U of A Physics researcher John Davis has been awarded $376, 789 by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to assist in building a laboratory for low-temperature quantum nanoscience, and allowing his team to lay claim to being the ?coldest experiment in Canada.?
Davis, who joined the University of Alberta faculty in October 2010, has already begun to outfit a temporary lab using funds provided by the Faculty of Science. The CFI money will be used to purchase the infrastructure for his low-temperature and optics labs, which will be housed in a new CCIS Phase 2 lab, scheduled for completion within the next nine to 12 months.
Thirty-four U of A researchers shared the more than $7.1 million for 24 projects supported by the foundation?s Leaders Opportunity Fund, which is designed to support key research at Canadian universities by giving these institutions the resources needed to attract and retain the top researchers in a competitive international research market. Last week, CFI announced a total of $61,291,274 in new funds to support 246 projects at 48 institutions across Canada.
?The award of this CFI infrastructure will enable my group to construct a low-temperature nanoscience laboratory in the new Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science, allowing us to observe quantum behavior only apparent at ultra-low temperatures. We will be able to access temperatures less than a thousandth of a degree above absolute zero, making this the coldest experiment in all of Canada,? said Davis
?In this realm of "large scale" quantum mechanics new physics will no doubt emerge. We will also combine our nanoscale objects with other low-temperature quantum materials like superfluids, which are amazing liquids that flow without resistance in the same way that current flows without resistance in a superconductor,? added Davis.
?This CFI grant gives us the equipment we need to research the fantastic realm of quantum mechanics. Harnessing quantum behavior and interfacing it with the realm of nanomechanics may be the key to developing future quantum devices.?
The announcement made at a handful of select institutions across Canada, including the University of Alberta and was welcomed by university administration as well as U of A researchers and grad students who will benefit from the project monies. The local announcement was presented by Minister Rona Ambrose, member of Parliament for Edmonton ? SpruceGrove, who spoke of the necessity of investing science and technology to fuel Canada?s future economic growth. Ambrose noted that the U of A?s funding was the second highest of any institution in Canada.
Carl Amrhein, U of A provost and vice-president (academic), welcomed the news of this announcement as an opportunity for the U of A to continue its contribution to Canada?s knowledge economy. He said that the search for new knowledge is ?built on human talent? and that CFI?s investment in university infrastructure is one way of securing that talent.
?Funding like CFI?s Leaders Opportunity Fund allows us to put into place the infrastructure that enables talented individuals to reach ever-higher levels of achievement,? said Amrhein. ?That first-rate infrastructure means we remain international competitive in attracting and retaining the very best faculty, post-doctoral fellows, research associates and graduate students to our institution.?
?The support received from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation will allow the University of Alberta to continue its work building a legacy of excellence in cutting-edge research worldwide,? said Carl Amrhein, U of A provost and vice-president (academic). ?It will also provide the university and the researchers with the opportunity to attract some of the top academic minds at the graduate and post-doctoral level.?
Since its inception in 1997, CFI has invested more than $5 billion in support of Canadian research projects, of which the University of Alberta has received more than $218 million.
Davis, who joined the University of Alberta faculty in October 2010, has already begun to outfit a temporary lab using funds provided by the Faculty of Science. The CFI money will be used to purchase the infrastructure for his low-temperature and optics labs, which will be housed in a new CCIS Phase 2 lab, scheduled for completion within the next nine to 12 months.
Thirty-four U of A researchers shared the more than $7.1 million for 24 projects supported by the foundation?s Leaders Opportunity Fund, which is designed to support key research at Canadian universities by giving these institutions the resources needed to attract and retain the top researchers in a competitive international research market. Last week, CFI announced a total of $61,291,274 in new funds to support 246 projects at 48 institutions across Canada.
?The award of this CFI infrastructure will enable my group to construct a low-temperature nanoscience laboratory in the new Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science, allowing us to observe quantum behavior only apparent at ultra-low temperatures. We will be able to access temperatures less than a thousandth of a degree above absolute zero, making this the coldest experiment in all of Canada,? said Davis
?In this realm of "large scale" quantum mechanics new physics will no doubt emerge. We will also combine our nanoscale objects with other low-temperature quantum materials like superfluids, which are amazing liquids that flow without resistance in the same way that current flows without resistance in a superconductor,? added Davis.
?This CFI grant gives us the equipment we need to research the fantastic realm of quantum mechanics. Harnessing quantum behavior and interfacing it with the realm of nanomechanics may be the key to developing future quantum devices.?
The announcement made at a handful of select institutions across Canada, including the University of Alberta and was welcomed by university administration as well as U of A researchers and grad students who will benefit from the project monies. The local announcement was presented by Minister Rona Ambrose, member of Parliament for Edmonton ? SpruceGrove, who spoke of the necessity of investing science and technology to fuel Canada?s future economic growth. Ambrose noted that the U of A?s funding was the second highest of any institution in Canada.
Carl Amrhein, U of A provost and vice-president (academic), welcomed the news of this announcement as an opportunity for the U of A to continue its contribution to Canada?s knowledge economy. He said that the search for new knowledge is ?built on human talent? and that CFI?s investment in university infrastructure is one way of securing that talent.
?Funding like CFI?s Leaders Opportunity Fund allows us to put into place the infrastructure that enables talented individuals to reach ever-higher levels of achievement,? said Amrhein. ?That first-rate infrastructure means we remain international competitive in attracting and retaining the very best faculty, post-doctoral fellows, research associates and graduate students to our institution.?
?The support received from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation will allow the University of Alberta to continue its work building a legacy of excellence in cutting-edge research worldwide,? said Carl Amrhein, U of A provost and vice-president (academic). ?It will also provide the university and the researchers with the opportunity to attract some of the top academic minds at the graduate and post-doctoral level.?
Since its inception in 1997, CFI has invested more than $5 billion in support of Canadian research projects, of which the University of Alberta has received more than $218 million.