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Published by Communications and Public Affairs (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982 or 53338 News ReleaseMarch 01, 2002 U of G celebrates Premier's research awardsFour more University of Guelph researchers have received Premier's Research Excellence Awards (PREA), the Ontario Minister of Energy, Science and Technology has announced. To date, 19 Guelph professors have won the awards, with funding totalling more than $2.8 million. Physics professor Carl Svensson, botany professors Barbara Mable and Robert Mullen, and pathobiology professor Dorothee Bienzle will receive $100,000 each from PREA and $50,000 in matching funds from the university. "This support is a tremendous boost to one's research program," Svensson said, adding that the funding will allow him to hire graduate students post-doctoral fellows to help conduct groundbreaking research on the standard model of particle physics. "When you are able to establish a critical mass of people working together, fabulous things can happen." He and the other Guelph professors were among faculty from five western Ontario universities recognized Thursday at an event in London hosted by Jim Wilson, minister of energy, science and technology, who made the PREA announcement on behalf of Premier Mike Harris. "Scientific and technological research and innovation are critical to Ontario's economic future," Wilson said. "The awards contribute to the province's 'brain gain' by providing our younger scientists with the support they need to undertake leading-edge research right here in Ontario." President Mordechai Rozanski calls the PREA awards "a fabulous investment in some of the university's best and brightest. The awards not only recognize the achievements of these fine researchers, but provide the promise of great contributions to the expansion of knowledge and discovery." Alan Wildeman, Guelph's vice-president (research), added: "These most recent awards are a strong addition to the wonderful depth of the basic and applied research that is taking place at the University of Guelph." Details of the projects that received PREA support are:
The PREA program was established in 1997 by the provincial government to boost investment in innovative research. It is designed to help gifted young researchers increase the pace of their research by attracting graduate students, post-doctoral fellows or research associates to specific research programs. To date, 378 researchers have received awards totalling more than $56 million from the province and its research partners. In addition to U of G's four most recent PREA recipients, five other Guelph professors who received PREAs in 2001 were recognized at the London event. They are English professor Daniel Fischlin, food scientist Yoshi Mine, zoologists Beren Robinson and Elizabeth Boulding and biochemist Dev Mangroo. For media questions, contact Communications and Public Affairs, 519-824-4120, Ext. 3338. |