NSERC Steacie fellows for 2004 announced

Ottawa, ON – March 12, 2004 – The six 2004 winners of one of Canada’s premier sciences awards, the NSERC Steacie Fellowships, have been announced.

Named to the 2004 NSERC Steacie honours list are

– Dr. Mosto Bousmina, polymer engineering professor at Universit Laval;

– Dr. Thomas Brabec, theoretical physicist at University of Ottawa;

– Dr. George Eleftheriades, at University of Toronto, who works in negative-refractive-index metamaterials;

– Dr. Lisa Jeffrey, mathematician at University of Toronto;

– Dr. Eric Hessels, professor of physics at York University; and

– Dr. Patrick Keeling, biologist at University of British Columbia.

NSERC Steacie Fellowships are awarded to outstanding Canadian university scientists or engineers, who have earned their doctorate within the last 12 years, and whose research has already earned them an international reputation.

Nominations are received by NSERC from universities across Canada and judged by a panel of independent experts. The awards include increased research funding from NSERC and payments to the universities to allow the Steacie Fellows to pursue their research full-time. They are also eligible to compete for a special Canada Foundation for Innovation Career Award. The announcement of these awards will be made later.

"These awards are public recognition for outstanding scientific achievement," says Dr Brzustowski, president of NSERC. "The researchers honoured today have already started their careers in a way that has already earned them an international reputation and I know that they will continue to do great things for science and engineering in Canada."