News Releases - 2009
Nine Canadian scientists and scholars win Killam Research Fellowships
Ottawa, March 11, 2009 – Nine outstanding Canadian researchers have been awarded a total of $1.26 million in the 42nd annual competition for Killam Research Fellowships, administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.
Killam Research Fellowships, with a value of $70,000 a year, enable Canada’s best scientists and scholars to devote two years to full-time research. The fellowships are awarded to the individual recipients, but the funds are paid to and administered by universities or research institutes. The recipients are chosen by the Killam Selection Committee, which comprises 15 eminent scientists and scholars representing a broad range of disciplines.
Among Canada’s most distinguished research awards, the Canada Council for the Arts Killam Research Fellowships are made possible by a bequest of Mrs. Dorothy J. Killam and a gift she made before her death in 1965. The awards support scholars engaged in research projects of outstanding merit in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences, engineering and interdisciplinary studies within these fields.
After considering 79 applications, the Killam Selection Committee chose the following nine researchers as new Killam Research Fellows for 2009:
Biology
Walter Herzog, University of Calgary: Applied Cellular and Molecular Biomechanics
Biology
Natalie Strynadka, University of British Columbia: Structure-based Antibiotic Discovery on the Bacterial Membrane
Chemistry
Douglas Stephan, University of Toronto: Frustrated Lewis Pairs: A New Paradigm for Reactivity and Catalysis
Computer Science/Space Physics
David J. Thomson, Queen’s University: Identification of Solar Gravity Modes
History/Literature
Elizabeth Sauer, Brock University: Milton, Toleration, and Protestant Nationhood
Language/Translation
Sherry Simon, Concordia University: Cities in Translation: Calcutta, Trieste, Barcelona 1850-2000
Musicology
James N. Grier, University of Western Ontario: The Foundations of Musical Literacy in the Medieval West 800 – 1100: Oral and Written Transmission in Early Plainsong
Mathematics
Walter Craig, McMaster University: Hamiltonian Dynamics in Mathematical Physics
Physics/Space Science
Robert Brandenberger, McGill University: New Approaches to Superstring Cosmology
View the list of the 15 members of the selection committee, which included scholars, researchers and experts. The list also includes the Killam trustees who monitored the selection process.
General information
In addition to its principal role of promoting and fostering the arts in Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts administers and awards a number of distinguished prizes in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences and engineering. These prizes and fellowships recognize the achievements of outstanding Canadian artists, scholars, and administrators. The Canada Council for the Arts is committed to raising public awareness and celebration of these exceptional people and organizations on both a national and international level.
Please visit our website for a complete listing of these awards.
For more information about these awards and prizes, including nomination procedures, contact Joanne Larocque-Poirier, Head, Endowments and Prizes, 613-566-4414 or 1‑800-263-5588, ext. 5041, or by e-mail.