Foremost, there must be a clear articulation of the roles and responsibilities of the partners and the goals of the partnership in order to redefine and strengthen the partnership. To this end, the working group developed a set of guiding and operating principles. Over the course of the next year, comments from the university community will be solicited and incorporated into the final set of principles. Once the principles are in place, new policies and regulations governing the partnership will be developed to define the relationship more accurately as one of mutual trust, respect, and benefit. The working group's statement includes four guiding principles to govern the interactions between partners and six operating principles designed to help implement them.
Research is an investment in the future.
This principle acknowledges the potentially lengthy turn-around time on the investment and the need to manage research investments as a portfolio with a focus on collective returns. Outcomes of individual research projects are not always predictable and should not be used in isolation to determine the value of the investment. Linkage between research and education is vital. The intellectual development and scientific contributions of students are two of the most important benefits of the government's investment in university-based research. Excellence is promoted when investments are guided by merit review.