NSERC Awards

His Excellency presented a series of Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada awards during a ceremony at Rideau Hall, on Monday, February 14, 2011.

Audrey C. Kertesz is one of this year's winners of the NSERC André Hamer Postgraduate Prize. The NSERC André Hamer Postgraduate Prizes are awarded to the most outstanding candidates in NSERC’s master’s and doctoral scholarships competitions. Valued at $10,000 each, the prizes were established by Arthur McDonald, winner of the 2003 Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering, in memory of a very promising young scientist who passed away in 2003.

Rowan D.H. Barrett is the winner of the NSERC Howard Alper Postdoctoral Prize. This prize is awarded to the most outstanding candidate in NSERC’s postdoctoral fellowships competition. Valued at $20,000, the prize recognizes academic excellence, existing and potential research contributions, interpersonal and communication skills, and leadership abilities. It was established by Howard Alper, recipient of the 2000 Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering.

David Vocadlo is one of this year's winners of the NSERC's E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowships. These fellowships are awarded annually to enhance the career development of outstanding and highly promising scientists and engineers who are faculty members at Canadian universities. The Steacie Fellowships honour the memory of Edgar William Richard Steacie, an outstanding chemist and research leader who made major contributions to the development of science in Canada during, and immediately following, the Second World War.

This year's NSERC’s Synergy Award, for the category of Partnership with a Small or Medium-Sized Company, was awarded to Brahim Benmokrane (left) of Université de Sherbrooke and Pultrall Inc. The Synergy Awards for Innovation honour the most outstanding achievements of university-industry collaboration in the natural sciences and engineering. By working together, these award-winning companies and universities have proven that effective partnerships are the foundation of achievement. Their success has enriched academic and research programs at Canadian universities while providing tangible benefits to Canadians.

Mark Ansermino (left) and Guy Dumont (right) are this year's winners of the Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering. This prize recognizes outstanding Canadian teams of researchers from different disciplines who have come together to engage in research by drawing on their combined knowledge and skills, and who have produced a record of excellent achievements in the natural sciences and engineering in the last six years.

Victoria M. Kaspi (centre) is the winner of the NSERC John C. Polanyi Award. This award honours an individual or team whose Canadian-based research has led to a recent outstanding advance in the natural sciences or engineering. The award was established in tribute to the excellence in research that John C. Polanyi (left) continues to exemplify.

Geoffrey Hinton is the winner of the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering. This award, NSERC’s highest honour, recognizes research contributions characterized by both excellence and influence—two qualities that defined Dr. Herzberg’s illustrious career. It is awarded annually to an individual who has demonstrated sustained excellence and influence in research for a body of work conducted in Canada that has substantially advanced the natural sciences or engineering fields.

His Excellency with the recipients of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) awards. These awards recognize the work of outstanding and highly promising scientists and engineers who are part of Canada’s academic research community.