Seven U of T research initiatives have received more than $11.3 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), from its inaugural New Initiatives Fund and Leading Edge Fund.
CFI’s investments in infrastructure help researchers to improve their research competitiveness and international leadership.
"This investment in research funding will allow these U of T researchers to build on their expertise in specific areas where they have proven leadership,” said Professor John Challis, vice-president (research) and associate provost. "We are thankful to the CFI for providing the crucial funding to make these projects viable. When completed, they will generate knowledge that will have a positive impact on both the country’s capacity for innovation and the lives of Canadians.”
The faculty and projects receiving the New Initiatives Fund are: Andreas Mandelis, mechanical and industrial engineering, for the Facility for Advanced Bioacoustophotonics and Biomolecular Microfluidic Photoacoustics, $660,000; Jeffrey Packer, civil engineering, for the Large-Scale Impact and High-Velocity Loading and Sensing Facility for Critical Infrastructure, $3.2 million; and John Polanyi, chemistry, for scanning tunnelling spectroscopy of molecular wires and corrals, $308,000.
Those awarded Leading Edge Fund monies are: Aled Edwards, Structural Genomics Consortium, for the Structural chemistry of proteins of relevance to human health, $3.2 million; David Guttman, cell and systems biology, for the Centre for Plant Phenogenomics, $2 million; Lewis Kay, biochemistry, chemistry and medical genetics and microbiology, for 800 MHz NMR spectrometer enhancement, $530,000; and Charles Mims, chemical engineering and applied chemistry, for an Integrated Centre for Surface and Interfacial Analysis of Advanced Materials, $1.35 million.
“Supporting research is a key investment of our government in the future of our country,” said the Maxime Bernier, federal minister of industry. “It is through the ideas and talent of researchers - like the ones we are honouring today - that we are ensuring a high quality of life for all Canadians, as well as our success in the global economy.”
CFI is an independent not-for-profit corporation established by the federal government in 1997.