The U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities congratulates the 36 winners of this year’s NSERC awards. These prestigious prizes recognize the top researchers in the fields of natural sciences and engineering – researchers whose groundbreaking work anchors Canada’s position as a global leader in the scientific community. The NSERC prize-winners work and study at institutions that span the breadth of the country, all of whose investments in research have nurtured these vital talents. This recognition further acknowledges the critical role research and development plays in driving the growth of the Canadian economy and in enriching Canadians’ lives.
Special mention goes to Dr. W. Ford Doolittle, awarded the Gerard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering. Dr. Doolittle received the Herzberg award – one of the research community’s highest honours – for his research in fundamental biology. It is heartening to see this recognition of the value of basic research. Dr. Doolittle’s work has influenced decades of further investigation into the growth of antibiotic resistance, the spread of pathogens, and the evolution of microbial genomics, and its benefits are still unfolding.
We look forward with great anticipation to the future discoveries and the important work that all of the prizewinners will continue to conduct in the years to come.