John Wilkinson wants to retain scientists.

A Can$100-million (US$85-million) research fund aims to attract some of the world's leading researchers to Ontario — and keep them there. Launched by the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, the Global Leadership Round in Genomics and Life Sciences fund will finance proteomics, stem-cell and genomics research, with a focus on human health. It may also support genetics and genomics research related to agriculture, environmental protection and clean technologies.

“With the mega-stimulus package down south [in the United States], scientists that are not finding the opportunity to build their careers or support their teams are going to look at opportunities south of the border,” says Tom Hudson, president and scientific director of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research in Toronto. John Wilkinson, the Ontario minister of research and innovation, wants the fund to help retain scientists, he said in a statement. Ontario is Canada's largest biomedical research centre and the fourth largest in North America.

Winning projects are likely to be announced in early 2010. The funds will cover salaries, equipment and other research costs, and collaborations with international partners will receive priority. Winners will receive at least Can$3.5 million and up to one-third of the project's cost, with the balance coming from institutional and private-sector partners. Researchers have until the end of August to apply for the peer-reviewed competition.

Scientists say the new funding is timely and could help offset cuts at the federal level. In January, the federal budget called for Canada's three granting councils to scale back their budgets by Can$148 million over three years, starting this year (see Nature 457, 646; 2009). It also failed to provide support to Genome Canada, a not-for-profit funding organization. In April, Genome Canada withdrew Can$18 million from the International Regulome Consortium, a Can$80 million Canadian-led research programme (see Nature 458, 819; 2009).

The government has invested millions in science infrastructure, but many say that's not enough. “Canada has been overbuilding science infrastructure and under-supporting researchers and other workers,” says Paul Hebert, director of the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario at the University of Guelph. Hebert, who is the driving force behind the International Barcode of Life project that is cataloguing genetic signatures, calls it an “important” and “timely” funding competition.

The fund will cover salaries of up to Can$20,000 for master's- and PhD-level graduate students and Can$50,000 for postdoctoral fellows. “The best way to train postdocs and students is by having them be part of cutting-edge projects,” says Hudson.