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CFI announces $6.5 million to help launch the career of new researchers at Canadian universities

October 20, 2000

Ottawa, October 20, 2000…Dr. David Strangway, President and CEO of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), today announced an investment of $6.5 million to provide world-class research facilities for 52 new faculty at Canadian universities. 

“The CFI investment is critical to helping our universities attract and retain the best researchers in Canada, ” said Dr. Strangway.  “These new researchers will have access to the equipment and facilities needed to put their creativity to work, and to contribute to strengthening Canada’s global research leadership.”

Under the New Opportunities Fund, the CFI Board of Directors approved an investment of $6.5 million for 41 projects at 17 universities.  They include:

  • A processing facility for composite materials at the University of British Columbia.

  • Magnetic resonance imaging equipment for the assessment of stroke and other neurological diseases at the University of Alberta.
  • An integrated behavioural and brain science research facility at Queen’s University.
  • Equipment to study cellular and molecular control of brain circuit connectivity at Laval University. 
  • A research infrastructure at Dalhousie University to study the molecular mechanisms in Huntington’s disease.

The projects were selected on the recommendation of experts who thoroughly assessed each project against the three CFI criteria:

  • Quality of research and the need for infrastructure.
  • Contribution to strengthening the capacity for innovation.
  • Potential benefits of the research to Canada.

The CFI covers 40% of the eligible costs of a project, with the remaining 60% coming from the universities and their funding partners in the public and private sectors.  Since August 1998, the CFI has invested a total of $78.1 million under the New Opportunities Fund.  To date,  the CFI, the universities, and their partners have together invested over $195.3 million to support 766 new researchers at 36 universities, under the New Opportunities Fund.

The CFI is an independent, not-for-profit corporation established by the federal government in 1997 to address an urgent need of Canada’s research community:  new, state-of-the-art research infrastructure.  The CFI has been entrusted with a capital investment budget of $2.4 billion, and its investments are made in partnership with all levels of government, as well as with the private and voluntary sectors. 

A list of approved projects is available on the CFI Web site at: http://www.innovation.ca.

Canada Foundation for Innovation 
Fondation canadienne pour l'innovation

New Opportunities Fund / Fonds de relève

Institution / Établissement Projects Approved / 
Projets appuyés
University of Alberta 9
University of British Columbia 7
University of Calgary 2
Carleton University 1
Dalhousie University 1
Laurentian University 1
Université Laval 2
McGill University 1
Memorial University of Newfoundland 1
Université de Montréal 3
University of Ottawa 2
Queen's University 4
University of Saskatchewan 2
Université de Sherbrooke 1
University of Toronto 2
University of Victoria 1
York University 1

Canada Foundation for Innovation 
Fondation canadienne pour l'innovation

List of approved projects by institution /
Liste des projets appuyés par établissement

New Opportunities Fund /
Fonds de relève

Institution /
Établissement		 Maximum CFI
Contribution/
Contribution
maximale de la FCI		 Project Title / Titre du projet
University of Alberta $184,778 A Novel Optical and Ion Implantation System for In-situ Characterization of Nanophase Materials
  $339,425 Biotelemetry Analysis System: Infrastructure for Cumulative Effects Assessment
  $197,614 Electrospray Ionization - High Field Asymmetric Waveform Ion Mobility Spectrometry - Tandem Mass Spectrometry (ESI-FAIMS-MS/MS)
  $53,855 Facilities for the Mechanical Characterization of Bio-materials
  $91,241 Facility for Evolutionary Methods in Electrical and Computer Engineering
  $84,000 Integrative Insect Systematics Facility
  $198,663 Magnetic Resonance Imaging for the Assessment of Stroke and Other Neurological Disease
  $132,068 Microchip-Based Molecular Biology
  $134,859 Role of Presynaptic Receptors and Postsynaptic Receptor Modulation, during Synapse Formation
University of British Columbia $160,000 Molecular Mechanisms of Neurodegeneration
  $119,384 Central Pathways Mediating Testosterone Effects on Hypothalamic Responses to Stress
  $114,037 Environmental Bioaerosol Exposure Laboratory
  $142,922 Laboratory for Antimicrobial Therapy
  $237,138 Laboratory for Imaging Intracellular Trafficking of Macromolecules and Viruses
  $120,000 Laboratory for the Study of Parallel Synthetic Chemistry
  $63,941 Processing of Composite Materials
University of Calgary $162,999 Computational Laboratory for Petroleum Reservoir Characterization and Flow Modelling
  $204,560 Molecular Biology Infrastructure and Cell/Tissue Culture Facilities for Novel BioChemical Engineering Research
Carleton University $66,277 Analytical Equipment for Research on Environmental Health
Dalhousie University $50,936 Single-cell Quantitative PCR Workstation to study Huntington's disease
Laurentian University $50,000 Hydrometallurgical and Electrochemical Engineering Research Laboratory
Université Laval $190,000 Aménagement d'un laboratoire pour la recherche sur le système musculo-squelettique
  $744,117 Cellular and Molecular Control of Brain Circuit Connectivity
McGill University $176,000 Structures Laboratory Upgrade of Seismic Testing Equipment, Control and Data Acquisition Systems
Memorial University of 
Newfoundland		 $42,917 Infrastructure for the Investigation of Low-dimensional Magnetic Systems as a Function of Temperature, Magnetic Field and Pressure
Université de Montréal $80,022 Banque de données informatisées : asthme et grossesse
  $119,826 Laboratoire intégré de psychophysique, de physiologie humaine et d'analyse de données d'imagerie cérébrale fonctionnelle, pour l'étude de la douleur, des émotions, et de l'activité autonomique
  $115,505 Technologies for Language Development
University of Ottawa $144,000 Molecular Basis and Genetic Epidemiology of Human Cardiac Diseases
  $182,433 Molecular Switches and Membrane dynamics: Combining Excellence in Microscopic Innovation with Biochemical Investigations into the Molecular Mechanisms of GTPase Function in Mitochondrial Dynamics
Queen's University $123,200 Integrated Behavioural and Brain Science Research Facility
  $119,542 Laboratory for the Evaluation of Rheology, Morphology and Structure of Automotive Polymers
  $150,000 Next-Generation Networked Workstations/PCs, Internet, and Wireless/Mobile Communications
  $101,989 Ultrasonic Devices Fabrication and Test Facility
University of Saskatchewan $358,275 Agent Based Mobile and Ubiquitous Computing Laboratory
  $125,292 Stereoscopic PIV System for the University of Saskatchewan Low-Speed Wind Tunnel
Université de Sherbrooke $92,118 Transcriptional Regulation and Nuclear Signaling in Human Granulocytes
University of Toronto $86,827 Applying DNA Microarrays to Study Mammalian Gene Expression in Response to Interferons and Virus Infection
  $191,200 Facility for the Integrative Study of Plant Responses to Pathogens and Herbivores: Genes, Individuals, & Populations
University of Victoria $265,692 Natural Materials Analysis System
York University $200,000 Atom Interferometry and Portable Instrumentation using Laser Cooled Atoms
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