocs to learn about and engage at the science policy interface. Starting out as the fundraising lead and then treasurer, and finally co-president, she realized how much she enjoyed it. Publishing a paper in the Journal of Science Policy & Governance with her TSPN colleagues, “Improving the Accessibility of Federal Graduate Research Awards in Canada”, led to a meeting with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) directors in which they presented their recommendations - her “first real taste of scholarship advocacy”.
These experiences led her to join Support Our Science (SOS), which she has now been a member of for two years and is currently Executive Director.
Graduate students and postdocs in Canada had not seen any significant rise in the level of scholarship or fellowship salary funding they receive from the Federal Government since 2003. “Considering how dramatically the cost of living has risen in the last 20 years, that was a real issue. We’ve been lucky in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine that we’ve seen stipends rise, but that is not the case in many institutions across Canada,” explained Kharas.
The advocacy began with an open letter to the Government signed by 6,000 professors across the sciences, including Nobel Laureates, stating the need for a raise. “It became obvious that this was not enough and that a long-term vision was needed to convince the Government to invest in next-generation researchers.” This led to the formation of SOS, where graduate students, postdocs, faculty and their supporters came together to strategically advocate for increased funding from the Federal Government.
SOS used various means to pressure the Government. They submitted four House of Commons petitions with thousands of signatures, each sponsored by an MP from a different political party. This was partnered with social media and email campaigns, where SOS enabled and encouraged people to write to their local MP or key Government figures, such as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Freeland.
When the 2023 Federal Budget was released with still no change, the frustration grew, and SOS decided to organize nation-wide walkouts. Kharas co-led the Toronto walkout and rally, speaking at the event where hundreds of students took part. “That’s when it started to really bring the issue to people’s attention, and it became a turning point for the campaign. We started to get more media coverage (such as that by Nature) and build awareness among students, postdocs and faculty, as well as the wider population.” After that, the movement picked up pace. Kharas and her colleagues continued meeting behind the scenes with policy advisors to Minister Freeland and other members of Parliament.
The pressure and advocacy worked, with enhanced federal research support of $2.6 billion announced in April this year. Students and postdocs will see improvements through increased scholarship amounts, as well as to core research grant programs which faculty typically use to pay their lab members. Kharas spoke at the budget press conference with Minister Freeland.
“We found that people outside academia often don’t understand the roles of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in driving Canadian research and innovation. I think the Government now recognizes our impact and the value in supporting us,” said Kharas.
This advocacy by students and postdocs for their peers was vital says Kharas. “Normally we are represented by institutions, or roles within them, such as the incredible work by student unions. But there's something to be said about having a graduate student who's actively pursuing their degree sitting at the negotiating table”. She also highlights the collaborations that made it possible as SOS formed coalitions with groups such as U15 Canada, “so we could make recommendations to the government that were fully aligned.”
For Kharas, this work has been incredibly rewarding. “To see how willing grad students and postdocs were to volunteer their time to advocate or this change gave me such a sense of community and a vision of what we were trying to achieve together. It has been a highlight of my PhD experience”.
Although Kharas and the team at SOS are delighted and grateful for the changes made, the work is not over. “We do feel like it is a turning point in Canadian science. We are continuing to work with the Federal Government, and we hope that this raises the benchmark for what is acceptable pay for student researchers in Canada and that institutions and Provinces will also rise to the challenge.”
