Published by Communications and Public Affairs (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982 or 53338
News Release
September 23, 1998
Young Guelph researchers win federal funding
Eleven University of Guelph researchers will receive almost $500,000 in federal funding to support infrastructure purchases in plant science, telerobotics, air pollution and food science research. With matching funding already in hand, the researchers could receive $492,580 under the Canada Foundation for Innovation's (CFI) New Opportunities program, which is aimed at young researchers.
"These new faculty members are going to have a major addition of equipment and improved facilities to support their research programs," said Dr. Larry Milligan, vice-president (research).
The money will be used for four projects, including: equipping crop science labs involved in identifying genes that influence cold and stress tolerance in Ontario corn; purchasing a mobile robotic platform to study computing and robotics used in harsh, high-precision environments, with diverse applications from evaluating livestock in meat-packing plants, to developing technology for detecting land mines; purchasing a mercury vapour analyser to examine air-surface exchange of atmospheric mercury; and buying a fluorescence microscope to study food-borne pathogens and viral infections.
The announcement may be only the first piece of good news from Ottawa. Within the next few months, U of G researchers will learn how much funding they are to receive under a $20-million submission made this past June to another CFI program, the Institutional Innovation Fund. The total $50-million proposal has 11 components within molecular genetics and biotechnology; molecular structure and function; and earth, space and aquatic environments.
Across Canada, the CFI will provide $800 million over five years for up to 40 per cent of research infrastructure costs at universities, colleges, hospitals and non-profit organizations.
The University of Guelph's Office of Research has forwarded news of the funding to the provincial Ontario Research and Development Challenge Fund (ORDCF), in hopes that Queen's Park may match CFI funding of these projects.
For more information, contact Communications and Public Affairs at the University of Guelph, (519) 824-4120, Ext. 6982. September 23, 1998
