U of M receives research awards

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This article was published 29/08/2023 (765 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The University of Manitoba received $12.5 million worth of research awards for more than 150 different projects across several of the federal government’s academic funding bodies.

The U of M’s awards tracked on average with national funding levels but its vice-president (research and international), Dr. Mario Pinto, who has been in the post for about a year, aspires to see the university rise higher than its traditional standings.

Pinto, a chemical biologist and a former president of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) — which is one of the funding bodies whose awards were announced this week — said it was a strong showing for the U of M.

Asked if he hoped to see the U of M attain even more than its traditional share of the grants, he said, “Absolutely.”

The U of M currently ranks 11th in Canada in the World University Research Rankings and 282nd in the world.

Pinto’s goal is to get the province’s major research university into the top 10 in Canada and the top 200 in the world.

Notable funding in the awards announcements this week included $1.4 million to support Arctic science and climate change research, further positioning the U of M as a leader in this field, as well as an inaugural Excellence in Equity award to Dr. Tina Chen, executive lead (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) at U of M.

These awards mainly focuses on the discovery aspect of research.

“This kind of research builds the foundation of what leads to innovation,” said Pinto. “It’s what leads to knowledge mobilization and finally to providing solutions to society.”

Pinto said without that disciplinary foundation it is very difficult to make an impact in bringing different disciplines together to solve societal problems.

“What we are trying to do is to establish a healthy foundation and then use that foundation to grow these very specialized areas,” he said

While Pinto says that the U of M is holding its own when it comes to funding for the fundamental programs, there are other areas where the university can improve.

“Where we can do better is in the major inter-disciplinary, large project competitions,” he said.

Those are where different disciplines come together — often from different universities — to work on large strategic programs. Pinto said there are some significant funding opportunities in that category where awards will be announced in September.

“In the fundamental programs we do as well as the national average,” he said. “We have to be players in the larger grant arena.”

Among the grants announced this week were the renewal of Dr. Feiyue Wang from the Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth and Resources, Tier 1 Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Arctic Environmental Chemistry, as well as Dr. Puyan Mojabi from the Price Faculty of Engineering, the Tier 2 CRC in Electromagnetic Inversion for Design and Imaging.

Dr. Wang, a globally recognized leader in the field of Arctic environmental chemistry, has been extended for a second term of seven years as a CRC (Tier 1) in Arctic Environmental Chemistry, receiving $1.4 million to support his research in the Arctic sea ice and marine environment to address the global climate crisis.

Dr. Mojabi has been extended for a second term of five years as a CRC (Tier 2) in electromagnetic inversion for design and imaging, receiving $500,000 in federal support. Dr. Mojabi is a leading researcher in the area of electromagnetic inverse problems with applications in antenna system design and electromagnetic imaging. His research aims to address the needs of future wireless communications technologies and to improve the performance of electromagnetic imaging systems.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca