Universities say budget’s science funding will help retain researchers

The federal government announced a major financial commitment to graduate students and scientific infrastructure in this week’s budget that university leaders say will help stem a brain drain and allow them to retain and attract talented young researchers.But the plan pushes some of the new spending beyond the end of the government’s electoral mandate, leaving many of its details for the next government to decide to implement, or not. And it falls short of some of the recommendations made a year ago by the government-commissioned Advisory Panel on the Federal Research Support System.Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced in Tuesday’s budget that the government is allocating $825-million over five years to increase the annual values of federal scholarships for people in graduate programs.