22 December 2016

The Université de Sherbrooke continues to stand out as a cutting-edge research and innovation leader, having obtained $5.3M in funding from the prestigious Canada Research Chair Program.

Seven chairs, including three new ones, have been allocated funding in civil engineering, chemistry, physics, radiology, biochemistry, mathematics, and humanities. Five of them will be receiving $500 000 over five years, while two others will be receiving $1.4M over seven years.

• Canada Research Chair in Quantum Materials
  Chairholder: Louis Taillefer
  Quantum materials are highly promising, especially because of their superconductivity properties, which enables electricity to be transmitted with no losses. The Chair will continue its work to further unravel the mystery of superconductivity at room temperature, in light of its most recent breakthroughs, including the discovery of a new superconductor signature in the “pseudogap” stage.

• Canada Research Chair on Polymer Eco-Composites
  Chairholder: Mathieu Robert
  Waste produced by the agri-food industry – straw, chopper vegetables, etc. – have high contents of fibres and cellulose or starch nanocrystals that can be used in several fields: food packaging, automotive, clothing, building, and other industries The new Chair aims to develop high performance ecological materials, with milkweed, for example.

• Canada Research Chair in Advanced Organic and Hybrid Materials
  Chairholder: Jerome Claverie
  A number of organic materials (often derived from oil products) and hybrid (organic/inorganic combination) materials currently on the market are harmful to the environment. They come from non-renewable raw material, and their production and use often do not respect sustainable development principles. This new Chair aims to develop greener production methods and to perfect new materials to clean up air or water, for instance.

• Canada Research Chair in Neurovascular Coupling
  Chairholder: Kevin Whittingstall
  The billions of neurons that are activated in our brain every second are constantly supplied with fresh blood. There is a delicate balance between nerve activity and cerebral blood supply; this is neurovascular coupling. The Chair aims to detect, with great precision, changes in this balance linked to brain diseases, and to develop safe measures to treat cerebral disorders.

• Canada Research Chair in Quality Control of Genetic Expression
  Chairholder: François Bachand
  Genetic expression—the process through which information stored in our genes leads to the production of molecules—goes through a quality control system. The Chair is studying these monitoring molecular mechanisms, which, when impaired, can lead to various diseases, including cancer.

• Canada Research Chair in Low-Dimensional Topology
  Chairholder: Liam Watson
  Topology is the branch of mathematics which studies spaces; the new Chair is particularly interested in low-dimensional topology, i.e. topology linked to varieties with a dimension equal to or lower than four. Research will look into a mystery linked to three structures which do not seem to be connected at first glance. New potential connections would open the door to developments in other research communities.

• Canada Research Chair in the History of Publishing and the Sociology of Literature
  Chairholder: Anthony Glinoer
  The Chair is studying the collective dimension of literature through two intermediaries—publishers and groups of authors—in French Belgium, Québec, and France between the 19^th and 21^st centuries.

Source: Université de Sherbrooke

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