BY ROBIE LISCOMB
University of Victoria researchers have done very well in the first round of major institutional research infrastructure funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, announced on Oct. 19. Three UVic projects are approved for funding and a fourth proceeds to the final round of evaluation.
"This is an excellent outcome for UVic, which will make a major difference in our capacity to carry out research in several areas where we have established strength," says Dr. Martin Taylor, UVic's vice-president research .
Integrated plant environment facility
Receiving up to $395,000 in the Institutional Innovation Fund competition for projects over $350,000 is a proposal from Dr. John Owens (biology, centre for forest biology) for a forest research phytotron&emdash;an integrated plant environment facility. The facility will include a computerized, climate-controlled research greenhouse to support research in forest regeneration, tree ecophysiology and stress physiology, tree reproductive biology, tissue culture, and plant molecular and population genetics.
Such a controlled experimental environment for manipulation of temperature, water, nutrition, radiation and carbon dioxide is necessary to pursue state-of-the-art forest biology research and to mimic environments found in the diverse ecoregions of B.C. The results will be relevant to the forest nursery and agricultural sectors.
Chosen in the Institutional Innovation Fund competition are proposals by Dr. Verena Tunnicliffe (earth & ocean sciences/biology) and Dr. Michael Whiticar (earth & ocean sciences)
Deep sea vehicle
Tunnicliffe's project, receiving up to $139,000, is for an enhanced communications link for Canada's only deep-sea remotely operated research vehicle (ROV), which is based in Victoria and has been used widely to explore the deep ocean.
The upgraded ROV system will enable Canadian scientists to continue playing a key role in the expanding international effort to discover the biological and mineral riches at deep-ocean volcanic ridges. CFI funds will support the design and fabrication of a new communications and power cable to extend the ROV's capacity to a depth of 5,000 metres. The cable will remain watertight under pressures of 500 atmospheres and have a breaking strength of 125,000 lbs.
CFI funds will also be used to purchase a sophisticated data management system to process real-time data flows, including video and sonar imagery and navigational and instrument data from the ROV. This system will reduce months of post-processing, enabling researchers to leave the ship with a CD-ROM of the final mission data archive.
Biogeochemistry
Whiticar's project receives up to $140,000 and involves upgrading the biogeochemistry facility's ability to address geochemical, environmental, ecological and medical questions. Researchers at the facility have pioneered the use of continuous flow-isotope ratio mass spectrometry to analyse diverse and often minuscule samples to address such matters as the identification and distribution of greenhouse gases or hazardous pollutants in the atmosphere.
With CFI funding, the facility will acquire the first on-line hydrogen isotope ratio measurement facility in Canada. This will help researchers characterize and trace the sources and dispersion of organic compounds identified by their hydrogen isotope "fingerprint"&emdash;the ratio of the two different forms of hydrogen in their molecular make-up.
Novel lines of research supported by the upgraded facility include recognizing, identifying and tracking migrating pollutants; diagnosing bacterial infections by analysis of patients' breath gases; tracking dietary fats and cholesterol through the body to elucidate their roles in heart disease; tracking the migration of salmon; and analysing the presence of trace elements to clarify the history of environmental and climate change over vast periods of time.
Distributed computing facility
In the CFI Regional/National Facilities competition, a proposal by Dr. Nikitass Dimopoulos (electrical & computer engineering) for B.C.'s first high-performance distributed computing facility will proceed to the final stage of review, for funding to be decided in 1999.
This facility would serve projects requiring sophisticated numerical modelling, simulation, the processing of very large digital images, or the handling of massive amounts of data. UVic research programs that would benefit from the facility include modelling the formation and evolution of galaxies; examining how body cells use their own electromagnetic fields for communication among their constituent structures; processing large digital astronomical images from sophisticated telescopes; analysing data from high-energy physics experiments; using neural networks to model complex systems; and mapping the complex structure of DNA.
New opportunities funding
In August, three UVic research groups were selected for funding under the CFI's New Opportunities Fund, which provides infrastructure for newly hired university researchers.
Drs. Louise Page, Brad Anholt and others in the department of biology have won up to $125,000 for a new digital imaging facility to support their work in evolutionary biology. Dr. Stan Dosso (earth & ocean sciences) receives up to $200,000 for an integrated marine seismo-acoustic system to assist in his work on ocean acoustics; and Dr. Julio Navarro and others in the department of physics & astronomy gets up to $199,000 for computer equipment for research in astronomy and particle physics.
The CFI, established in 1997 with a federal government contribution of $800 million, has a mandate to invest in infrastructure for research and development in Canadian universities, colleges, hospitals, and other not-for-profit research institutions. These investments are made in partnership with the private and voluntary sectors, as well as all levels of government. CFI investments target key needs in the areas of health, science, engineering and the environment.