More than $13 million awarded to UVic researchers through federal NSERC funding
July 07, 2026
Fifty-six UVic-led research projects will receive more than $13 million over five years through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s Discovery Grants program. The funding will support discoveries such as Arctic Ocean chemistry, planet formation and climate modelling.
“Curiosity-driven discoveries and socially responsible applications are at the heart of UVic’s vision for research excellence. This significant investment empowers our researchers to advance knowledge and tackle complex challenges in communities here and around the world.”
Alexandra D’Arcy, UVic associate vice president research.
Here are a few examples of the impactful projects UVic people are working on:
Laura Cowen (Science) Methodologies for population dynamics impacting species at risk conservation and fisheries management
Using technological advancements, citizen science and environmental DNA, Laura Cowen will develop new, more accurate statistical tools that measure ecological mechanisms such as climate, habitat, human use and species interactions that combine to shape survival.
Adel Guitouni (Business) AI-based multiple criteria decision analytics for sustainable and resilient global supply networks
Adel Guitouni will design and test multi-criteria systems that detect early warning signs of supply-chain failure and disruption cascades in order to guide decisions that balance cost, emissions, equity and reliability.
Alexandra Kitson (Engineering and Computer Science) Bio-adaptive XR: Engineering a closed-loop approach for adolescent emotion regulation
Alex Kitson will develop engaging, responsive, trustworthy virtual experience models to help teens safely learn to manage emotions.
Theone Paterson (Health) Measurement and the aging brain: Investigating computerized cognitive measures using fNIRS and EEG
In the first large-scale neuroimaging-based validation of mobile cognitive tests, Theone Paterson will determine whether accessible, mobile cognitive-assessment tools are scientifically equivalent to the established paper-and-pencil tests they could replace.
James Tanaka (Social Sciences) Inside the mind of the expert: Exploring the categories, features and strategies of perceptual expertise
Using an innovative machine-learning tool, AI-based language models and human assessors to collect and illuminate data, James Tanaka will reveal the cognitive mechanisms and mental representations that make an expert, an expert.
Complete list of NSERC Discovery program recipients:
NSERC Discovery Subatomic Physics
- Kristan Jensen There and back again: quantum fields and quantum gravity
- Pavel Kovtun Theories of extreme matter: Hydrodynamics, holography, and effective field theory
- Adam Ritz Quantum fields and physics beyond the standard model
- Olivier Shelbaya Model-coupled optimization and delivery of ARIEL beams
NSERC Discovery Grants
- Benjamin Anderson-Sackaney Operator algebraic quantum groups and C*-dynamics
- Magdalena Bazalova DREAM-RAD: Development of radiotherapy equipment to advance medicine: Reducing access disparities
- Alexandre Brolo Dynamic single molecule processes in surface-enhanced raman scattering
- Craig Brown Mechanisms mediating microglia migration in the mature mouse
- Toby Brown Galaxy ecosystems across environments: Multi-wavelength insights in the SKA era
- Heather Buckley Green approaches to oxidative degradation of aqueous organic pollutants
- John Burke How are lipid signalling complexes assembled on membranes
- Lin Cai Intelligent protocol design and resource management for Canada's sea-to-sky frontier
- Monica Coady SCOOPS: Scalable, customizable, open observability for petabyte-scale systems
- Peter Constabel Molecular and biochemical analysis of phenolic defense phytochemicals and signals in populus and other model plants
- Maycira Costa Satellite data integration for retrieval of phytoplankton abundance, species composition, and phenology in British Columbia
- Laura Cowen Methodologies for population dynamics impacting species at risk conservation and fisheries management
- Jay Cullen Response of ocean chemistry in Canada's subarctic and Arctic oceans under a rapidly changing climate
- Rogério de Sousa Quantum theory of light in ferroelectric materials
- Juergen Ehlting Functional genomics of douglas fir defense against pathogens
- Rana El-Sabaawi How evolution shapes nutrient cycling: Integrating ecological stoichiometry and metabolic theory at the intraspecific scale
- Wesley Fraser Understanding planet formation through deep observational studies of the outer solar system
- Daniel German Recovering provenance information of source code generated by large language models
- Ryland Giebelhaus Automated chemometric tools enabling comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography separations in metabolomics
- Joshua Giles Development of technologies for subject-specific prediction of biomechanical variables beyond the research environment
- Jaime Grimm Strengthening Indigenous governance and sustainable fisheries
- Adel Guitouni AI-based multiple criteria decision analytics for sustainable and resilient global supply networks
- Douglas Johnstone Assembling stars and setting the stage for planetary systems: The importance of unstable, time-variable accretion flows, disk winds, and jets
- Aman Kalan Navigating risk in a landscape of fear: primate behavioural flexibility in changing environments
- Bruce Kapron Feasibly constructive function theory
- Boualem Khouider The climate equation: Advancing convection and sea-ice modeling for more accurate forecasts
- Alexandra Kitson Bio-adaptive XR: Engineering a closed-loop approach for adolescent emotion regulation
- Deborah Lokhorst Revealing the circumgalactic medium in the local universe
- Tao Lu RayBNN: Toward brain-inspired AI via optogenetics
- Zhenjian Lu A meta-complexity approach to average-case complexity and cryptography
- Jesse Mumford Simulating topological phases and interactions in synthetic dimensions
- Ben Nadler Thermodynamics of oriented granular materials
- Farouk Nathoo Spatial statistics for spatial transcriptomics and simple bayes factor calculations
- Peter Oshkai Fluid-structure-sound interactions in multiphase flows: Advancing energy efficiency and underwater noise mitigation in marine systems
- Jianping Pan Space-air-ground integrated computer networks
- Theone Paterson Cognitive measurement and the aging brain: Investigating computerized cognitive measures using fnirs and EEG
- Charles Perin Augmenting physical activities with situated first-person visualizations
- Steven Perlman Evolution, ecology, and genetics of conflict and cooperation in insects and their parasites
- Helena Petrosova Uncovering the hidden diversity: Novel insights into membrane composition of non-model bacteria
- Stephen Scully Index-reduction and descent problems with applications to quadratic and hermitian forms
- Kevin Stanley Characterization and generation of trajectories in real and virtual environments
- Afzal Suleman Machine-learning based aeroservoelastic modelling and design optimization of next generation flexible aircraft
- Enda Tan How young brains learn from surprise: Mechanisms of prediction error processing in infancy and early childhood
- James Tanaka Inside the mind of the expert: Exploring the categories, features and strategies of perceptual expertise
- Issa Traore A comprehensive framework for enhancing cyber supply chain security and resilience
- Min Tsao Regression model selection via likelihood ratio test
- Kimberley Venn Connecting dwarf galaxies, dark matter, and the origin of the elements
- Jeremy Wulff Two-photon diazirines for biology and materials
NSERC Research Tools and Instruments
- Amanda Bates Modernizing UVic's outdoor aquatics unit for experiments in ocean health and food security
- Nelson Lam A supercritical fluid chromatography platform for precise analysis of chiral molecules
- Tao Lu Equipment urgently required for quantum enhanced soliton microcomb spectroscopy
- Makhsud Saidaminov Infrared time-resolved photoluminescence (IR-TRPL) spectrometer