U of T researchers recognized with top awards from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Published: November 17, 2021
University of Toronto researchers are being recognized with the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering, the E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship, the Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering and the Synergy Award for Innovation – top honours from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
“The University of Toronto congratulates these remarkable leaders whose research is improving the lives of people across Canada and around the world,” says Professor Leah Cowen, U of T’s associate vice-president of research. “Their work is transforming the worlds of theoretical physics and nanorobotics, and making an impact on everything from the air we breathe to our understanding of ecology and evolutionary biology.”
The prestigious Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering was awarded to Sajeev John, a University Professor in the department of physics in the Faculty of Arts & Science, for discoveries that have driven advances in physics, chemistry, engineering and medicine. Examples include his pioneering research that enables photons to be trapped and controlled in an optical microchip and the invention of Photonic Band Gap (PBG) materials, which allow confinement of photons to a microscopic region the size of the wavelength of light.
The Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering was awarded to a multidisciplinary team of researchers from U of T’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Temerty Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Arts & Science, as well as from McGill University and the Ontario government for developing innovative tools and strategies for studying air pollution and its effects.
An E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship was awarded to Martin Krkošek, an associate professor in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at the Faculty of Arts & Science, for his research into the disease dynamics between wild and farmed salmon on Canada’s west coast.
A Synergy Award for Innovation recognized Professors Yu Sun, Jane Howe, Tobin Filleter and Doug Perovic from the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering for their longstanding partnership with Hitachi High-Tech Canada (HTC) – a collaboration that has led to numerous scientific discoveries and commercialized products.
