The British Columbia government unveiled a far-reaching report calling for sweeping reforms to the province's higher education system, including the creation of regional universities and a so-called "Georgia Strait" cluster of research-intensive universities. The report, entitled Access and Excellence: The Campus 2020 Plan for British Columbia's Post-Secondary Education System, makes 52 recommendations.

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grant recipients have been required for the last 17 years to permanently archive their research data, but a recent study found most recipients it surveyed were unaware of the requirement. The study, by University of Western Ontario graduate student Carol Perry, found that more than 70 percent of respondents were unaware of SSHRC's "Research Data Archiving Policy.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper chose the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics as the site to unveil his government's new science and technology strategy on May 17. The independent institute in Waterloo, Ontario, bills itself as a public-private partnership in scientific research - an underlying theme of the government's S&T plan.

What happens when you take a Queen's University expert in Greco-Roman mythology with an interest in astronomy, and set him loose in a Viennese museum containing one of the world's most beautiful paintings? The result in this case was a research paper that has broken new ground in the understanding of the work of one of world's most revered painters, Gustav Klimt.

The decline in voter turnout since the late 1980s may have been due to a lack of political competitiveness among the federal political parties, a recent study suggests. And now that the parties have become more competitive, voter turnout is again on the upswing, as was seen in the most recent election in 2006, the researchers note.

Canada Post marks major university anniversaries by issuing a commemorative stamp with the university's image (HEC Montréal and the University of Saskatchewan were so honoured earlier this year for their centennials). But the University of Lethbridge made it on a stamp this May for another reason - its striking University Hall designed by well-known Canadian architect Arthur Erickson.

A new report on university enrolment published by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada garnered substantial media interest, with at least 18 different stories appearing in print, radio, television and online following the report's release on May 1. The report is the first volume of the 2007 edition of Trends in Higher Education and focuses on enrolment.