New funding for Canada Research Chairs
Five Concordia scientists have received new support from the Canada Research Chairs (CRC) program. Over five years, the university will receive $500,000 for each of these chairs to foster innovation.
The CRC program is celebrating its 10th anniversary this fall. On November 24, the Government of Canada announced it would invest a total of $275.6 million to fund or renew 310 CRCs at 53 Canadian universities.
“The program has helped build world-class research centres across the country, propelled Canadian research leadership onto the world stage, and enhanced the education and training of thousands of domestic and foreign students,” said Chad Gaffield, President of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and head of the CRC program steering committee.
Concordia’s five new or renewed CRCs are:
Roch H. Glitho, associate professor at the Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering, was awarded his first Canada Research Chair.
Professor Glitho will continue to study ways to improve the architecture of conventional and mobile networks that enable everything from teleconferencing to smartphone web access.
Steven High, professor in the Department of History and co-director of the Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling, received his first Canada Research Chair in 2006 and has been renewed. He is cofounder of the Concordia Oral History Research Laboratory, which integrates digital media and oral history to access, analyze and communicate life stories. He is leading the Montreal Life Stories project, which interviews people displaced by genocide or crimes against humanity in order to preserve their cultural and historical memories for the city’s immigrant communities.
Xin Wei Sha, associate professor in Design and Computation Arts, has been a Canada Research Chair since 2005 and has been renewed. Professor Sha’s research is multidisciplinary across the humanities, social sciences, fine arts and engineering. He is founder and director of the Topological Media Lab – a hub of more than 50 artists as well as scholars from around the world. Professor Sha will continue to lead his team in the creation of video, sound and media environments that can enhance everything from theatre productions to shopping experiences.
Patrik Marier, associate professor in the Department of Political Science, received his first Canada Research Chair in 2005 and has been renewed. He is among Canada’s leading researchers in pension policy and comparative public policy. His first CRC enabled him to establish the Concordia Ageing Research Network, which fosters collaboration among faculty and graduate students across disciplines. Professor Marier plans to continue his study of pension reform and how governmental authorities are preparing themselves for an aging society in North America, the UK and Europe.
Uri Shalev, associate professor in the Department of Psychology and a member of the Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, received his first Canada Research Chair in 2004 and has been renewed. He studies the brain functions that motivate people towards illicit drug use and overeating. Professor Shalev will carry on his investigation of the neurobiological causes of drug abuse, mental illness and obesity as well as new directions for future treatments.
Related links:
• Canada Research Chairs
• Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering
• Department of Design and Computation Arts
• Department of History
• Department of Political Science
• Department of Psychology
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