Much of what's done benefits only the researchers. But when there may be useful spillovers, philanthropy can foot the bill

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If university professors feel compelled to spend two years researching “how emotions influence paid and unpaid climate activities across genders,” then let them go do it. But why should Canadian taxpayers pay $72,746 for that? It’s a question that naturally arises when perusing the list of research projects and academics who, by winning Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) competitions last year, were able to help themselves to significant sums of public money.

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A sample of other SSHRC-funded research projects with unpromising prospects for benefitting taxpayers includes:

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