Dr. Almeria Natansohn, a Queen’s chemistry professor on the cutting edge of research into computers that use light instead of electricity, has been recognized and honoured by the federal government. She is among seven Queen’s researchers who will have the chance to prove themselves as world-class leaders in their respective fields, after being honoured in the Canada Research Chairs program.
“[My] position is going to be in materials chemistry,” said Natansohn. “There are very novel and exciting properties that can be used in future optical computers that will use light instead of electricity. It’s a hot area of research right now.” Dr. Kerry Rowe, vice-principal (research) is encouraged by this federal program and what it means for Queen’s.
“I think we’ve got a group of outstanding researchers who have been recognized by the research program, and we’re absolutely delighted to have the funding,” he said.
Although these established chairs will greatly benefit the work of several Queen’s researchers, some have criticized the program for failing to allocate an adequate amount of research positions in the area of humanities and social sciences.
“I guess they were looking for what they thought were sure bets. I think that in the sciences, pure sciences and applied sciences, it’s probably easier to demonstrate through easily quantifiable means what a candidate stands for in a particular field,” said Pierre du Prey, acting head of the art department.
The research initiative, introduced by the federal government, has been designed to aid Canadian universities in their efforts to attract and retain qualified researchers.
Over the course of the next five years, a total of 2000 research chairs will be allotted throughout Canadian universities. Of these positions, 1000 will be established on a Tier 1 level to recognize top researchers, and will receive $200,000 annually, while the remaining 1000 positions will be established as Tier 2 chairs for promising future researchers, and will receive $100,000 annually.
According to Dr. du Prey, who holds a position on the College of Reviewers for the Canada Research Chairs Program, the fields of art, languages and humanities seem to have been overlooked by the program.
“Because our accomplishments are less clear cut, then we’re less of an obvious choice, less of a sure bet,” he said. “I hope this imbalance will change in the next round of appointments.”
Of the 2000 to-be-established chairs, 35 per cent will be allocated to the fields of study funded by the newly-created Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and 45 per cent to the fields funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). Areas of research funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) will receive 20 per cent of the chairs. As Dr. Rowe explained, Queen’s has no control over how many chairs will be established in each area of research, as the number of chairs allocated each year to a university is proportional to the funding researchers at the university receive from the CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC.
“If for example the amount of our SSHRC grants increased relative to other universities, we’d get more SSHRC chairs. If that number decreases, the number of [SSHRC] chairs we get decreases,” Rowe explained. “[It is] totally beyond our control.”
The University does have a say, however, over how many nominations for chairs are put forward. Queen’s put forth seven nominations for chairs in September, and two SSHRC chairs over the next two years will be established in the Tier 1 and 2 categories each. In total, Queen’s will have 20 chairs established in the first two years.
Although most of the nominations were not in the humanities or social sciences divisions, those areas may be put forth in the next nomination period, taking place in March.
“We put forward one SSHRC chair in September, but we still have three that can go forward as soon as suitable nominations come forward,” said Rowe. “The most necessary and appropriate nominations were put forward [first].” The University must gain approval from the research chairs program of a strategic plan before any more chairs can be approved.
The Queen’s researchers who were granted chair positions are Dr. James Bergin for his study of economic theory, Dr. Almeria Natansohn for her research involving optoelectronic materials, Dr. John Smol for work on environmental change and Dr. Douglas Munoz for work in brain functions, as well as Dr. Zongchao Jia for his research in structural biology and Dr. Kevin Robbie for his work on nanostructured materials. Dr. Ian Moore will be ing Queen’s department of civil engineering from the University of Western Ontario. Queen’s expects to receive 57 more research chairs over the next five years.
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