New funding for research projects at the Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute was announced by the Government of Canada and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) today. Ten Blusson QMI investigators received funds, including Discovery Grants and Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) grants totalling more than one million dollars.

“At NSERC, we dedicate significant resources to our Discovery research programs precisely because we cannot predict where successes will occur,” said Alejandro Adem, President of NSERC. “We foster excellence by providing thousands of exceptional researchers at various stages in their careers with the stable foundation needed to lead thriving research programs and create unparalleled training opportunities for the next generation of scientists and engineers.”

Discovery Grants

The Discovery Grants program supports ongoing programs of research with long-term goals rather than a single short-term project or collection of projects. These grants recognize the creativity and innovation that are at the heart of all research advances. Blusson QMI investigators were awarded more than $240,000 in Discovery Grant funding.

  • Joshua Folk: Hybrid circuits as a thermodynamic measurement platform for 2D materials
  • Marcel Franz: Exploring the twist paradigm in topological and interacting quantum matter
  • Andrew Potter: Universality and topology in gapless systems and far from equilibrium

Potter also received a Discovery Launch Supplement for his project. Discovery Launch Supplements are additional funds to support early career researchers as they build their research programs.

Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) grants

RTI grants foster and enhance the discovery, innovation and training capability of university researchers in the natural sciences and engineering by supporting the purchase of research equipment. Blusson QMI investigators were awarded more than $790,000 in RTI grants.

  • Sarah Burke:  Spatially resolved spectroscopy of Quantum Materials: Scanning probe Microscopy control system for high resolution tunnelling spectroscopy
  • Andrea Damascelli: Cost-effective continuous operation of the CLS-QMSC Beamline at cryogenic temperatures at CLS.
  • Alannah Hallas & Meigan Aronson: Unveiling the structure and formation of quantum materials via x-ray diffraction with nonambient temperature stages
  • Mark MacLachlan: Urgent Replacement of UV-vis/near-IR Spectrometer
  • George Sawatzky: An electron beam evaporator for real-time and precise flux control for molecular beam epitaxy
  • Ke Zou: An integrated materials nanofabrication workstation for the Quantum Materials and Device Foundry

Canada Research Chairs

In June, the Government of Canada announced new and renewed Canada Research Chairs. Congratulations to Andrea Damascelli and Mark MacLachlan on the renewal of their Chairs.

  • Andrea Damascelli: Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Electronic Structure of Quantum Materials
  • Mark MacLachlan: Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Supramolecular Materials

Read more: Government of Canada announces 119 new and renewed Canada Research Chairs.