Four Western research projects recently shared in more than $2 million in Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Strategic Partnership Grants, the funding body has announced.
They are among 75 projects, with nearly $45 million in total funding, that will connect Canada’s brightest researchers with industry, government and other partners to transform fundamental science into tangible benefits for Canadians.
“When researchers, businesses, and governments work together, they can turn their discoveries into the innovations that will improve the lives of all Canadians,”Kirsty Duncan, federal Minister of Science and Sport, said during the announcement.“That is why our government is investing in the partnerships that will bring our best and brightest together. When we invest in science and research, we invest in us all.”
The goal of the grants is to increase research and training in targeted areas that could strongly enhance Canada’s economy, society and/or environment within the next 10 years. Research and training under these grants must be conducted through a partnership between academic researchers and industry or government organizations.
Western’s funded projects included:
- Chemistry professor François Lagugné-Labarthet, Development of a super-resolution stochastical optical reconstruction Raman microscope for online nanoscale electronic and photonics devices quality control, $509,493/three years;
- Biology professor Mark Bernards, Changes in ginsenosides and soil biodiversity related to management of ginseng replant disease, $660,802;
- Electrical and Computer Engineering professor Abdallah Shami, Smart Virtualized Platform for Cloud Management Systems, $486,000; and
- Biology professor Danielle Way, Integrating acclimation capacity of tree species into assessments of climate change impacts on Canada’s boreal forest productivity, $637,720/three years.
