The Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program is Canada's flagship research funding initiative and a policy innovation that has been emulated by a number of other countries. The NCE program is historically significant in the political economy of Canadian research: established in 1988 by the Mulroney government, it was the first program to attach expectations of industry partnerships and commercial exploitation to funding for academic research. The program rests on dual goals of research excellence and commercial relevance and promotes a national research capacity that 'floats across'...