McMaster students receive prestigious Vanier scholarships

Eight students from McMaster University have received the prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships, a new program introduced by the federal government to attract and retain world-class doctoral students and make this country a global leader in higher education research.

Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology made the announcement in Ottawa yesterday.

“The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships Program demonstrates the federal government’s ongoing commitment to attract and support the world’s leading researchers,’ says Peter George, president of McMaster University. “Not only does a program like this recognize the important role graduate work plays in shaping our society, but also provides a valuable tool to train our next generation of researchers.”

“The fact that eight Vanier awards are coming to McMaster speaks to the incredible strength of graduate programs across our campus, and highlights the fact that we are attracting the best and the brightest into those programs,” says Allison Sekuler, associate vice-president and dean of graduate studies at McMaster University. “These students have a real passion for their work, and it shows in everything they do.”

A total of 166 scholarships, valued at $50,000 each, are to be awarded annually for up to three years. Canada’s three federal granting agencies, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) will administer the program.

Below is a list of winners from McMaster University:

CIHR recipients

• Beata Batorowicz, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences
• Derek K. Chu, Department of Pathology & Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences
• Suzanne E. Osborne, Department of Biochemistry & Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences
• Nghi Phan, Department of Medical Physics & Applied Radiation Sciences, Faculty of Science

NSERC recipients

• Vladimir Miskovic, McMaster Integrative Neuroscience & Discovery Graduate Program, Faculties of Science and Health Sciences
• Nikol Piskuric, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science

SSHRC recipients

• Sandra Josephine Bortolin, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences
• Kate M. Mulligan, Department of Geography & Earth Sciences, Faculties of Science, and Social Sciences