Eight StFX researchers have together received $1,485,000 in federal funding over five years from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), through its Discovery Grants research program.
Central Nova MP Sean Fraser and StFX President Dr. Andy Hakin recognized the researchers during a virtual ceremony held Jan. 7 to celebrate the news, initially announced in June 2020.
The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry announced at that time over $492 million in funding by NSERC through its Discovery Grants research program. The funding goes to 2,400 researchers across the country as they pursue research in natural sciences and engineering disciplines, including biology, mathematics and statistics, computer science and artificial intelligence, chemistry, and chemical engineering. It also includes support for more than 500 early-career researchers.
“The value I see in research is extraordinary,” Mr. Fraser said during the event.
“Supporting researchers in Canada is important to maintaining a strong foundation for continued innovation and job growth, which is why I am excited to be able to recognize and celebrate the work of talented NSERC Discovery Grant recipients in my own backyard at StFX.”
In his remarks, Mr. Fraser also spoke about the importance of supporting diverse research across the country and of encouraging more people earlier in their research careers.
Dr. Hakin congratulated all the successful StFX NSERC Discovery Grant recipients on their success in the 2020 competition. “It’s a wonderful achievement,” he said as he noted that as a former NSERC Discovery Grant holder all the years of his research career, he knows firsthand how important it is to receive this funding.
“We had two new faculty members receive their very first NSERC Discovery Grants and the six other awardees saw significant increases in the funding of their research grants, which demonstrates the high quality and impact of their research. NSERC’s Discovery Grant funding is critical for small universities like StFX and provides significant support for our students to become engaged in research,” he said.
Dr. Hakin said another important aspect of this funding is how it enables researchers to involve undergraduate and graduate students in their research, training the next generation.
Also speaking at the event was earth sciences professor and department chair Dr. Lisa Kellman, a Canada Research Chair holder for 10 years, a University Research Award recipient, and an exceptional researcher who saw her NSERC Discovery Grant double in this latest round.
“Research is a really important part of our academic job,” Dr. Kellman said as she offered congratulations to her colleagues on receiving these highly competitive awards.
These awards bring many benefits, she said, which are not always visible in the short term, but over the longer term benefit our broader society as well as help support and educate undergraduate, master’s and PhD students.
A number of researchers who spoke at the event thanked NSERC and noted the importance of both supporting curiosity-driven research and of training the next generation, of helping facilitate the inquiry of curious students and of attracting exceptionally bright students to StFX.
The successful StFX researchers include:
Dr. Erwan Bertin, Department of Chemistry, $24,000 per year over five years plus a one-time $12,500 early career researcher supplement, Exploring Pulsed Laser Ablation in Liquids as a New Synthetic Path Toward Electrocatalysts.
Dr. Stephen Finbow, Department Mathematics and Statistics, $24,000 per year over five years, Colouring, Domination and Discrete Dynamic Graph Processes.
Dr. David Garbary, Department of Biology, $28,000 per year over five years, Cell walls and symbioses of the economically important brown seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum.
Dr. James Hughes, Department of Computer Science, $24,000 per year over five years plus a one-time $12,500 early career researcher supplement, Evolutionary Algorithm Development for Applications in Brain Connectomics and Other Complex Systems.
Dr. Lisa Kellman, Department of Earth Sciences, $43,000 per year over five years, Examining the protection of organic carbon in mineral soils of managed landscapes.
Dr. Brendan Murphy, Department of Earth Sciences, $51,000 per year over five years, The Assembly Of Pannotia: Implications for the Origin of Supercontinents.
Dr. Dave Risk, Department of Earth Sciences, $51,000 per year over five years, Measuring the methane footprint of Canadian oil and gas operations.
Dr. Russell Wyeth, Department of Biology, $47,000 per year over five years, Neuroethology of odour-based navigation in aquatic gastropods.
