By Tendayi Moyo
Last week, the University of Calgary announced that its researchers will receive $3.5 million in new funding from the federal government.
Four U of C staff members joined 135 researchers nationwide to receive nearly $109 million in funding made available through the Canadian Research Chair program. The CRC is a government-funded program intended to bring high-quality researchers to Canadian universities.
Faculty of veterinary medicine assistant professor Sabine Gilch was among the researchers chosen for her work on prion disease.
“The goal is to give [researchers] a good environment and a high percentage of protected time for research,” Gilch said. “[With this], they can focus on establishing a good research program to become leaders in their area of research.”
The CRC presently funds research at over 70 Canadian post-secondary institutions. The program has a variety of disciplines including engineering, natural sciences and social sciences.
With the U of C’s continued focus on joining the list of Canada’s top-five research universities, Gilch said the funding boost will lend a hand.
“By pushing to get such CRC positions, this brings the university forward in terms of research quality and research output. This is what is evaluated if you talk about excellence in top universities,” Gilch said. “I think if you have more high quality research you will attract more students that are interested in research and who want to go for an academic career.”
U of C researchers Leonid Belostotski, Warren Piers and Jeffrey Priest will also have their work funded through the grant.