Science & Policy Exchange has been a partner of Support Our Science (SOS) almost since its foundation in 2022 by proffessors and the next generation of researchers. They raise public awareness of the next generation’s funding issues and lobbies politicians on these issues through petitions, demonstrations, media relations, participation in parliamentary committees.

We are one of SOS’s community partners, along with other science policy and next generation of researchers advocacy organizations in Canada such as the Toronto Science Policy Network (TSPN), the Ottawa Science Policy Network (OSPN), the Canadian Association of Postdoctoral Scholars (CAPS), Evidence for Democracy (E4D), the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA), and the Canadian Black Scientists Network (CBSN).

We’ve been integral in helping SOS advocate for the future of science funding by:

• Co-organized the Montreal demonstrations of August 17, 2022 and May 1, 2023 in support of SOS’s demands.
• Co-signing a submission for the pre-budget consultation in October 2022,
• Publishing two texts on the issue of funding for graduate students and postdocs (an editorial for the Canadian Science Policy Center and a blog post).
• Participating as witnesses in the House of Commons Standing Committee on Science and Research on the Government of Canada’s Graduate Scholarship and Post-Doctoral Fellowship Programs.
• One of SPE’s Co-President also sat on the SOS Executive Council from April to July 2023, representing SPE.