Contaminant removal the focus of new international research partnership

Saskatoon, SK – A $40,000 research grant has been awarded to support an international research collaboration aimed at removing contaminants from the environment. The International Flagship Partnership Research Grant (IFPRG), which is being awarded for the first time, is supported in partnership by the University of Saskatchewan and the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT).

Lee Wilson, associate professor of chemistry at the U of S, and Bo Wang, chemistry professor at BIT, were named co-recipients of the grant for a joint project that involves investigating applications in contaminant absorption or volatile organic compound adsorption. Each scientist will each receive $20,000 for the two-year project, which begins in January 2016.

The IFPRG agreement was signed by the two institutions in December 2014 to provide $100,000 for research-building activities, said Diane Martz, director of International Research and Partnerships at the U of S. Each institution contributed $50,000 to the agreement. The funding competition will be held each year for the next three years.

“This is a perfect example of how this partnership can strengthen connections between our institutions and advance our respective areas of expertise,” said Martz. “It is a recognition that the issues we examine are not local, but now more than ever before our research has global application.”

The relationship between the two institutions began informally more than 15 years ago, and became a flagship partnership in 2012. Since that time, faculty researchers have engaged in collaborative work, including both research and artistic performance. The partners have exchanged graduate and undergraduate students and several BIT grads have joined the faculty at the U of S, while maintaining collaborative research ties in China.