Daily News

posted on July 12: Three McMaster researchers awarded CFI funding for new projects

Three McMaster researchers have been awarded grants totalling more than $618,000 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) for facilities required for their research. The awards are part of an announcement yesterday by CFI president David Strangway that 29 universities, including McMaster, received $14.6 million for the latest round of projects eligible under the New Opportunities Fund and the University Research Development Fund. (The three McMaster projects came under the New Opportunities Fund.) CFI has funded a total of $4,109,294 to McMaster to date under the New Opportunities Fund and under the Innovation Fund program, CFI has given McMaster a total of $29,719,389 to date. Samir Chidiac, an associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, was awarded $60,000 from CFI for a project called Acquisition of Automated Cementitious Materials Characterization System for Workability and Durability. Kari Dalnoki-Veress, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy, received $304,929 for facilities related to his research on a project titled Mechanical properties and morphology of thin polymer films. Bernardo Trigatti, an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry, received $254,043 for his work on a project titled Molecular mechanisms of receptor mediated lipid uptake in atherosclerosis. The CFI is an independent, not-for-profit corporation set up by the federal government in 1997 to help the national research community build state-of-the-art facilities where researchers and scientists can conduct their research. The foundation covers 40 per cent of the eligible costs of projects, with the research institutions such as universities and hospitals contributing 60 per cent of the costs.

posted on July 10: 2001-02 operating budget: Revenue up by $13 million

The University's 2001-02 operating budget reflects an investment in institutional priorities that fit with McMaster's academic mission. The University is expecting to receive $13 million more in revenue this year and almost half of this new funding will go to support scholarships for both graduate and undergraduate students and Faculty priorities and recruitment needs. The funds will also be used to prepare the campus facilities for an expected growth in enrolment. At its June 15 meeting, the Board of Governors approved an operating budget of nearly $200 million for 2001-02. The University anticipates income from research overhead, grants and tuition will total $196,796 million for the operating year, enabling McMaster to meet its expenses with a projected surplus of $88,000. (Click here to view the 2001-02 budget framework.) The budget also reflects the increased costs of doing business -- the University expects its utility bill to increase by $2.3 million this year. That's due in part to the costs of heating, lighting and cooling a campus that is growing both demographically and geographically and, like businesses and institutions everywhere today, is facing rising utility costs. Expenses totalling $196,708 million are outlined in the Budget Committee document presented to the Board for approval. In a letter to President Peter George, committee chair Brian McCarry discusses the challenges for the committee in determining budget priorities and allocations, and explains the increases in expenditures as follows: graduate and undergraduate scholarships (up by about $2 million over last year); increases to Faculty envelopes (up almost $4 million); facilities maintenance (an increase of $2.3 million); and establishment of a Capital Reserve Fund ($2.4 million)for campus expansion projects to meet the University's commitment to programs such as Superbuild and the Canada Research Chairs.