NSERC awards $3 million for UdeM and Polytechnique training programs

Montreal, June 16, 2010 - Scientists from the Université de Montréal and its affiliated engineering school, École Polytechnique, have received major funding from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). Over $3 million was awarded to enable both institutions to launch training and mentorship programs for promising young researchers.

The new funding is part of the NSERC CREATE (Collaborative Research and Training Experience) Program, which will support 20 projects across the nation thanks to a $32 million contribution from the Government of Canada.

The NSERC CREATE Training Program was launched to help undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students in science and engineering upgrade their skills to make a successful transition from academia to the workplace. What's more, the program is designed to foster a brain-gain by attracting highly qualified students nationally and internationally.

Christian Baron, director and professor of the Université de Montréal Department of Biochemistry, will receive $1.65 million over six years to develop a program called Cellular dynamics of macromolecular complexes (CDMC).

Dr. Baron, who investigates more effective ways to treat infectious disease, has created an interdisciplinary program with experts from the Université de Montréal, the Institut de recherches cliniques (IRCM), McGill University, Concordia University, the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia. His research network will enable students to learn the latest in concepts and techniques behind the molecular machines that drive life.

Carl-Éric Aubin, a professor at the École Polytechnique Department of Mechanical Engineering and a researcher at Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center, will receive $1.65 million over six years to spearhead a biomedical training program. Professor Aubin, who holds both the Canada Research Chair CAD Innovations in Orthopedic Engineering and the NSERC/Medtronic Industrial Research Chair in Spine Biomechanics, plans to create interdisciplinary exchanges between students from medicine and engineering.

"NSERC's CREATE Program helps graduating students become highly sought-after professional researchers in the natural sciences and engineering, both in Canada and abroad," says Dr. Suzanne Fortier, NSERC president. "The program helps not only to improve the skill set of the next generation of Canada's research talent, but also to support their retention in the workforce."

Provided by University of Montreal