McMaster awarded $17.8 million in CFI funding

McMaster University has been awarded $17.8 million for research infrastructure from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). The funding, announced today, will support six research projects at McMaster.

“We are delighted with McMaster's success in this most recent competition, and the significant support awarded to some of our outstanding research programs. This infrastructure funding will play a significant role in keeping our researchers at the forefront of their fields of research, in recruiting and training top-notch faculty members, and in providing superior training facilities and opportunities for our students,” said McMaster University President Peter George.

The McMaster University funding is part of a $363-million investment in Canadian university research announced today by David W. Strangway, president and CEO of the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

McMaster projects funded in this competition were:

Centre For Molecular Medicine and Health: Lead investigator – Jack Gauldie, pathology and molecular medicine – $9.6 million awarded

Biomolecular Interactions Initiative: Lead investigator – Brian McCarry, chemistry – $5.19 million awarded

Communication Technology Research Centre: Lead investigator – Max Wong, electrical and computer engineering – $2.64 million awarded

Broadband Multimedia Server for the Humanities: Lead investigator – Geoffrey Rockwell, humanities – $233,895 awarded

Regional Brain Neurochemistry, Psychostimulant-induced Behaviour, and Mental Disorders: Lead investigator – Henry Szechtman, psychiatry and behavioural neurosciences – $101,837 awarded

Membrane Test and Evaluation Equipment: Lead investigator – Ron Childs, chemistry – $88,197 awarded

McMaster researchers were also involved in five applications for inter-institutional awards. All five applications, totalling $28.14 million, were successful and are described below:

* St. Joseph's Hospital: Neurobiology of Stress, Mood and Anxiety Disorders, $2,739,536 (Russell Joffe,health sciences)

* University of Toronto: Joint Facility for Novel Superconducting and Magnetic Materials, $974,366 (Bruce Gaulin, physics & astronomy)

* Queen's University: System-on-Chip Research Network,$15,892,932 (Ted Szymanski, electrical and computer engineering)

* University of Western Ontario: Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Computing Network, $6,616,620 (Hugh Couchman, physics & astronomy)

* Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal: Laboratoire de recherche en fabrication virtuelle, $1,916,465 (Mo Elbastawi, mechanical engineering)

The maximum CFI award is 40 per cent of the total eligible costs for each project budget.