November 8, 2005 Source: Memorial University of Newfoundland:
http://www.mun.ca/marcomm/news/index.php?includefile=showitem.php&id=958 Four new researchers at Memorial University receive support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation Four new researchers at Memorial University welcomed funding for equipment in the amount of $681,129 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation. The newly recruited faculty members include: Dr. Karem Azmy, Department of Earth Sciences, was awarded $171,515 for the project Applications of Stable Isotope Geochemistry in Carbonate Diagenesis and High-Resolution Stratigraphy. Dr. Wei Qiu, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, received $85,295 for the development of an advanced marine hydrodynamics laboratory (AMHL). Dr. Anand Yethiraj, Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography, was awarded $299,178 for infrastructure to develop an experimental facility for confocal microscopy studies of self assembly in complex fluids. Dr. Yuming Zhao, Department of Chemistry, received funding in the amount of $125,141 for a nanoscale materials laboratory for advanced molecular optoelectronics."These awards represent a strategic boost to the research capacities of Memorial University," said Dr. Eliot Phillipson, president and CEO of the CFI. "This funding allows Canada to attract and retain top-notch researchers and provides our graduate students with access to world-class facilities and training environments." "The support from CFI’s New Opportunity Fund is important in helping Memorial attract world-class scholars with new ideas and approaches to research, and brings monies from outside Newfoundland and Labrador which has an impact on our provincial economy," said Dr. Christopher Loomis, Memorial University’s vice-president (research). The CFIwas joined by Mr. Reg Alcock, president of the Treasury Board and minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board, in Winnipeg on Nov. 7to announce $18.6 million funding. The CFI board of directors approved this investment through two funds: $14.3 million under the New Opportunities Fund (NOF); and $4.3 million under the Infrastructure Operating Fund which assists universities with the incremental operating and maintenance costs associated with new infrastructure projects. Today’s announcement marks the sunset of the CFI’s New Opportunities Fund (NOF) which has helped to recruit over 3,057 researchers to Canada since its inception in 1998. This program has been replaced by the Leaders Opportunity Fund (LOF) which builds on the successes of the NOF, the Canada Research Chairs Infrastructure Fund and the CFI Career Awards. The LOF seeks to assist universities in attracting excellent faculty to Canadian universities, and retaining the very best of today’s and tomorrow’s leading researchers within Canada. Projects assessed under the LOF will be rigorously reviewed by leading experts. This new program will have a budget of over $300 million which will be disbursed during the 2006-2010 period. A complete list of NOF projects, by university, can be found at www.innovation.ca. The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is an independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to fund research infrastructure. The CFI’s mandate is to strengthen the capacity of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development that benefits Canadians. - 30 - For more information, contact Deborah Inkpen, communications co-ordinator (research), Memorial University, at 737-4073or inkpend@mun.ca, or Angus McKinnon, coordinator, Media Relations, Canada Foundation for Innovation, (613) 996-3160.
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