For Immediate Release
August 13, 2007

MCGUINTY GOVERNMENT BOOSTING TOP RESEARCH

Improving Quality of Life For Ontario Families

OTTAWA –The McGuinty government is supporting hundreds of new research projects on the cutting-edge of scientific and technological discovery and innovation, announced Minister of Health Promotion Jim Watson on behalf of Premier and Minister of Research and Innovation Dalton McGuinty.

Minister Watson poses with Carleton staff and research students. From left to right: Nikolai Chepelev, Eman Ahmed-Muhsin, Minister Watson, Samy Mahmoud, Yasir Naqvi, Noor Ahmed-Muhsin, Subhra Mohapatra, Joshua Bennitz and Muluken Shambel Belew.

“We are on the side of Ontarians who want a prosperous economy, a clean environment and a high quality of life,” said Premier McGuinty. “By enabling this kind of world-class research to be done right here in Ontario, we’re giving leading researchers the resources to create better therapies, services and products that benefit Ontario families.”

"I'd like to congratulate all the researchers across Ontario and especially those in the Ottawa region who have received 32 awards worth over $3 million," said Watson. “We are investing in the ideas, skills and abilities of Ontarians – our greatest asset – as part of our plan to create a healthier, greener and more prosperous Ontario.”

With this announcement, the government is investing more than $36 million throughout Ontario to support 240 projects through the Ontario Research Fund and the Early Researcher Awards program.

The Ontario Research Fund helps researchers obtain the tools they need to stay on the forefront of innovation, including lab space, equipment and computer software. The Early Researcher Award program helps promising, recently appointed Ontario researchers undertake cutting-edge research and build their research teams of graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and research associates.  

For more information about the Ontario Research Fund and the Early Researcher Awards program, please visit www.ontario.ca/innovation.