The important role of basic research for society and how it is funded are at the heart of a special lecture titled, "Funding Basic Research, Promoting Excellence, and Building Trust", which will be delivered at 91ŃÇÉ« by Professor Helmut Schwarz, the president of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and a leading international researcher in the field of molecular chemistry. This special lecture will be presented Oct. 31, from 3 to 4pm in the Senate Chamber, 940 North Ross Building.

Helmut Schwarz 

Schwarz will argue that publicly financed, fundamental research is neither a luxury nor a subsidy, but a cultural achievement and, as such, marks the starting point of every single value-added chain. In his comments, Schwarz will also reflect on the funding principles and core mission of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation – the funding of individuals rather than projects, the emphasis on individual excellence and academic freedom. He will argue that more campaigning on behalf of the individual researcher is needed to support genuinely high-risk endeavors that are necessary for groundbreaking research.

Schwarz holds a research chair in organic chemistry at the Technische Universität Berlin.

Schwarz’s visit also marks the 10th anniversary of the opening of 91ŃÇɫ’s Centre for Research in Mass Spectrometry laboratory space on the second floor of the Chemisty Building, which he helped to celebrate 10 years ago at 91ŃÇÉ«.  A private roundtable discussion will be held in honour of this event and attended by Schwarz and the Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany Sabine Sparwasser.

91ŃÇɫ’s Centre for Research in Mass Spectrometry promotes and organizes research collaboration with other universities, hospitals, government institutes, such as , Ontario Centre of Excellence INC, ISTPCanada Incorporated, and the , and industries, such as , YESBiotech  and Concept 2 Clinic. Research in mass spectrometry has become an increasingly important and multi-disciplinary scientific activity world-wide.

“91ŃÇÉ« is delighted to host  Professor Helmut Schwarz, President of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Institut fĂĽr Chemie, Technische Universität Berlin and pleased that Sabine Sparwasser, consul general of the Federal Republic of Germany will also be joining us at this visit to mark this special occasion,” said Robert HachĂ©, vice-president research & Innovation. “We look forward to the continued development of collaborative research initiatives and to strengthening the ties between 91ŃÇÉ« and research institutions in Germany.”

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation grants research fellowships and research awards to researchers from around the world, allowing them to conduct research with collaborative partners in Germany. All researchers sponsored by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation become life-long members of the international “Humboldt Network”. Support from the foundation enables more than 2,000 researchers from all over the world to spend time researching in Germany. The Humboldt Network numbers more than 25,000 Humboldtians from all disciplines in over 130 countries worldwide - including 49 Nobel Laureates.

This lecture is sponsored by the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation and the Faculty of Science & Engineering. It is free and open to University community members. Seating is limited, so arrive early to avoid disappointment.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91ŃÇɫ’s daily e-bulletin to research stories on the research website.

The post Special lecture looks at the important role of fundamental research in advancing discoveries appeared first on Research & Innovation.

If you’re working in 3D film or aerospace engineering, what impact do the latest developments in brain and vision research have on your industry’s practices? What if you’re drafting government policy on air quality control and need expertise in how the latest atmospheric chemistry and physics findings translate into plans and policy?

Graduate students and post-doctoral fellows at 91ŃÇÉ« have new options to pursue the research and applied dimensions of these and other questions, thanks to $3.3 million in funding from the (NSERC).

httpv://youtu.be/OtRWua59EPU

The funding, provided through NSERC’s $29.6 million investment over six years in the Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) Grants program, will support two new training programs in the Faculty of Science & Engineering, each valued at $1.65 million over the period.

Students and fellows enrolled in each program will gain experience in basic and applied research, along with the practical and professional skills needed to successfully transition to research careers in the academic, industry or government sectors.

Professor Hugh Wilson in the Faculty of Science & Engineering’s Department of Biology will lead the Vision Science and Applications program. Based in the internationally-recognized (CVR), the program focuses on vision-based information technologies that require optimal information displays to ensure accurate human interpretation of data are playing an increasingly important role in many economic sectors.

Key applications include:

• 3D digital media (e.g., 3D film, geographical databases, autocad systems)
• Aerospace (e.g., cockpit technologies, search-and-rescue)
• Face and scene analysis technologies (e.g., facial biometrics)
• Visual health and assessment technologies (e.g., functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), perimetry)

The Vision Science and Applications team includes 25 researchers at seven international universities and 10 partner organizations, including , the and . At 91ŃÇÉ«, a total of 10 professors affiliated with CVR will lend their expertise to the project. The program will enrol four students in its first year and 16 students in each successive year.

Professors and in the Faculty of Science & Engineering’s Department of Chemistry will lead the Training Program for Integrating Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics from Earth to Space (IACPES) program. Jointly based in 91ŃÇɫ’s (CAC) and the Centre for Research in Earth & Space Science (CRESS), the program’s interdisciplinary focus will give students an integrated understanding of atmospheric chemistry and physics from earth into space.

Key applications include:

• measuring and modelling atmospheric change
• examining air quality and health issues
• monitoring changes in the arctic atmosphere
• detecting sources of greenhouse gases
• measuring Earth’s changing atmosphere from space
• exploring and understanding other planets’ atmospheres
• developing the policy implications of atmospheric science

The IACPES team includes 11 applicants at six universities and 23 collaborators at 10 partner organizations, including , the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, the (NOAA) in Boulder, Colo., several industries and two premier research institutes in Germany. The program will create 21 places for undergraduate students, master’s students, PhD students and postdoctoral fellows in its first year, with over 200 places created over the successive five years.

httpv://youtu.be/6YlFv0Xd9no

“By securing two of only 18 projects awarded to universities across Canada, 91ŃÇÉ« builds on its strong track record in leading large-scale, interdisciplinary collaborative research projects,” said Stan Shapson, vice-president research & innovation. “The programs will provide our innovative research centres – CVR, CRESS and CAC – with a competitive advantage in attracting excellent graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who wish to pursue careers in the applications of vision science or atmospheric chemistry and physics. NSERC’s CREATE program strengthens the role of universities in training the highly-qualified people needed in today’s scientific knowledge economy.”

“NSERC’s CREATE Program helps graduating students become highly sought-after professional researchers in the natural sciences and engineering, both in Canada and abroad,” said Suzanne Fortier, president of NSERC. “The program not only helps improve the skill set of Canada’s next-generation of research talent, but it also helps to support their retention in the workforce.”

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer

The post NSERC awards 91ŃÇÉ« research centres $3.3 million appeared first on Research & Innovation.

Lewis Molot, a professor in 91ŃÇɫ’s Faculty of Environmental Studies, has received more than $265,000 over three years from the (NSERC).

The award will fund Molot’s experiment to assess the effect of sulphate levels on several impacts associated with excessive fertilization of lakes. The study will be conducted in a remote, fishless lake in northwestern Ontario’s .

Right: Lewis Molot

While sulphate occurs naturally, acid deposition has led to higher levels in lakes in Eastern Canada. Sulphate is believed to play a key role in regulating various microbial processes in North American lakes and differences in sulphate concentrations may explain variance among individual lakes.

By adding sodium sulphate to one lake, Molot and his collaborators will be able to observe its effect on several processes, including the abundance and timing of toxic algal blooms and the rate at which mercury is incorporated into the food chain. A set of control experiments will receive sodium chloride, which could provide useful information about how the increasing use of road salt, due to slow yet steady increases in year-round cottage country traffic, is affecting lakes in the province’s central and northern areas.

Molot’s team includes 91ŃÇÉ« graduate student Shelley McCabe and researchers at , , the , theand the .

“Environmental research is one of 91ŃÇɫ’s internationally recognized strengths,” said Stan Shapson, vice-president research & innovation. “Research projects such as Professor Molot’s underscore the importance of maintaining sustainable ecosystems in our lakes and protecting our fresh water supply now and in the future.”

The announcement was made by Gary Goodyear, minister of state (science & technology), on Feb. 8. “Our government is investing in research and development to create jobs, strengthen the economy and improve the quality of life of Canadians,” noted Goodyear. “These projects will help universities develop, attract and retain the world’s best researchers, while building a strong foundation for future economic growth across Canada.”

Molot’s project is among 122 chosen to receive a total of $53.5 million in funding under NSERC’s , which aims to turn the results of academic research into real benefits for Canadians. It fosters partnerships among industry, academia and governments, and increases research and training in areas that could enhance Canada’s economy, society or environment in the coming decade.

“The research done through these projects will lead to important benefits for Canadians,” said NSERC President Suzanne Fortier. “We expect the results to include advances in renewable energy, progress toward the development of a quantum computer, improvements in screening for cancer and much more.”

For a complete list of NSERC recipients, visit the Web site.

This research on attracted on-air coverage from CJRL Kenora on Feb. 11. Professor Molot was also interviewed by CBC Radio in Thunder Bay.

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer

The post 91ŃÇÉ« prof to study effect of fertilization on northern Ontario lakes appeared first on Research & Innovation.

For six days in mid-August aboard the Lyubov Orlova (right), a renovated Russian passenger ship operated by Inuit-owned Cruise North, leading Arctic hydrologists, oceanographers and climatologists from every circumpolar nation will share their latest research with each other – and with northern communities – as participants in the . In four packed days, they will deliver 50 papers, addressing the theme of managing hydrological uncertainty in high-latitude environments, a reference to the challenge of understanding the impact of global warming on Arctic water systems.

“It is the first time terrestrial hydrologists and oceanographers have officially come together for the purpose of sharing what they know,” says Young, the first woman to organize this biannual conference of the in 34 years.

The idea for such an exchange arose at the NRB’s 16th conference in northern Russia two years ago. Hydrologists, who study inland water systems, were curious to know the effect of diminishing sea ice on water loss into the atmosphere and as runoff into rivers, lakes and oceans.

Left: Kathy Young

Rising temperatures and melting sea ice have brought more fog, rain, snow and extreme weather in the North. When the rain coincides with spring snowmelt, as it did in Pangnirtung, Nunavut, last year, flash floods occur, ripping through permafrost and hurling sediment into coastal waters. In polar oceans, disappearing sea ice and more open water have resulted in storm surges that blow further inland and are battering places like the Mackenzie River Delta.

A highlight of the trip will be a public meeting between scientists and residents of Pangnirtung who want to find out more about the flash flood that whacked the village last year. In minutes, it tore out two bridges, leaving half the village stranded and without power, and carved a channel through permafrost right down to the bedrock. The volume of water overwhelmed the sewage plant which overflowed and contaminated the pristine Pangnirtung Fiord, home to beluga and narwhal whales.

Right: Pangnirtung declared a state of emergency after a flash flood tore out bridges in June 2008 Photo from iglootalk.com.

Both climate change and increased human activity in Arctic regions have made estimating water budgets, water chemistry and hydrological modelling difficult, leading to uncertainty for scientists, policy-makers, water managers and northern residents, says Young.

“Northern water systems have been poorly quantified and sparsely observed,” she says. “If we want to estimate future changes in our northern basins with more certainty, we need to keep improving our data-collection processes and modelling strategies.”

She has scheduled the delivery of 50 papers over an intense four days on a range of topics, including predicting precipitation, ocean interactions and modelling climate change. Some are very topical, and others have clear real-world applications, as papers on:

• the need to monitor runoff from the rapidly melting Greenland Ice Sheet;
• the economic implications of later freezing and earlier break up of ice on northern lakes;
• and the importance of estimating runoff correctly before you design stream crossings for oil and gas lines.

There are two keynote speakers. Robie Macdonald (right), a renowned Arctic oceanographer with the federal Institute of Ocean Sciences, will talk about what happens when freshwater rivers and streams meet the polar salt sea. Larry Hinzman, an Arctic hydrologist and director of Alaska’s International Arctic Research Center, will discuss the need to understand atmospheric, terrestrial and oceanic processes and their effects on the global climate.

Young raised $150,000 in kind and in cash from government, research agencies, corporate sponsors and private family foundations for this symposium, $40,000 of which came from Environment Canada’s Water & Climate Impacts Research Centre.

With those dollars, Young has made sure scientists from every circumpolar nation – Russia, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark (Greenland), the United States and Canada – can participate.

They sail next Wednesday from Iqaluit, Nunavut, up the east coast of Baffin Island to Pangnirtung and end their journey at Kuujjuak, Nunavik, Aug. 18. Along the way, they will meet Inuit elders and regional politicians, visit Auyuittuq National Park and an abandoned whaling station at Kekerten, Nunavuk, and watch for walruses, polar bears and Arctic birds.

Right: Walruses at Monumental Island. Photo courtesy of Cruise North.

Young has corralled veteran scientists who have spent their entire careers observing the Arctic to present at the conference, including:

• Terry Prowse, an Arctic hydrologist at the Water & Climate Impacts Research Centre in British Columbia, who will talk about the ecological and economic implications of rapid changes when freshwater ice freezes and breaks up on northern lakes:
• Ming-ko Woo, an Arctic hydrologist at McMaster University, who calls for more collaborative research on the mutual influences of polar seas and northern hydrology;
• Oddbjørn Bruland, a snow hydrologist at Norway’s Statkraft Energy, one of the largest hydropower producers in Europe, who will describe ENKI, a hydrological forecasting system of snowcover and snowmelt runoff, crucial to estimating future power-generating capacity;
• Douglas Kane, an Arctic hydrologist at Alaska’s Water & Environmental Research Center, who stresses the need to know more about runoff in ungauged northern basins before proceeding with the design of stream crossings necessary for oil and gas development;
• and Bent Hasholt, a glaciologist at Copenhagen’s Institute of Geography & Geology, who will emphasize the need to monitor meltwater, erosion and sediment transport flowing to the sea from different parts of the fast-melting Greenland Ice Sheet.

Young is also presenting a paper suggesting that, as yet, no clear trend in long-term climatic signals can be established at Polar Bear Pass, a Bathurst Island wildlife sanctuary in the High Arctic she has been studying.

Also attending the conference as observers are two 91ŃÇÉ« graduate students in geography, PhD candidate Anna Abnizova (left), who helped organize the conference, and master’s candidate Jane Assini (right).

By Martha Tancock, YFile contributing writer

Republished courtesy of YFile – 91ŃÇɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

The post 91ŃÇÉ« professor hosts 'floating' conference of Arctic scientists appeared first on Research & Innovation.