The National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) recently announced $492 million in funding through its Discovery Research Program. This year, five Acadia scholars were awarded these prestigious grants.

“The Council takes great pride in the Discovery Grants program as our funding flagship. It provides a firm research foundation for the research programs undertaken by thousands of exceptional science and engineering investigators—professors, students, postdoctoral fellows and support staff across Canada,” said Alejandro Adem, President of NSERC.

Acadia University’s Dean of Research Dr. Anna Redden, added that “the five awards demonstrate the quality and ingenuity of Acadia’s faculty.” She also noted that the grants are important for maintaining a high standard of research as the funds support laboratory equipment and funding for high-quality researchers.”  

Discovery Research Program Recipients

Dr. Dave Shutler, Biology Department, has been awarded a Discovery Grant valued at $140,000 over five years on a project titled “Novel questions about avian nesting ecology.”

Dr. Nancy Clarke, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, has won a Discovery Grant valued at $90,000 over five years for a project titled “Some Further Problems in Graph Theory.”

Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) grants foster the discovery, innovation, and training capability of university researchers in the natural sciences and engineering by supporting the purchase of research equipment.

Dr. Russell Easy, Biology Department, has been awarded an RTI Award valued at $46,169 to purchase equipment that will help him explore Stress Signatures in Marine Fishes, while Dr. Nelson O’Driscoll, Earth and Environmental Science, will spend $61,090 on a deionized water system to facilitate trace mercury analyses

The Subatomic Physics Discovery Grants Program supports ongoing programs of research (with long-term goals) and recognize the creativity and innovation that are at the heart of all research advances.

Dr. Ruben Sandapen, Department of Physics, has been awarded $75,000 over five years for “Hadron phenomenology using holographic light-front Quantum Chromodynamics.”