NSERC Discovery Research Program
June 14, 2024
The Government of Canada invested more than $554 million in discovery and applied research via the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) . UVic researchers received a total of $12.4M, including:
- $10.4M in Discovery Grants over five years to launch and maintain long-term research programs
- $87.5K in additional one-time Discovery Launch Supplements
- $405K in Subatomic Physics Discovery Grant funding
- $873K in Research Tools and Instruments funding
- $647K in Major Resources Support funding
Discovery Grants
46 UVic scholars are receiving Discovery Grants
- Arif Babul Towards a holistic, cosmologically realistic model for the formation-evolution of galaxies, galaxy groups and clusters of galaxies
- Amanda Bates Local-scale buffering of extreme events and resilience of temperate rocky reefs
- Julia Baum Turning Up the Heat: Ecological resilience to climate change amplified heatwaves
- David Bristow Towards regenerative cities through integration of resilience and sustainability
- Earthquake hazard assessment in western Canada
- Devika Chithrani Mechanisms of nanotechnology mediated radiosensitization with megavoltage and kilovoltage photons in vitro using two- and three-dimensional cell models
- Robert Chow Post-transcriptional mechanisms in neural development
- Patrick Côté Galaxies, nuclei, star clusters and black holes: Deciphering their co-evolution with next-generation space telescopes
- Elizabeth Croft The message in the medium: Bi-lateral human-robot communication
- Christopher Dennison Novel tools to study impact biomechanics of protection devices and materials
- Xiaodai Dong Terahertz communications and sensing for 6G
- Stan Dosso Quantitative geoacoustic inversion
- Peter Dukes Fractional and signed relaxations of balanced combinatorial structures
- Heath Emerson C*-algebraic and spectral techniques in dynamical systems
- The role of surface waves in linking the ocean to the coast
- Samira Gharehkhani From the Canadian forest to miniaturized energy storage devices
- Using observations to narrow uncertainties in climate projections
- Tom Gleeson Local to global groundwater systems for climate resilience, environmental justice and reconciliation
- Colin Goldblatt Climate, past, present and future: Water, clouds and aerosols
- Mariya Goncheva Determining the role of bacterial proteins at host-commensal interface of the human respiratory tract
- Aaron Gulliver Connected smart devices: An intelligent ecosystem for the future
- Fraser Hof Complex supramolecular systems and high-affinity hosts for biological applications
- Mina Hoorfar Smart gas detection: Integrating pre-concentration techniques and artificial intelligence for multi-component gas sensing for high sensitivity and selectivity in diverse environmental conditions
- Jing Huang Graph structure and algorithm
- Jody Klymak Understanding and parameterizing ocean mixing processes for improved ocean prediction
- Olav Krigolson Examining changes in EEG oscillations to improve our understanding of human decision making
- Mark Lewis Ecological dynamics under environmental change
- Regan Mandryk Predicting and preventing toxicity with immersive social technologies
- Brenda Matthews The space between: Dust, gas and planets revealed by planet-disk interactions
- Alan McConnachie The darkest galaxies
- Madeleine McPherson Pathways to net-zero in the energy sector: Accelerating the transition with stakeholder engaged modelling
- Matthew Moffitt Microfluidics manufacturing of polymeric nanomedicines: Addressing challenges and developing technologies
- Helen Monkman Digital inclusion through improved design and deployment of digital technology
- Anthony Quas Multiplicative ergodic theory and thermodynamic formalism
- Gourab Ray Statistical mechanics of spins, trees, random surfaces and factors of iid
- Lisa Reynolds The regulation and function of eosinophils during postnatal development
- Andrew Rowe Domain-coupling for energy system innovation
- Yang Shi An intelligent and resilient model predictive control framework for autonomous mechatronic systems
- Min Sun Advancing the design of economical and dependable tubular steel structures
- Combining numerical modelling and geophysical observations in studying subduction zone earthquake processes
- Venkata Rama Lakshmi Sravya Tekumalla Engineering intelligent alloys using additive manufacturing
- Marie-Ève Tremblay Microglial remodelling of the extracellular matrix: Outcomes on synaptic plasticity and behaviour
- Stephen Tuffs Gaining the edge: Mechanisms of interspecies niche competition by Staphylococcus aureus
- Andrew Weaver Exploring the capacity of the ocean and its deep sediments to sequester atmospheric CO2
- Kui Wu Augmenting network observability with multi-task learning
- Jane Ye Theory and algorithms for solving bilevel optimization with applications in economics and machine learning
Discovery Launch Supplements
Seven of those researchers also received single-year Discovery Launch Supplements:
- The role of surface waves in linking the ocean to the coast
- Samira Gharehkhani From the Canadian forest to miniaturized energy storage devices
- Mariya Goncheva Determining the role of bacterial proteins at host-commensal interface of the human respiratory tract
- Helen Monkman Digital inclusion through improved design and deployment of digital technology
- Combining numerical modelling and geophysical observations in studying subduction zone earthquake processes
- Venkata Rama Lakshmi Sravya Tekumalla Engineering intelligent alloys using additive manufacturing
- Stephen Tuffs Gaining the edge: Mechanisms of interspecies niche competition by Staphylococcus aureus
Subatomic Physics (SAP) Discovery Grants
Two scholars received Subatomic Physics Discovery Grant funding:
- Tobias Junginger Reaching the full potential of ARIEL and further develop TRIUMF and UVic’s accelerator physics expertise
- Randall Sobie Reducing the environmental impact and power requirements of SAP computing
Research Tools and Instruments
Six scholars will receive Research Tools and Instruments funding:
- Craig Brown High density silicon probes for electrophysiological recording of activity in hundreds of neurons across brain regions
- Joshua Giles A digital image correlation system to support innovative mechanical, materials, civil and biomedical engineering research
- Mina Hoorfar Nanoparticle tracking analysis system urgently required for research in targeted drug-delivery, exosomes, nanoplastics and artificial cell ³Ô¹ÏÍø
- Cameral system for transmission electron microscope
- Makhsud Saidaminov Photoemission yield spectroscopy in air
- Hiu Ming Bosco Yu The design, prototyping and manufacturing of heterogeneous architectures and metamaterials for interdisciplinary research
Major Resources Support
- Randall Sobie HEPNET/Canada – computer networks for subatomic physics research.