Inaugural Canada Excellence Research Chairs will help build expertise in strategic areas

Toronto, ON – The federal government has announced the 19 inaugural recipients of the prestigious Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERCs) program.

The CERC program was announced 2008 as part of the federal government’s science and technology strategy to help build expertise in strategic areas. Chairholders were sought from Canada and internationally to conduct research in the areas of environmental sciences and technologies, natural resources and energy, health and related life sciences and technologies, and information and communications technologies.

The universities will receive up to $10 million over seven years to support each chairholders and their research teams in undertaking ambitious research programs.

The chairholders are as follows:

1) Environmental sciences and technologies

– Ali Emadi, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Hybrid Powertrain, McMaster University

– Ian A Gardner, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Aquatic Epidemiology, University of Prince Edward Island

– Philippe Van Cappellen, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Ecohydrology, University of Waterloo

– Douglas Wallace, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Ocean Science and Technology, Dalhousie University

– Howard Wheater, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Water Security, University of Saskatchewan

2) Natural resources and energy

– Marcel Babin, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Remote Sensing of Canada’s New Arctic Frontier, Université Laval

– D Graham Pearson, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Arctic Resources, University of Alberta

– Søren Rysgaard, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Arctic Geomicrobiology and Climate Change, University of Manitoba

– Thomas Thundat, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Oil Sands Molecular Engineering, University of Alberta

3) Health and related life science and technologies

– Oliver Ernst, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Structural Neurobiology, University of Toronto

– Matthew Farrer, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Neurogenetics and Translational Neuroscience, the University of British Columbia

– Michael Houghton, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Virology, University of Alberta

– Adrian Owen, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience and Imaging, the University of Western Ontario

– Patrik Rorsman, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Diabetes, University of Alberta

– Frederick Roth, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Integrative Biology, University of Toronto

4) Information and communications technologies

– Robert W Boyd, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Quantum Nonlinear Optics, University of Ottawa

– David Cory, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Quantum Information Processing, University of Waterloo

– Younès Messaddeq, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Enabling Photonic Innovations for Information and Communication, Université Laval

– Bertrand Reulet, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Quantum Signal Processing, Université de Sherbrooke

“The arrival of these globally respected researchers will have multiple benefits for Canada,” said Chad Gaffield, President of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and Chair of the Tri-Agency Steering Committee. “Research chairs of this calibre working together with other researchers, students and postdoctoral fellows already in Canada will create meaningful new opportunities.”

More details on the chairholders are available at http://www.cerc.gc.ca/cpch-pctc-eng.shtml.