Building upon a watershed year in 2015 with the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Physics to Professor Emeritus Arthur McDonald, Queen’s University researchers continued to make breakthroughs, win awards and grants, and garner attention from around the world.

The past year saw a number of significant investments for research at Queen’s beginning with a $4 million grant from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada in support of the Engineered Nickel Catalysts for Electrochemical Clean Energy (Ni Electro Can) research team, led by Queen’s researcher Gregory Jerkiewicz (Chemistry) in early January.

In September, further funding arrived in an investment of $63.7 million from the Government of Canada’s Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) to support the creation of the Canadian Particle Astrophysics Research Centre (CPARC). Headquartered at Queen’s, the project aims to strengthen partnerships between Queen’s and other Canadian universities, attract top talent, and build on Canada’s position as a leader in the field.

Five professors – David Bakhurst, Troy Day, Daniel David Moses, Joan Schwartz, and Craig Walker – were elected fellows of the Royal Society of Canada while five others – Stephanie Belanger (Queen’s affiliated), Amir Fam, Christian Leuprecht (Queen’s affiliated), Parvin Mousavi, and David Murakami Wood – were named to the RSC College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.

In November, Queen’s also hosted to the RSC’s Annual General Meeting, with hundreds of distinguished scholars, artists, and scientists arriving to Kingston for three days of scholarly programming.

For his research on conflict resolution, John McGarry was named an Officer of the Order of Canada and won the Molson Prize.

Ruth Wilson was named Member of the Order of Canada for her work in family medicine, while Wendy Craig received the Order of Ontario for her leadership in research on bullying.

Other recognition include Gabor Fichtinger being  named a fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for “contributions to medical robotics and computer assisted intervention,” while Kerry Rowe was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering.

Meanwhile, Guy Narbonne played a leading role in Mistaken Point, Newfoundland officially being recognized as a World Heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and John Smol received the 2016 Northern Science Award and Centenary Medal from Polar Knowledge Canada.

Nobel Laureate Dr. McDonald had another big year as he was elevated to Companion of the Order of Canada and elected as a foreign associate of the US National Academy of Science.

Making its debut in 2016 was the Queen’s Research Opportunities Funds (QROF) with recipients being announced in April with a total of up to $1 million in funding being award 25 researchers to accelerate their innovative projects.  

This year’s recipients of the annual Prize for Excellence in Research included Gauvin Bailey, James R. Cordy, Janet Hiebert, Steven Vanner and Virginia Walker, who receive a $5,000 prize and the opportunity to deliver a public lecture on the topic of their research.

Special events continue to highlight the strength of research at Queen’s and connect with the community such as the sixth annual Science Rendezvous Kingston, which drew a record crowd of 4,200 visitors to the Rogers K-Rock Centre in May.

For more information on awards and recognition received by Queen’s researchers, visit the website of the Office of the Vice-Principal (Research).