Ten UPEI scientists awarded highly competitive research funding
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) announced more than $1.2 million in research funding for 10 scientists at the University of Prince Edward Island. The funding covers the purchase of a scanning electron microscope, plus research costs for ten researchers over the next five years.
'UPEI is extremely proud of each of its recipients of NSERC's Discovery Grant,' said Dr. Katherine Schultz, UPEI's vice-president of research and development. 'These awards allow us to build new knowledge and to train the next generation of innovators.'
UPEI's recipients of 2011 NSERC Discovery Grants and their respective research programs are as follows:
Dr. Collins Kamunde, Biomedical Sciences
Developing mechanisms of interactions of hypoxia and temperature with metal stress in fish
Dr. Frederick Kibenge, Pathology and Microbiology
Studying the evolution of ISA virus in fish and developing vaccines and antiviral drugs to combat it in an aquaculture setting
Dr. Christian Lacroix, Biology
Understanding the evolution and diversity through comparative studies of the vegetative and floral structures in seed plants
Dr. Gordon MacDonald, Mathematics and Statistics
Using pure mathematics to study collections of operators and matrices to model phenomena in quantum mechanics, control theory, signal processing, and other areas
Dr. Jason Pearson, Chemistry
Using computers to understand and design new molecules and materials with applications to human health and disease and developing algorithms that allow computers to intelligently "discover" new, highly active compounds
Dr. James Polson, Physics
Computer simulations to better understand the underlying physics and of a potential nano-scale technique for faster sequencing of DNA, with an aim to guide future development of this technique
Dr. Nasser Saad, Mathematics and Statistics
Bridging three areas of mathematical physics to gain a better and more concise understanding of the theory of supersymmetric quantum mechanics
Dr. Michael Shaver, Chemistry
Developing new materials from renewable and inexpensive resources for use in biomedical and thermoplastic applications
Dr. William Whelan, Physics
Developing medical tools for identifying, targeting, and treating cancer using light and sound
Dr. Qiang Ye, Computer Science and Information Technology
Solutions to internet bottlenecks for simultaneous multiple users on a WiFi network
NSERC's Discovery Grants Program supports ongoing programs of research rather than a single short-term project or collection of projects. These grants recognize the creativity and innovation that are at the heart of all research advances, whether made individually or in teams.
