June 23, 2022
The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry, along with the Honourable Mona Fortier, President of the Treasury Board, announced an investment of more than $506 million through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s (NSERC) Discovery research programs—an investment in the world’s brightest minds to increase the impact of science, technology and innovation in Canada.
Researchers from across the country are receiving over $430 million of this funding to lead world-class research programs in a wide variety of natural sciences and engineering disciplines. Researchers are also receiving $73.8 million in one-time, one-year extensions with funds to existing Discovery research grants as part of an ongoing response by NSERC to support researchers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A total of 160 projects led by UBC researchers were awarded more than $32 million through the 2022 NSERC Discovery research grants competition.
This includes:
- 135 projects supported by Discovery Grants (with 46 of these receiving additional support from Discovery Launch Supplements and Northern Research Supplements);
- one project awarded funding through the Subatomic Physics Discovery Grants program;
- one project awarded funding through the Discovery Horizons Grant program;
- one Ship Time Grant award; and
- 22 projects awarded Research Tools and Instruments grants.
Two additional awards through the NSERC Discovery Institutes Support Grants program were made to the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences and the Banff International Research Station, with applications led by UBC researchers Ozgur Yilmaz (Mathematics) and Malabika Pramanik (Mathematics) respectively.
DISCOVERY GRANTS PROGRAM
The NSERC Discovery Grants program supports ongoing programs of research with long-term goals rather than a single short-term project or collection of projects. These grants recognize the creativity and innovation that are at the heart of all research advances.
Discovery Launch Supplements provide timely resources to support early career researchers (ECRs) as they establish a Discovery Grant-funded research program.
The Northern Research Supplements (NRS) program has been established to augment and promote Canadian university-based northern research and training. The main purpose of the Northern Research Supplements program is to recognize the added costs unique to conducting research in the Canadian North.
UBC RECIPIENTS
135 UBC researchers were awarded a combined total of $28.1m over five years through the Discovery Grants program
- 45 of these projects (marked with * below) were awarded an additional $12,500 each for one year through the Discovery Launch Supplements program, for a combined additional total of $0.6m
- One project (marked with ** below) was awarded an additional $80,000 over five years through the Northern Research Supplements program
- Abdin, Yasmine (Materials Engineering)*
An integrated approach toward digital design and structural integrity analysis of out-of-autoclave composites under fatigue loading
- Adaji, Ifeoma (Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics – UBCO)*
Developing personalized persuasive technologies using an adaptive and data-driven approach
- Ainslie, Philip (Health and Social Development, Faculty of – UBCO)
Mechanisms of Human Cerebral Blood Flow Regulation in Acute and Lifelong Hypoxia in Lowlanders and Indigenous Populations
- Al-Dabbagh, Ahmad (Engineering, School of – UBCO)*
Resilient Control Systems for Industrial Process Automation
- Allen, Susan (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences)
Changes in coastal oceanography over decades and longer: Combining dynamics and downscaling
- Ascher, Uri (Computer Science)
Computational methods involving differential equations in computer graphics, machine learning and inference problems
- Balmforth, Neil (Mathematics)
Mathematical modelling of fluid flow
- Barbeito, Ignacio (Forest Resources Management)*
Mixed forests management for enhancing adaptation to climate change
- Barker, Shaun (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences)
Controls on fluid flow and metal deposition in sediment-hosted hydrothermal ore deposits
- Barr, Alasdair (Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics)
Understanding the role of dopamine antagonists on peripheral glucose regulation
- Benson-Amram, Sarah (Forest and Conservation Sciences)*
How wildlife adapt to urban environments and the role of cognition in the success of urban wildlife
- Berbee, Mary (Botany)
Fungus/plant evolution through deep geological time: Perspectives from analysis of fungal secreted enzymes and of living and fossil fungi on plant surfaces
- Bernatchez, Pascal (Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics)
Natural and accelerated aging of the eNOS-caveolin-1 system
- Bhargava, Vijay (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Concluding 50 Years of Research in Wireless Communications: Algorithms for Artificial Intelligence and Optimization in Networks Beyond 5G and Thereafter
- Bi, Xiaotao (Chemical and Biological Engineering)
Fluidized bed reactors for biomass conversion and greenhouse gas mitigation
- Bizzotto, Dan (Chemistry)
Understanding and controlling complex modified electrochemical interfaces using novel measurements and model systems
- Bouchard-Côté, Alexandre (Statistics)
Scalable approximation of complex probability distributions
- Bourbonnais, Mathieu (Earth & Environmental Sciences and Physical Geography – UBCO)*
Remote sensing applications for understanding pyrodiversity-biodiversity relationships
- Britton, Thomas (Materials Engineering)
Advances in Data Driven Quantitative Materials Characterisation
- Bryan, Jim (Mathematics)
Counting curves with symmetry
- Bullock, Zachary (Civil Engineering)*
Improving the Multihazard Resilience of Communities and Infrastructure in Canada
- Carpenter, Mark (Kinesiology, School of)
Central and peripheral mechanisms controlling human postural control
- Clifford, Amanda (Materials Engineering)*
Development of Redox-Active Nanocomposite Hydrogels for Continuous and Wearable Health Monitoring
- Clune, Jeffrey (Computer Science)
AI-Generating Algorithms: AI that improves itself by automatically creating learning challenges
- Conati, Cristina (Computer Science)
Toward Personalized Explainable AI
- Condon, Anne (Computer Science)
Models and Algorithms for Molecular Programming
- Conibear, Elizabeth (Medical Genetics)
The Role and Regulation of Endosomal GTP Exchange Factors
- Cooke, Ilsa (Chemistry)*
Tracing the evolution of aromatic molecules from interstellar space to planetary systems
- Cool, Julie (Wood Science)
Developing a continuous quality control method for the sawmilling process using sensory features and advanced data mining approaches
- Cornelis, Jean-Thomas (Land and Food Systems, Faculty of)
Elucidating how nutrient-limiting soil conditions drive plant-induced weathering processes under a changing climate
- Cretu, Edmond (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Micro-acousto-electro-mechanical systems (MAEMS). A systemic approach for a pervasive ultrasound
- Di Matteo, Olivia (Electrical and Computer Engineering)*
Software and algorithms for enabling noise-aware quantum computation on near-term devices
- Ding, Jiarui (Computer Science)*
Uncovering the latent structure in single-cell multi-omics data to study human diseases
- Du, Shan (Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics – UBCO)*
Next Generation Video Surveillance for Environmental Monitoring and Protection
- Emberson, Lauren (Psychology)*
Development of the Large-Scale Neural Networks in Infancy
- Englezos, Peter (Chemical and Biological Engineering)
Elucidating the impact of carbon nanoparticles and surfaces on gas hydrates and developing machine learning kinetic models
- Eskicioglu, Cigdem (Engineering, School of – UBCO)
Valorization of hydrothermal liquefaction aqueous stream towards commercial viability of municipal sludge to biocrude oil conversion
- Evans, William (Computer Science)
Uncertainty in Geometric Graphs
- Fedida, David (Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics)
Structures of ion channel complexes
- Fernandez, Rachel (Microbiology and Immunology)
Biogenesis and modification of the Bordetella cell envelope
- Fewster, Kayla (Education, Faculty of)*
Relating the mechanical responses of the lumbar spine during sudden impacts to preceding mechanical exposures
- Folk, Joshua (Physics and Astronomy)
Hybrid circuits as a thermodynamic measurement platform for 2D materials
- Foster, Leonard (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michael Smith Laboratories)
Measuring and understanding health stressors in honey bees
- Franz, Marcel (Physics and Astronomy)
Exploring the twist paradigm in topological and interacting quantum matter
- Frommel, Andrea (Land and Food Systems, Faculty of)*
Effects of aquatic acidification on development in early life stages of commercial fish
- Gargoum, Suliman (Engineering, School of – UBCO)*
Towards Quantitative Integration of Reliability and Resiliency into Roadway Design: AI-Aided Road Vulnerability Assessment and Stochastic Uncertainty Modelling
- Gaynor, Kaitlyn (Zoology)*
Landscapes of fear in the Anthropocene: Linking predation risk and human disturbance to animal behavior and ecological outcomes
- Graham, Sean (Botany)
Genomic approachs to studying plant evolution, function and phylogeny
- Grecov, Dana (Mechanical Engineering)
Novel applications of nanoparticle dispersions in lubrication and bio-lubrication
- Gyenge, Elod (Chemical and Biological Engineering)
Advancements in Carbon Dioxide based Electrochemical Power Sources
- Hamlin, Jane (Psychology)
Is mentalizing for social evaluation? Studies with human infants.
- Harley, Christopher (Zoology)
Integrating ecological responses to environmental variation across levels of biological organization
- Hassan, Marwan (Geography)
Sediments and sediment transport in mountain channels
- Hawley, Alyse (Engineering, School of – UBCO)*
From wetlands to wastewater: leveraging natural biomes to determine key factors for engineering stable biological processes
- Hinshaw, Gary (Physics and Astronomy)
Probing Cosmology with Diffuse Background Radiation Observations
- Hodges, Karen (Biology – UBCO)
Species conservation in a fiery future
- Hodges, Nicola (Kinesiology, School of)
Probing the relationship between doing and watching to promote motor performance and learning
- Hudson, Zachary (Chemistry)
Optoelectronic Applications of Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence
- Isaac-Renton, Miriam (Forest and Conservation Sciences)*
Tree population responses to climatic extremes
- Jacobson, Kevan (Pediatrics)
Identifying novel mechanisms by which fermentable fibers modulate intestinal structure and function
- Jellinek, Andrew (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences)
Volcanic climate control and the climatic control of volcanism: Eruption dynamics, their sensitivity to global warming and cooling and their applications to problems in sustainable deep-sea mining
- Johnson, Pauline (Microbiology and Immunology)
Molecular analysis of hyaluronan and CD44
- Kingstone, Alan (Psychology)
Components of human attention
- Komisar, Vicki (Engineering, School of – UBCO)*
Neuromechanics of postural responses to balance loss
- Kraeutner, Sarah (Psychology – UBCO)*
Characterising neuroplasticity stimulated by covert practice and the nature of learning through covert practice
- Kravchenko, Sergey (Materials Engineering)*
Computer Vision for Inspection of Internal Composite Structure Developed in High-Throughput Manufacturing Processes
- Kuo, Calvin (Biomedical Engineering, School of)*
Developing a multisensory network of wearable skin-mounted inertial measurement units to measure impulsive loads to the head
- Laule, Cornelia (Radiology)
Multi-nuclear magnetic resonance for characterizing human central nervous system tissue
- Lawrence, Ramon (Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics – UBCO)
Embedded Databases for Agricultural and Environmental Applications
- Lecuyer, Mathias (Computer Science)*
Towards practical, end-to-end differentially private machine learning
- Lemieux, Guy (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Vector Computing with Tensor Cores and Custom Accelerators in FPGA Overlays
- Li, Xiaoxiao (Electrical and Computer Engineering)*
A Comprehensive Study Towards Lifelong Federated Learning Systems
- Liao, Renjie (Electrical and Computer Engineering)*
Understanding and Improving Deep Learning for Structured Data
- Liu, Zheng (Engineering, School of – UBCO)
Digital twin computing for predictive maintenance of industrial systems
- Lovegrove, Gordon (Engineering, School of – UBCO)
Sustainable Transport Safety (SMARTer Growth Systems Planning): Tools to Proactively Move Toward Zero Deaths & Zero Emissions Transport
- Luo, Honglin (Pathology and Lab Medicine)
Autophagy mechanism of coronaviral infection: Lessons from enteroviruses
- Maharaj, Anil (Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of)*
Development of an ex-vivo-in-silico framework for predicting maternal and breastfed-infant toxicokinetics
- Mayor, Thibault (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michael Smith Laboratories)
Investigation of Pathways that Regulate the Expression of Recombinant Proteins in Yeast
- Mesbah, Ali (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Multimodal Learning-Driven Software Analysis
- Milsom, William (Zoology)
Control of Breathing in Vertebrates
- Mitchell, Matthew (Land and Food Systems, Faculty of)*
Identifying multi-scale drivers of biodiversity and ecosystem services to build multifunctional working landscapes
- Moore, Robert (Geography)
Environmental change, catchment hydrology and the stream environment
- Morin, Gregg (Medical Genetics)
Functions of CDK12 and CDK13 in pre-mRNA Processing
- Murphy, Gail (Computer Science)
Improving Software Quality through Effective Decision Support
- Murphy, Michael (Microbiology and Immunology)
Bacterial iron acquisition
- Murphy, Timothy (Psychiatry)
Tools for assessing shared sensory experience in interacting mice.
- Otto, Sarah (Zoology)
Evolutionary models for a changing world
- Page, Brent (Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of)*
Exploiting protein stability changes to identify next generation chemical probes and target engagement technologies
- Park, Keunhyun (Forest Resources Management)*
Developing automated visitor monitoring tools for better management of urban nature
- Park, Mi Jung (Computer Science)*
Turning an enemy into an ally: Privacy In Machine Learning (Pri-ML)
- Park, Yongjin (Statistics)*
Statistical learning and causal inference in high-dimensional genomics data across multiple information layers
- Pasquier, Thomas (Computer Science)*
Next Generation Provenance-based Intrusion Detection System
$145,000
- Pavlidis, Paul (Psychiatry, Michael Smith Laboratories)
Neuroinformatics for genomics and anatomy
- Pawlowicz, Rich (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences)
Small-scale processes in the ocean
- Piret, James (School of Biomedical Engineering, Michael Smith Laboratories, Chemical and Biological Engineering)
Bioprocess Engineering of Cells for Therapy
- Potter, Andrew (Physics and Astronomy)*
Universality and topology in gapless systems and far from equilibrium
- Raymond, Lynn (Psychiatry)
Investigating corticostriatal synaptic plasticity in motor learning
- Reid, Andrea (Oceans and Fisheries, Institute for the)*
Indigenous fisheries conservation in a changing world
- Richer, Harvey (Physics and Astronomy)
Near and Far: White Dwarfs, Brown Dwarfs and a New Standard Candle
- Rieseberg, Loren (Botany)
Evolutionary Genomics of Plant Adaptation and Speciation
- Rodriguez Perez, Gema (Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics – UBCO)*
Advancing Novel Approaches to Improve the Practices and Processes of Software Development in Online Collaborative Coding Platforms
- Rosin, Jessica (Oral Biological & Medical Sciences)*
Characterizing the role CSF1R-expressing cells play in craniofacial development
- Roth, Andrew (Computer Science)*
Computational Methods for Single Cell Biology
- Salcudean, Septimiu (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Transparency and semi-autonomy in teleoperation
- Sargent, Risa (Land and Food Systems, Faculty of)
The impacts of species introductions on plant-pollinator network interactions
- Sayed, Tarek (Civil Engineering)
Real-time Proactive Road Safety Management Techniques
- Schmidt, Mark (Computer Science)
Hyper-fast hyper-parameter tuning for the next generation of machine learning
- Scholes, Rachel (Civil Engineering)*
Stormwater infrastructure for treatment of emerging trace organic contaminants
- Shahriari, Dena (Orthopaedics)*
Technological advances for the neuromodulation of the spinal cord
- Sheel, Andrew (Kinesiology, School of)
Respiratory and neurovascular adaptation to physiological stress
- Shehata, Mohamed (Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics – UBCO)
Advancing Object Detection and Tracking Frontiers in Intelligent Vision-Based Applications
- Shi, Xiaoping (Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics – UBCO)
Nonparametric statistical methods based on graph theory
- Shwartz, Vered (Computer Science)*
Commonsense Reasoning in Natural Language Processing
- Simard, Suzanne (Forest and Conservation Sciences)
Novel forestry practices for mitigating global change: investigating effects of legacy trees on plant-soil microbial networks, carbon cycling and forest recovery
- Snyder, Jason (Psychology)
Neuronal turnover and plasticity in the hippocampal dentate gyrus
- Soskuthy, Marton (Linguistics)
How the shapes of words adapt to communicative pressures in spoken language
- Srivastava, Diane (Zoology)
Ecological, geographic and phylogenetic dimensions of food webs and their response to global change
- Stoeber, Boris (Mechanical Engineering)
Insights into poroelastic media flow
- Straus, Suzana (Chemistry)
Novel Antimicrobial Host Defense Peptides: Design and Immunomodulatory Function
- Takahata, Kenichi (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Medical Microsystems and Enabling Technologies for Precision Medicine
- Tobber, Lisa (Applied Science, Faculty of)*
Seismic design of novel precast walls for high-rise buildings
- Tortell, Philippe (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences)**
Patterns and processes of primary productivity and trace gas dynamics in subpolar and polar oceans
- Tyson, Rebecca (Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics – UBCO)
Resilience of Cyclic Ecosystems in the Presence of R- and P-Tipping
- Virji-Babul, Naznin (Physical Therapy)
Brain dynamics under resting state and naturalistic conditions from childhood to adolescence
- Wachs, Anthony (Mathematics)
High fidelity micro- and meso-scale computations and data-driven physics-informed models of particle-laden flows
- Walus, Konrad (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Computer Aided Design of Atomic Electronics with Coupled Atomic Silicon Quantum Dots
- Wang, Z. Jane (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Deep Learning and Interpretability in Digital Image Forensics
- Wisnovsky, Simon (Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of)*
Development of Genetic Screening Methods for Functional Characterization of Cell-Surface Glycans
- Wolthers, Kirsten (Chemistry – UBCO)
Enzymology of cofactor and amino acid metabolism in anaerobic bacteria
- Wong, Vincent (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
AI-based Joint Sensing, Communications, and Control for 6G Wireless Networks
- Wu, Lang (Statistics)
Some new models and methods for complex longitudinal and survival data
- Yan, Julia (Operations and Logistics, Division of)*
The value of flexibility in microtransit operations
- Zhang, Yuelin (Botany)
Analyzing the molecular mechanisms of systemic acquired resistance
- Zidek, James (Statistics)
Spatio-temporal modelling, network design, health effects, and dimensional analysis
- Zou, Zhengbo (Civil Engineering)*
Optimizing Indoor Environment Quality through Quantifying Human Experience using Ubiquitous Sensing
The Subatomic Physics Discovery Grants program
One UBC-led project was awarded funding of $0.4m over three years through the Subatomic Physics (SAP) Discovery Grants program.
- Hasinoff, Michael (Physics and Astronomy)
DarkLight at TRIUMF/ARIEL -- A Search for New Physics in e+e- Final States with an Invariant Mass between 10-20 MeV.
Discovery horizons grant program
Discovery Horizons grants support investigator-initiated individual and team projects that broadly integrate or transcend disciplines to advance knowledge in the natural sciences and engineering
One UBC project was awarded funding of $0.5m over five years through the Discovery Horizons Grant program.
- Boley, Aaron (Physics and Astronomy)
Orbital and surface risks from rocket bodies: Physical challenges, interdisciplinary solutions
SHIP TIME Program
The Ship Time program allows those holding an NSERC Discovery Grant to apply for additional funds to access vessels in support of their research programs.
One UBC project was awarded one-year funding of $15k through the Ship Time Grants program
- Simon Donner (Geography)
Are tropical mesophotic kelp communities endangered relics or climate change refuges? Fieldwork in the Galapagos Archipelago
RESEARCH TOOLS AND INSTRUMENTS GRANTS
The NSERC Research Tools and Instruments grants foster and enhance the discovery, innovation and training capability of university researchers in the natural sciences and engineering by supporting the purchase of research equipment.
Twenty-two projects led by UBC researchers were awarded a combined $2.7m through this competition.
UBC RECIPIENTS
- Abolmaesumi, Purang (Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Biomedical Engineering)
Ultrasound Imaging for Next Generation Non-destructive Inspection of Advanced Materials
- Arjmand, Mohammad (Engineering, School of - UBCO)
Feeders and Laser Micrometer for Existing State-of-the-Art Twin-Screw Extruder
- Bizzotto, Dan (Chemistry - UBCV)
Replacement of research grade potentiostat for advanced electrochemical research
- Burke, Sarah (Physics and Astronomy)
Spatially resolved spectroscopy of Quantum Materials: Scanning probe Microscopy control system for high-resolution tunnelling spectroscopy
- Castellarin, Simone (Land and Food Systems, Faculty of )
Urgent requirement of a leaf and soil gas analyzer for climate change research
- Damascelli, Andrea (Physics and Astronomy)
In situ study of strain- and field-induced phases of quantum matter at the CLS-QMSC Beamline
- D'Arcy, Mitch (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences)
A portable spectroradiometer for calibrating the weathering state of sediments and landforms as a chronometer
- Eskicioglu, Cigdem (Engineering, School of - UBCO)
A gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) system for trace contaminant of emerging concern (TCEC) research
- Ford, Nancy (Oral Biological & Medical Sciences )
X-Ray Detector Replacement for an In Vivo Micro-Computed Tomography Scanner
- Godin, Robert (Chemistry - UBCO)
Advanced Photoluminescence Spectrometer to Establish Core Facilities in the Department of Chemistry and Support Its Pillars of Research
- Hallas, Alannah (Physics and Astronomy)
Unveiling the structure and formation of quantum materials via x-ray diffraction with non-ambient temperature stages
- Li, Hongbin (Chemistry - UBCV)
Emergency Replacement of a Piezoelectric Positioner for a High-Resolution Single Molecule Atomic Force Microscope
- MacLachlan, Mark (Chemistry - UBCV)
Urgent Replacement of UV-vis/near-IR Spectrometer
- Maldonado, Maria (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences)
Critical Clean Water Technologies for Earth System Biogeochemical Research
- Milner, Valery (Physics and Astronomy )
Ultrafast ion detector for the study of molecular chirality
- Nabi, Ivan (Cellular and Physiological Sciences)
tauSTED: Fluorescent Lifetime Upgrade for Stimulated Emission Depletion Super-Resolution Microscope
- Perrin, David (Chemistry - UBCV)
An Open Access Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometer for Sample Characterization
- Radic, Valentina (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences)
Improving glacier melt modelling through ground-based profiling of atmospheric boundary layer
- Samuels, Anne (Botany)
High Vacuum Carbon and Metal Coater for Electron Microscopy Samples
- Sawatzky, George (Physics and Astronomy)
An electronbeam evaporator for realtime and precise flux control for molecular beam epitaxy
- Shekhar, Sudip (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Infrastructure for silicon photonic test and development
- Zou, Ke (Physics and Astronomy)
An integrated materials nanofabrication workstation to stack membranes for the Quantum Materials and Device Foundry