News
CFI Launches New Program To Attract Best, Retain Brightest
March 27, 2006
MONTREAL, March 27, 2006—Canada’s reputation as a destination of choice for the world’s top researchers was further enhanced today when the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) announced the inaugural recipients of its new Leaders Opportunity Fund (LOF) program. Dr. Eliot Phillipson, President and CEO of the CFI, was joined by the Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of Industry, to announce the $23.6 million investment that will benefit 145 researchers at 35 institutions from coast to coast.
Examples of the 130 wide-ranging projects being announced today include: addressing the contamination of our environment by toxic trace metals; finding cures for infectious and inflammatory diseases in children; understanding the socio-emotional development of teenagers; and increasing the performance of microsystems used by the automotive, medical, and telecommunications sectors.
Today’s announcement marks the inauguration of the CFI’s new Leaders Opportunity Fund. This new program, created to reflect Canada’s fast-evolving research environment, was designed to give Canadian universities the added flexibility they need to both attract and retain the very best of today’s and tomorrow’s researchers at a time of intense international competition for leading faculty.
“The government recognizes that Canada’s universities are global leaders in research, and today’s announcement is part of our commitment to see that continue,” said Minister Bernier. “This investment will not only benefit Canada’s universities and researchers—all Canadians stand to gain from the ensuing advancements in science and technology.”
“Investing in cutting-edge labs, equipment, and technology has transformed Canada’s research landscape over the past decade,” said Dr. Phillipson. “The CFI has, through this new LOF program, ensured that we keep pace with this transformation to ensure Canadian research institutions and their researchers remain world class.”
The $23.6 million investment announced today was approved by the CFI’s Board of Directors under two funds: $19.7 million under the LOF, and $3.9 million under the Infrastructure Operating Fund, an accompanying program which assists universities with the incremental operating and maintenance costs associated with new infrastructure projects.
A list of the projects approved by the CFI to date and a list of the approved funding for this announcement areavailable here.
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.
For more information:
Angus McKinnon
Coordinator, Media Relations
(613) 996-3160
angus.mckinnon@innovation.ca
Canada Foundation for Innovation /
Fondation canadienne pour l’innovation
Leaders Opportunity Fund / Fonds des leaders
REGIONAL BACKGROUNDERS / FICHE D’INFORMATION PAR RÉGION
- Alberta - British Columbia / Colombie-Britannique - Manitoba - New Brunswick / Nouveau Brunswick - Newfoundland and Labrador / Terre-Neuve et Labrador - Nova Scotia / Nouvelle-Écosse - Ontario - Quebec / Québec - Saskatchewan
| Project Title / Titre du projet |
Maximum CFI Contribution / |
| Infrastructure for Investigating the Biogeochemistry of Trace Metals in the Environment |
$142,474 |
| 1 project / projet |
$142,474 |
| Integrated Tools for DNA, RNA and Bioconjugate Synthesis |
$77,309 |
| 1 project / projet |
$77,309 |
| Research Facility for the Study of the Performance of Intangible Cultural Heritage |
$94,000 |
| 1 project / projet |
$94,000 |
| Advanced Microscopic and Spectroscopic Facilities to Study Antimicrobial Peptides |
$114,748 |
| Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Field Laboratory |
$113 653 |
| 2 projects / projets |
$228,401 |
| Sedimentary Biogeochemistry Facility |
$124,538 |
| 1 project / projet |
$124,538 |
École Polytechnique de Montréal
| Advanced Testing Laboratory for Optical Micro and Nano Electro Mechanical Systems |
148 837 $ |
| Laboratoire de validation biodosimétrique de l'efficacité de la désinfection des eaux |
125 000 $ |
| 2 projets / projects |
273 837 $ |
Laurentian University / Université Laurentienne
| Sediment Analysis and Paleolimnological Research Laboratory |
$49,412 |
| 1 project / projet |
$49,412 |
| Apoptosis in Cancer and in Inflammatory Disorders |
159 889 $ |
| Base de données regroupant les décisions judiciaires interprétant la loi type de la CNUDCI sur l'arbitrage commercial international |
122 331 $ |
| Building on Functional Genomics to Develop New Therapeutic and Diagnostic Strategies for Invasive Aspergillosis |
116 124 $ |
| Characterizing the Role of Fanconi Anaemia and Bloom Syndrome Genes in Sporadic and Hereditary Cancer |
41 518 $ |
| Clima-Dispersatron Experimental Apparatus and Database of Abundances Across Space to Provide Infrastructure for the Study of Species Ranges |
180 676 $ |
| Global Structural Modifications in Mitochondrial and Genomic DNA and Cancer DNA Phenotype in Prostate Malignancy |
134 052 $ |
| Modular Flexibility of Dysferlin - Application to Therapeutic Strategies |
117 828 $ |
| Perceptual Evaluation of Human Computer Interaction: Applications to the Design of Adaptive Multimodal Systems |
224 885 $ |
| Assembling In Vivo Imaging and Molecular Genetics Facility to Study Brain Wiring and Rewiring in the Nematode C. Elegans |
296 035 $ |
| 9 projets / projects |
1 393 338 $ |
| Advanced Structural Control Testing Equipment and Full-Scale Monitoring System |
$106,334 |
| Equipment for Measuring Biological Responses to Biomaterials |
$99,331 |
| Microfabrication and Microfluidic Testing Facility for Plastic/Polymer Based Biomedical Devices |
$98,418 |
| The Function and Regulation of Myogenic Progenitors During Aging and Exercise |
$120,000 |
| 4 projects / projets |
$424,083 |
Memorial University of Newfoundland
| Bounded Rationality and Law Lab (BRLL) |
$152,993 |
| Equipment for Fish Evolutionary and Conservation Biology Research |
$136,840 |
| Equipment for Marine Chemical Ecology and Reproductive Biology Research |
$95,225 |
| 3 projects / projets |
$385,058 |
Mount Saint Vincent University
| Plant Growth, Microscopy and Image Analysis |
$149,844 |
| 1 project / projet |
$149,844 |
| Adolescent Socioemotional Development Laboratory |
$54,970 |
| Facility for Research on the Neural Basis of the Affective Component of Pain |
$120,000 |
| Infrastructure for MEMS/NEMS Dynamic Testing |
$206,962 |
| Nanophotonics Computer Cluster: Physics and Applications of Photonic Nanostructures |
$165,000 |
| 4 projects / projets |
$546,932 |
| Laboratory Infrastructure for the Synthesis and Characterization of Enantiopure Metallopolymers |
$67,065 |
| 1 project / projet |
$67,065 |
| Laboratory for Coherent Control of Novel Molecular States |
$102,637 |
| The Synthesis, Characterization and Identification of Atmospheric Pollutants and Degradation Products in the Canadian Troposphere |
$175,206 |
| 2 projects / projets |
$277,843 |
| Confocal Microscopy Facility and Infrastructure for In-vitro Culturing of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi |
379 622 $ |
| Dock180, an Atypical Activator of Rac: Understanding of an Evolutionarily Conserved Signalling Pathway Controlling Cell Migration |
159 273 $ |
| Laboratoire d'observation de pratiques d'enseignement et d'apprentissage de la lecture et de l'écriture auprès d'enfants sourds |
86 825 $ |
| Modèles de souris humanisées: outils d'études des pathologies immunitaires et d'optimisation de leurs traitements |
244 058 $ |
| Plasticity and Functional Re-Organization of Multisensory Processing During Normal and Pathological Development |
240 922 $ |
| Proton and Electron Transfer Reactions in Biochemistry: A Computational Approach |
127 692 $ |
| Quantifying Diffusion Coefficients in Heterogeneous (Environmental and Biological) Systems |
319 981 $ |
| Translational Pharmacogenomics in the Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease |
398 614 $ |
| Complex Genetic Data Analysis |
165 492 $ |
| 9 projets / projects |
2 122 479 $ |
| Banc d'essais de pylônes de lignes de transport d'énergie électrique |
320 000 $ |
| Establishment of a Molecular Ecology Laboratory - Établissement d'un laboratoire d'écologie moléculaire |
106 494 $ |
| 2 projets / projects |
426 494 $ |
Université du QC Institut national de la rech. scientifique
| Establishment of a Laboratory to Study Regulation of Steroidogenesis in Endocrine Tissues and Mechanisms of Interference by Endocrine Disruptors |
344 843 $ |
| 1 projet / project |
344 843 $ |
Université du Québec à Montréal
| A Novel Isotope Geochemical Approach to Elucidate Global and Regional Nitrogen Cycles |
170 551 $ |
| Xénobiotiques: synthèse, métabolisme et interactions |
464 825 $ |
| 2 projets / projects |
635 376 $ |
Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
| Laboratoire de virologie et immuno-oncologie moléculaires |
393 096 $ |
| 1 projet / project |
393 096 $ |
| Interdisciplinary Arts-Based Research Centre |
$132,771 |
| Combined Pulsed Laser Deposition – Sputter System for Synthesis of Multiphase Nanostructured Materials and Micro-Devices |
$392,600 |
| 2 projects / projets |
$525,371 |
University of British Columbia (The)
| A Multidisciplinary, Translational, Research Laboratory to Develop Therapeutic Strategies for Spinal Cord Injury |
$82,981 |
| Advanced Newborn Brain Imaging Program |
$100,000 |
| Children's Innate Immunity Research Facility |
$100,000 |
| Facility for Cellular Lipid and Membrane Proteomics |
$100,000 |
| Infrastructure for Investigating the Control of Protein Synthesis in Health and Human Disease |
$100,950 |
| Instrument for the Spectroscopic Preparation and Characterization of Ultracold Molecular Plasmas and State-Detailed Rydberg Gases |
$125,000 |
| Interactive Driving Simulator for Transportation and Traffic Engineering Research |
$125,000 |
| Laboratory for Green Polymer Development |
$120,000 |
| Laboratory for Therapeutic Risk-Benefit Analysis |
$40,000 |
| Laboratory for Somatic Cell Site-Specific Genomic Targeting and Chromatin Analysis |
$100,000 |
| NanoSystems Laboratory for Optical Clocking of Quantum-Dot Cellular Automata Circuits |
$199,995 |
| Nutritional Epigenomics Facility |
$100,000 |
| Robotics in Rehabilitation: Understanding the Neural Control and Adaptability of Human Walking to Enhance the Recovery of Gait Following Neurological Injury |
$100,000 |
| The Facility for Synaptic Imaging: The Role of Intercellular Communication in Neuronal Identity and Synapse Formation |
$200,000 |
| 14 projects / projets |
$1,593,926 |
| A Molecular Biology Laboratory to Study HIV and WNV Pathogenesis |
$85,885 |
| Infrastructure for the Study of Gut Microbial Communities |
$197,533 |
| Rapid Prototyping and Mixed RF/DSP Design of Radio Systems |
$230,624 |
| 3 projects / projets |
$514,042 |
| Acquisition of a Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope for Live Imaging of Subcellular Responses to Environmental Stimuli |
$124,385 |
| Development of a Comparative Epilepsy Program |
$80,836 |
| Enhanced Infrastructure for Multi-Media Information and Communication Research for Rural Development |
$44,013 |
| Laboratory for the Development of New Analog Integrated Circuits and Microsystems |
$135,004 |
| Pattern Formation in the Cerebellum: Deciphering the Stripes |
$124,907 |
| Presynaptic Modulation of Neurotransmission |
$124,773 |
| Infrastructure for Establishment of a Body Composition and Energy Metabolism (BCEM) Laboratory |
$159,594 |
| 7 projects / projets |
$793,512 |
| Endocrine Control of Ion and Osmotic Balance in Primitive Fish |
$100,000 |
| 1 project / projet |
$100,000 |
| Materials Characterization Infrastructure |
$62,308 |
| 1 project / projet |
$62,308 |
University of Ottawa / Université d’Ottawa
| Bioimaging Laboratory |
$113,359 |
| Computing Infrastructure Supporting Theoretical Developments in Molecular Evolution, Genomics and Bioinformatics |
$60,385 |
| Establishment of an Experimental Embryology, Microscopy and Electrophysiology Laboratory to Study the Molecular Basis of Congenital Neuronal Defects and Stroke Recovery |
$140,000 |
| High Throughput Screening to Identify Novel Oncolytic Viruses and Mechanisms of Therapeutic Action |
$140,000 |
| Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining Laboratory at the School of Management, University of Ottawa |
$15,641 |
| Laboratory for Integrative Microbiology |
$139,199 |
| Laboratory for Sensorimotor Neuroscience |
$130,508 |
| Marine Minerals Research Laboratory |
$100,336 |
| Mechanisms of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Biofilm-Specific Resistance to Antibiotics |
$124,190 |
| Research Facility for the "Aging and Movement" Research Program |
$108,046 |
| Laboratory for the Quantitative Analysis of Morphogenesis |
$100,000 |
| Toward New Synthetic Methods Involving Photochemistry and Transition-Metal Catalysis; Development of Enantioselective Variants; Application to the Synthesis of Bioactive Natural Products |
$159,984 |
| 12 projects / projets |
$1,331,648 |
| Development of a Confocal Microscopy System |
$78,300 |
| Fetal Programming of the Immune System in Swine |
$100,000 |
| In-vitro Aquatic Toxicology Research Facility |
$96,600 |
| Rapid Prototyping of System-On-Chip Design |
$72,800 |
| Spatial Memory Laboratory |
$100,000 |
| X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy for Applied Research in Agroforestry |
$92,000 |
| Biosorption in Nickel Plating Rinse Water Treatment |
$100,000 |
| 7 projects / projets |
$639,700 |
| Bone Engineering |
$396,553 |
| Developing Social Brains |
$239,747 |
| Development Platform and Testbed for Peer Network Protocol Architectures |
$200,000 |
| Facility Integrating 2-Photon Imaging and Electrophysiology for Neurodevelopmental Research |
$302,401 |
| High-Throughput Cell and Molecular Biology Facility for Functional Genomics Studies of Developmental Phase Transitions and Hormone Cross-Talk |
$100,000 |
| Laboratory for Cellular Systems Biology |
$234,313 |
| Laboratory for Functional Tissue Engineering |
$112,750 |
| Numerical Astrophysical Laboratory for Planetary Studies |
$200,000 |
| Quaternary Paleoecology Laboratory, University of Toronto |
$155,784 |
| Role of Subcellular Localization of Keysphingosine-1-Phosphate (S1P)-Related Signaling Proteins in Microvascular Function |
$243,105 |
| Systems Biology Facility for Proteomics of Plant-Microbe Interactions |
$199,895 |
| 11 projects / projets |
$2,384,548 |
| A Research Facility for Fundamental and Applied Studies in Biomolecular Recognition and Medicinal Chemistry |
$127,347 |
| Chronic Disease Prevention Research and Knowledge Exchange Unit |
$44,007 |
| Development of the Movement Skill Research Laboratory |
$22,949 |
| Experimental Analysis Retrieval Laboratory for Audio-Based Environments (EARLAUBE) |
$42,538 |
| Invertebrate Symbiosis and Pathology Laboratory |
$94,806 |
| 5 projects / projets |
$331,647 |
| Facility for the Advancement of Underwater Sampling Technology |
$159,000 |
| 1 project / projet |
$159,000 |
University of Western Ontario (The)
| A Behavioral Gene Discovery Laboratory for Integrative Neuroscience |
$353,562 |
| A Mobile Field Laboratory for Integrative Ecological Research (Western FLIER) |
$295,424 |
| Equipment for Integrated Research on Deformation Structures in the Continental Lithosphere |
$178,272 |
| Heating, Soil Monitoring and Nutrient Analysis Infrastructure for Long-Term Climate Simulations in the Field |
$174,645 |
| Lake and Reservoir System Research Facility (LARSRF) |
$235,320 |
| Molecular Regulation of Breast Cancer Cell Metastasis |
$253,217 |
| Photonic Crystal Based Micro- and Nano-Sensors Facility |
$166,126 |
| 7 projects / projets |
$1,656,566 |
| Acoustic Location Systems and Advanced Recording and Playback Technology for Studying Communication Networks in Temperate and Tropical Birds |
$50,000 |
| Scientific Computing Facility for the Computational Study of Ultrafast Light-Matter Interactions |
$50,000 |
| 2 projects / projets |
$100,000 |
| Subatomic Physics Detector Lab |
$89,031 |
| 1 project / projet |
$89,031 |
| An Ultracentrifuge for Isolating Membranes of Chloroplasts and Other Sub-Cellular Compartments and for Purifying DNA and Proteins |
$41,429 |
| Environmental Surface Chemistry Studies: Development of Interdisciplinary Approaches for Investigating Interfacial Processes in Environmental Systems |
$50,662 |
| High-Resolution Optical Microscopy and Microspectroscopy System for the Studies of Colloids, Self-assembly, and Advanced Materials |
$24,051 |
| 3 projects / projets |
$116,142 |
| A Facility for the Biogeographical Comparison of the Morphology and Physiology of Invasive Plant Species |
$203,022 |
| Brain Mechanisms of Selection and Object Representation |
$236,918 |
| Facility for Fabrication and In-Situ Micromapping of Polymer-Grafted Membrane-Mimetic Surfaces |
$219,983 |
| Intense Source of Cold Positronium Atoms for Precise Measurements of Atomic Structure and Tests of QED |
$241,434 |
| Laboratory for the Study of Energy Balance and Metabolic Partitioning |
$226,518 |
| 5 projects / projets |
$1,127,875 |
