University of Lethbridge researchers from the Departments of Mathematics & Computer Science, Chemistry & Biochemistry, and Physics & Astronomy were awarded grants totalling more than $277,000 as the Government of Canada announced funding awards through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
Today, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry, along with the Honourable Mona Fortier, President of the Treasury Board, announced funding of more than $506 million — an investment in the world’s brightest minds to increase the impact of science, technology and innovation in Canada.
“Discovery is the foundation of all advancements. Through this major investment in some of Canada’s most promising and innovative researchers we are supporting scientists and students to become global leaders in their field,” says Champagne. “By helping to expand the frontiers of science, we are investing in a better society and a brighter future for Canadians.”
Researchers from across the country are receiving the funding to continue to lead world-class research programs in a wide variety of natural sciences and engineering disciplines. These include research programs focused on climate change, chemistry, biology, mathematics and statistics, computer science and artificial intelligence, and engineering.
Dr. Dena McMartin, ULethbridge vice-president (research), says the continued success of applicants from the University is indicative of the innovative environment nurtured by faculty.
“When you have world-class faculty dedicated to their craft, and dedicated to their students and discovery, it fuels their own research programs and inspires colleagues to push for these funding opportunities as well,” says McMartin. “The success of these researchers continues to advance the reputation of their programs within their respective fields and opens up even greater opportunities for their students, trainees and further innovation down the road.”
The following programs are receiving NSERC funding:
Dr. Yllias Chali, Mathematics & Computer Science, Text Summarization and Question Generation Models — $24,000 (5 years)
Dr. Michael Gerken, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Donor-Stabilized Fluorido Cations and New Tungsten-Based Weakly Coordinating Anions — $62,000 (5 years)
Dr. Jean-Denys Hamel, Chemistry & Biochemistry, New Catalytic Methodologies for the Synthesis of Organofluorine Compounds — $25,000 (5 years)
Dr. Jean-Denys Hamel, Chemistry & Biochemistry, New Catalytic Methodologies for the Synthesis of Organofluorine Compounds — $12,500 (1 year)
Dr. Trushar Patel, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Understanding Communications Between Viral RNAs and Human Proteins — $40,000 (5 years)
Dr. Marc Roussel and Dr. Stacey Wetmore, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Critical Renewal of an Obsolete Computational Biochemistry Suite at the University of Lethbridge — $90,050 (1 year)
Dr. Mark Walton, Physics & Astronomy, Phase space Quantum Mechanics and the Quantum-Classical Relation — $24,000 (5 years)
The Research Support Fund supports a portion of the costs associated with managing the research funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, such as salaries for staff who provide administration support, training costs for workplace health and safety, maintenance of libraries and laboratories, and administrative costs associated with obtaining patents for inventions.