$150,000 each for 18 promising McGillians

Government of Canada announces 2010 recipients of the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship

Eighteen McGill doctoral students were amongst the 174 recipients of the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship named yesterday by Tony Clement, Minister of Industry. This is a major award of national prestige, and certainly the Government's statement regarding this scholarship underscores the key role these researchers will play in Canadian society.

"The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship program is an important part of the Government of Canada's science and technology strategy," said Minister Clement. "By helping our universities attract and retain the world's top doctoral students, the program is helping us develop and apply leading-edge knowledge, grow a world-class workforce, and position Canada as a true destination of choice for the world's top students and researchers."

"The award of 18 Vanier Scholarships to McGill researchers demonstrates the excellence and dedication of our doctoral students," said Dr. Martin Kreiswirth, Associate Provost (Graduate Education) at McGill. "I couldn't be more pleased, and I'm particularly gratified to learn that four of our winners are international students."

"I'm extraordinarily proud to be recognized by the Government in this way," said Emily B.J. Coffey, a PhD student in the Faculty of Medicine's department of neurology and neurosurgery. "I'm excited to begin the research that this scholarship is funding and I'm pleased to be able to contribute to knowledge that will one day help people recover from injury or trauma to the brain." Ms. Coffey's research will help us to better understand the way our brains change when we learn complex skills, through the study of musical production and perception.

The other 17 recipients are as follows:

• Anthropology
  • El-Dardiry, Giulia
• Church History
  • Otto, Jennifer A.
• Condensed Matter Physics
  • Tekiel, Antoni
• Drug Research
  • Boridy, Sebastien M
• Evolution and Ecology
  • Dargent, Felipe
• Immunology-Transplantation
  • Parsons, Matthew S
• Information Technology
  • Lavallée-Adam, Mathieu
• Mechanical Engineering
  • Poissant, Jeffrey
• Medical Anthropology
  • Thiam, Sara
• Music and Musicology
  • Risk, Laura J.
• Nervous System
  • Bin, Jenea M
  • Cha, Jieun R
  • Jamali, Mohsen
  • Langlois, Sébastien
• Organic Chemistry
  • Hamblin, Graham
• Social Work
  • Lee, Woo Jin Edward
  • Ricard-Guay, Alexandra

On the Web: www.vanier.gc.ca/psac-psac-eng.shtml