$30M to boost research capacity across Canada

Fredericton, NB -April 26, 2004 – Canadian institutions across the country have received a financial boost intended help them attract and retain 164 high-calibre researchers. The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) today announced support for 145 projects in 33 universities that will allow new and talented researchers to conduct their research in world-class facilities.

Andy Savoy, Member of Parliament for Tobique-Mactaquac, on behalf of the Honourable Lucienne Robillard, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, joined Carmen Charette, Interim President and CEO of the CFI, in Fredericton today, to announce $29.9 million under the CFI’s New Opportunities Fund (NOF).

The CFI’s New Opportunities Fund enables eligible universities to provide research infrastructure for newly recruited faculty members, in their first full-time academic appointment in Canadian degree-granting institutions, so that these researchers can undertake leading-edge research. The fund also enables institutions to recruit new faculty members in the areas of research identified as priorities in their strategic research plans.

A total investment of $29.9 million was approved to support infrastructure for 145 projects at 33 Canadian institutions. They include:

– University of New Brunswick – Hydrodynamic Infrastructure for Marine Ecology Research;

– Nipissing University – Nipissing University Aquatic Ecotoxicology Laboratory;

– Universit de Montral – Analyse multiparamtrique du comportement physiologique des cellules cardiaques;

– University of British Columbia – UBC Feeding Behaviour and Feed Intake Monitoring System for Cattle.

A list of the projects approved by the CFI to date and a list of the approved funding for this announcement, are available at www.innovation.ca.