MONTREAL -- Dr. Suzanne Fortier, President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), today honoured six young Canadians who have won the Council’s top prizes for research at the graduate student and postdoctoral levels.
“Today we are delivering on our commitment to support Canada’s new science and technology strategy and excellence in research,” said the Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for NSERC.
“These outstanding young researchers are proof positive of the excellence, enthusiasm, and energy that we seek to harness in moving towards our goal of making Canada a country of discoverers and innovators,” said Dr. Fortier.
The winners are:
The Howard Alper Postdoctoral Prize is awarded to the top Canadian postdoctoral student in the natural sciences or engineering. The prize was founded by Howard Alper, recipient of the 2000 Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering, and the winner receives $20,000.
The NSERC André Hamer Postgraduate Prizes are awarded to the most outstanding candidates in NSERC’s master’s and doctoral scholarship competitions. The prizes were founded by Arthur McDonald, recipient of the 2003 Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering, and are named in memory of a very promising young scientist who worked with Dr. McDonald. The two winners each receive $10,000.
NSERC Doctoral Prizes are awarded to up to four students completing their doctoral degrees at Canadian universities. Two awards are available in each of two categories: natural sciences, and engineering and computer sciences. Each recipient receives a framed citation, a silver medal, and $10,000.
All six winners will be honoured at an awards ceremony at the Montréal Science Centre this evening.
Johnson and Mosey were also among the five graduate student and postdoctoral researchers selected by NSERC to attend the Lindau Meeting of Nobel Laureates in Germany last June. There, they joined 500 other leading young researchers from more than 50 countries and 23 Nobel Prize winners to discuss current scientific topics.
NSERC is a federal agency whose role is to make investments in people, discovery and innovation for the benefit of all Canadians. The agency invests in people by supporting some 23,000 university students and postdoctoral fellows in their advanced studies. NSERC promotes discovery by funding more than 11,000 university professors every year and helps make innovation happen by encouraging about 1,300 Canadian companies to invest in university research and training. Over the past 10 years, NSERC has invested $6 billion in basic research, university-industry projects, and the training of Canada's next generation of scientists and engineers.
For more information, contact:
Michael Dwyer
Media and Public Affairs Officer
NSERC
Tel.: 613-992-9001
Cell: 613-794-9170
E-mail: michael.dwyer@nserc.ca
Isabelle Fontaine
Office of the Honourable Maxime Bernier
Minister of Industry
Tel.: 613-995-9001
E-mail: fontaine.isabelle@ic.gc.ca