Three scientists at the University of British Columbia have received some of the top academic prizes available from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
The UBC award winners, announced today by NSERC, are Prof. Walter Hardy of the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Kevin Leyton-Brown of the Dept. of Computer Science and postdoctoral fellow Marinus T.J. van Loenhout of the Centre for High-Throughput Biology.
“These awards stand in recognition of our researchers’ talents and should serve as validation for their hard work in pushing the envelope of inquiry,” said John Hepburn, UBC vice-president, research and international.
Leyton-Brown, an associate professor, is one of six researchers awarded an E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship, valued at more than $250,000, which recognizes the work of young scientists at Canadian universities. Leyton-Brown’s research focuses on how financial traders make decisions through the use of mathematical theories and algorithms.
For research that makes an outstanding advance in natural sciences or engineering, Hardy, a
professor emeritus, is a recipient of the John C. Polanyi Award, a $250,000 prize. Hardy is a member of the ALPHA-Canada team, which developed methods to measure the properties of atomic antimatter.
Van Loenhout was awarded the Howard Alper Postdoctoral Prize, valued at $20,000, as winner of NSERC’s postdoctoral fellowship competition.