UPEI faculty members awarded funding from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Eight faculty members at the University of Prince Edward Island have been awarded a total of $988,500 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
The funding for UPEI was part of a federal announcement made on June 14 in support of discovery and applied research in Canada by Yasir Naqvi, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, and Ryan Turnbull, Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, on behalf of the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry.
Dr. Greg Naterer, vice-president, academic and research at UPEI, congratulated the faculty members on their success.
“We are proud of UPEI’s award-winning faculty researchers,” he said. “With this support from NSERC, they will continue to apply their expertise to create new knowledge in diverse fields, and strengthen the University’s reputation of excellence in research, nationally and internationally.”
Dr. Paul Bernard, Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, received a discovery grant of $29,000 per year for five years and a one-year discovery launch supplement of $12,500, totalling $157,500, for a project titled “Ultrasound as a pervasive environmental acoustic: Implications for rodent models.”
Dr. Mark Fast, Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, received a discovery development grant of $20,000 per year over two years, for a total of $40,000, for a project titled “Manipulating lower vertebrate immunity to enhance resistance to pathogens.”
Dr. Joel Ross, Biology, Faculty of Science, received a discovery development grant of $20,000 per year over two years, for a total of $40,000, for a project titled “Deciphering gene regulation by neuronal long noncoding RNAs.”
Dr. Stephanie Shaw, Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering, received a discovery grant of $27,000 per year for five years and a one-year discovery launch supplement of $12,500, totalling $147,500, for a project titled “The Future of future energy: An exploration of future energy systems and forecasting future sustainability implications.”
Dr. Nasser Sadd, School of Mathematical and Computational Sciences, received $28,000 per year over five years, for a total of $140,000, for a project called “Bridging analysis and physics via asymptotic iteration method and special functions.”
Dr. Sara Sadri, Canada Research Chair in Remote Sensing and Water Security, received a discovery grant of $26,000 per year over five years and a one-year discovery launch supplement of $12,500, for a total award of $142,500, for a project titled “Advancing science of food-energy-water nexus under climate change.”
Dr. Michael van den Heuvel, Biology, Faculty of Science, received a discovery grant of $48,000 per year over five years, totalling $240,000, for a project titled “Cellular mechanisms of toxic action of petroleum pollutants.”
Also, included in the funding announcement were grants awarded under PromoScience, a federal science promotion and outreach program. Dr. Amy Hsiao, Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering, received a grant of $27,000 per year for three years, totalling $81,000, for a project titled “Inclusion of diversity in engineering and leadership in sustainability (IDEaLS).”
UPEI acknowledges the assistance of Canada’s tri-council of federal granting agencies—Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)—through its Research Support Fund, which helps fund services and infrastructure that support research activities at the University. In 2024–25, UPEI was allocated $1,041,691 from the RSF.
