Scientists across an array of faculties at University of British Columbia will receive a combined total of $32.7 million in grants, fellowships and scholarships, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) announced today.
The awards include the NSERC’s flagship Discovery Grants and Discover Accelerator Supplements, as well as Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarships, Postgraduate Scholarships and Postdoctoral Fellowships.
UBC’s 149 grant recipients include Janet Werker, director of the Faculty of Psychology Infant Studies Centre, who will receive $550,000, distributed over five years, to support her research into infant speech and language acquisition. Anthony Farrell, chair in sustainable aquaculture at the Centre for Aquaculture and Environmental Research, will receive $450,000 over five years for research into how climate change affects salmon physiology. And particle physicist Douglas Bryman will receive $440,000 over three years for research on subatomic particles.
“NSERC’s investment in the significant research being undertaken at UBC will enable our researchers to remain at the forefront of science and technology,” said John Hepburn, UBC vice president, research and international. “These awards are a testament to UBC’s commitment to research excellence.”
Eleven UBC researchers have been tapped for Discovery Accelerator Supplements, a three-year program that provides $40,000 annually to fast-track promising research. Recipients include the faculty of civil engineering’s Mahdi Taiebat, for research into new ways to model seismic events; electrical and computer engineering’s Martin Ordonez, for research in renewable energy systems; and Gregory Dipple, for research into the role of iron in microbial growth.
In addition, 65 UBC postgraduate students and 75 graduate students will receive a total of $6 million in fellowship and scholarship funds over the next three years. The total amount of funding to UBC is $32,728,634.00.
A full list of recipients can be found on the NSERC website here.