September 2001
From McGill University
New McGill researchers win recognition McGill's research community has scored another triumph this summer by obtaining a record number of "New Opportunities" grants. Thirteen out of 14 applications were approved by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and range from work on HIV/AIDS and the hepatitis-C virus to speech disorders to photonic and wireless technologies. Geography professor Ren�e Sieber obtained the University's first CFI-funded project in the management sciences, with a successful proposal to examine e-commerce for community economic development."Last year we won the largest amount of CFI funding of any university in Canada, this year it is the turn of new McGill researchers to be recognized," says Pierre B�langer, vice-principal (research), with pride. The successful McGill applicants, who must request funding within the first 18 months of joining the University, have been awarded $1.76 million for new equipment and installations, approximately $150,000 on average for each researcher. "This is 40% of what is actually required for the project. Quebec has agreed to match that amount, and the University is helping to find the remaining 20%," states Principal Shapiro. "It's a challenge, but I'm confident we'll succeed." After an initial assessment by the Minist�re de l'Education, the CFI funds are awarded to McGill following Independent assessment by experts in Canada and abroad, using three principal criteria:
- Quality of research and the need for infrastructure
- Contribution to strengthening the capacity for innovation
- Potential benefits of the research to Canada. In addition to campus projects, other McGill-affiliated institutions receiving the "New Opportunities" funding include the Lady Davis Institute, the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), and two McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) sites, the MUHC-Montreal Children's Hospital, and the MUHC-Royal Victoria Hospital.
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