Arthur McDonald and NSERC Announce First NSERC André Hamer Postgraduate Prizes

Award created in memory of neutrino scientist’s former colleague

Ottawa, Ontario, December 2, 2004 – Arthur McDonald, winner of the 2003 Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering, and Tom Brzustowski, President of Science and Engineering Research Canada (NSERC), today announced the establishment of two $10,000 annual national prizes for the most outstanding students in NSERC’s master’s and doctoral scholarship competitions.

The first recipients of the new NSERC André Hamer Postgraduate Prizes are:

• University of Windsor master’s student Sharonna Greenberg, who while in her fourth year at the University of Toronto helped create an entirely new metal polymer; and
• University of Alberta doctoral candidate Selena Smith, who is piecing together the fossilized remains of flowers that grew in the interior of British Columbia 48 million years ago.

“These two outstanding students were selected for the excellence of their early achievements and their career potential in research, as well as for their interpersonal and leadership abilities,” said Tom Brzustowski, adding that he was delighted by Dr. McDonald’s gesture in creating the new awards.

Dr. McDonald is the leader of the Sudbury Neutrino Project (SNO) and the University Research Chair in physics at Queen’s University. He donated $100,000 from his Herzberg award to establish the prizes in memory of a promising young colleague who passed away from cancer last year at the age of 35.

“André Hamer worked to the highest standards as a student and it is very appropriate for this award to represent excellence among all the science and engineering research students at Canadian universities,” he said.

The awards will be presented on December 6 at a ceremony at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. Marc Garneau, President of the Canadian Space Agency, will give the keynote address. Media are welcome to attend.

Science and Engineering Research Canada (more commonly known as NSERC) is a key federal agency investing in people, discovery and innovation. It supports both basic university research through research grants, and project research through partnerships among postsecondary institutions, government and the private sector, as well as the advanced training of highly qualified people.

For more information, contact:

Arnet Sheppard
NSERC Newsbureau
Tel.: (613) 995-5997
E-mail: axs@nserc.ca

Sharonna Greenberg
University of Windsor
Tel.: (519) 253-3000, ext. 3595

Selena Smith
University of Alberta
Tel.: (780) 492-5518

Dr. Arthur McDonald
Queen’s University
Tel.: (613) 533-2702

For more complete info on the new prizes and the inaugural winners, visit http://www.nserc.gc.ca/about/prizes_e.asp#Hamer.