October 2016

  

  

 
The Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC) Program of the Government of Canada supports Canadian universities in their efforts to build on Canada's growing reputation as a global leader in research and innovation.
 
 
Oct event photo 

On October 12, the Minister of Science, the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, visited the University of Calgary to announce a new competition for 11 Canada Excellence Research Chairs. She also announced the new competition will require institutions to include detailed equity plans and recruitment strategies that promote the participation of women and other underrepresented groups.
RESEARCH FOCUS
Canada First Research Excellence Chairs
 

The recent announcement of the winners of the Canada First Research Excellence Fund has demonstrated the catalyzing effect CERCs are having in Canada's universities. The chairholders are prominently involved in 13 of the 18 initiatives that have received almost $1.25 billion in funding since July 2015.
 
big data
 

Will we live in a smarter society tomorrow? The work of Andrea Lodi, CERC in Data Science for Real-Time Decision-Making at Polytechnique Montréal, is pointing the way to a world in which organizations will make better decisions by efficiently using big data.
 
lab
 
With a rapidly changing climate and the world's population predicted to reach nine billion by 2050, ensuring enough nutritious food for all is one of humanity's greatest challenges. Leon Kochian, new CERC in Food Systems and Security at the University of Saskatchewan, is finding solutions to help local plant breeders sustainably deal with agricultural conditions in their regions.

 
dark matter
 

Leading science writer Lowell Cochrane visited Gilles Gerbier, CERC in Astroparticle Physics at Queen's University, to ask him about his work, and dark matter experiments.
 
intestinal flora
 

In the dark depths of your stomach, somewhere inside your intestine, lives a system of micro-organisms. It's called the gut microbiome, known more widely as intestinal flora. And Vincenzo Di Marzo, recently named CERC in the Microbiome-Endocannabinoidome Axis in Metabolic Health at Université Laval, aims to find out all its secrets.
 
Saskatchewan river delta
 

It took years for the Saskatchewan River Delta to be degraded, and it will take generations to restore its ecological health. Find out how CERC-funded research is helping understand how upstream developments impact water flows and the downstream environment.
 
 MULTIMEDIA

 
quantum cats
 

Quantum technologies, which will transform how we live, work, and play, are emerging from research labs faster and faster. To help people better understand the science behind these technologies, University of Waterloo's Institute for Quantum Computing has created the game Quantum Cats. Created in partnership with the University of Waterloo Games Institute, this new Angry Birds-style game highlights a few of the quantum behaviours that Einstein called "weird" and "spooky". 
 
IN THE NEWS
Graham Pearson
 

Graham Pearson, CERC in Arctic Resources at the University of Alberta, has been elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. 



 
Soren Rydgaard
 
Søren Rysgaard, CERC in Arctic Geomicrobiology and Climate Change at the University of Manitoba, showed US Secretary of State John Kerry the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier in Greenland, and explained how the glacier is crucial to understanding the effects of climate change. Learn more in the U.S. News article: Kerry's Arctic climate change adventure hits Greenland

 
Ian Gartner
 
Ian Gardner, CERC in Aquatic Epidemiology at the University of Prince Edward Island, has received the UC Davis 2016 Alumni Achievement Award for his outstanding contributions to veterinary epidemiology.


 
WELCOME TO THE NEW CERCS
Eric Snowberg
Vincenzo Di Marzo
Leon Kochian

Canada Excellence Research Chair in Data-Intensive Methods in Economics
The University of British Columbia

Canada Excellence Research Chair in the Microbiome-Endocannabinoidome Axis in Metabolic Health
Université Laval

Canada Excellence Research Chair in Food Systems and Security
University of Saskatchewan

 SAVE THE DATE

 
August 17-18, 2017:

Canada Excellence Research Chairs Summit takes place at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.




 

Canada