November 25, 2005

EARLY RESEARCHER AWARD PROGRAM

Under the new Early Researcher Award program, the Ontario government is providing $6.4 million to universities in support of 64 awards to help gifted Ontario researchers build their research teams of graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and research associates.

This $6.4-million investment is matched by an additional commitment of $3.2 million from funding partners.

In order to be eligible for an award, a researcher at an Ontario university, college, hospital or research institute must be within the first five years of starting an independent academic research career. A call for proposals, which will close January 26, 2006, was issued today for the second round of awards.

The program is a key component of the province's research and innovation strategy, which aims to strengthen Ontario's economic advantage by helping to attract, retain and develop the best and brightest researchers in key economic sectors.

The Early Researcher Award program is a successor to the Premier's Research Excellence Award (PREA) program. Round 11 of PREA was already in progress when the decision was made to introduce the Early Researcher Award program — these projects then became the first transitional round.

The 64 awards are spread across 10 Ontario communities. For a complete list of award recipients, please visit www.ontario.ca/innovation. Examples for each community include:

Guelph

University of Guelph: three awards totalling $300,000

The world's flora and fauna are disappearing at an alarming rate. The focus of Dr. Kevin McCann's research at the University of Guelph is on how changes in the numbers of species can affect the balance of the ecosystem. These changes can have serious repercussions on everything from crop productivity to global warming.

Hamilton

McMaster University: six awards totalling $600,000

A research project led by Dr. Hendrik Poinar at McMaster University will trace the evolution of the AIDS virus — how and when it began, how it spread from chimpanzees to humans and how its structure has changed over time. The goal of the research is to understand the changes that occur within the virus in order to predict future changes.

Kingston

Queen's University: two awards totalling $200,000

New research by Dr. Martin Paré at Queen's University could pave the way for improved treatment of psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia. The findings could help advance our understanding of schizophrenia and other neurological and psychiatric disorders, providing insights that could lead to better drugs and other therapies for people with these conditions.

London

University of Western Ontario: nine awards totalling $900,000

Research led by Dr. Kristy Tiampo at the University of Western Ontario will aim to improve our ability to predict earthquakes in Canada and around the world. Using powerful computers and an extensive database, researchers will develop a large-scale model of fault lines. With the help of these sophisticated models, we can get a better indication of when and where earthquakes are likely to occur and how strong they may be.

Ottawa

University of Ottawa: four awards totalling $400,000
Carleton University: two awards totalling $200,000

Anyone who has encountered problems with their wireless devices (cell phones, computers, personal digital assistants) will appreciate the work being done by Dr. Prosenjit Bose at Carleton University. The main focus of his research is to design more efficient routing methods that aim to improve the speed and reliability of wireless communications.

St. Catharines

Brock University: one award totalling $100,000

Innovation is crucial to maintaining Ontario's competitiveness. The goal of Dr. Melanie Pilkington at Brock University is to make Ontario companies more competitive by combining organics with metals. This would result in new materials that are durable, flexible and inexpensive to produce. Some industries that will benefit from the new materials include electronics, energy and telecommunications.

Sudbury

Laurentian University: one award totalling $100,000

How do things like food availability, predators and climate change affect wildlife and their ability to breed? That's the focus of Dr. Albrecht Schulte-Hostedde's research at Laurentian University. Answering these questions will help us understand how animals adapted to previous environmental changes, helping us predict their responses to future changes.

Toronto

University of Toronto: 21 awards totalling $2,100,000
York University: four awards totalling $400,000

Why and how do people with Alzheimer's disease lose their memory? Those are questions Dr. Sheena Josselyn at the University of Toronto hopes to answer. This research project, investigating how memory in healthy people is formed, may lead to the development of new treatments for those suffering from this disease.

Waterloo

University of Waterloo: nine awards totalling $900,000
Wilfrid Laurier University: one award totalling $100,000

One of the biggest challenges facing the auto industry is the need to reduce fuel consumption. In response, the industry is turning to lighter, advanced materials. Unfortunately, these new materials do not always respond well to laser welding, which is more efficient than conventional welding. Dr. Norman Zhou at the University of Waterloo will identify best practices in welding, including laser welding, that will keep Ontario's auto industry competitive well into the future.

Windsor

University of Windsor: one award totalling $100,000

Researchers have noticed that a person's ability to survive life-threatening diseases, such as cancer, may be related to their economic and social well-being. Dr. Kevin Gorey at the University of Windsor will investigate why lower-income Canadians living in larger cities tend to survive such illnesses better than their American neighbours. These comparative findings will provide scientific evidence to better forecast Ontario's future health care needs.