More than 2,300 of Canada’s best and brightest earn research scholarships
(Ottawa, September 29, 2005) – David Emerson,
minister of industry and minister responsible for the Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) today announced a $96
million investment in master’s, doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships
and scholarships for Canadian students.
“This investment is allowing more than 2,000 Canadian students
to carry out research at universities across Canada and around the world,”
said Minister Emerson. “These students will become our next generation
of leaders, applying the knowledge and insight they gain through research
to sharpening Canada’s competitive edge in all sectors of society.”
The investment supports more than 1,200 master’s students, 975
doctoral students and 125 postdoctoral fellows. Their studies aim to better
understand the social, economic and cultural issues facing Canadians,
including education, globalization, immigration, work, language, ethics,
art and culture.
Sarah Stephens of the University of New Brunswick received a scholarship
to complete a master’s degree with a particularly personal twist.
Once a teenage mother herself, Stephens will examine and develop programs
to increase young parents’ self-esteem and improve the health
and well-being of both baby and mom.
Tamara Small of Queen’s University is among the recipients of
a SSHRC doctoral fellowship. She is examining how politicians and voters
are using the web to influence one another. By studying “cyber-campaigning”
in Canada and around the world, she will help improve communication
between political representatives and their constituents.
Radu Neculau of the Université de Montréal received
a SSHRC postdoctoral fellowship. Using theories from philosophy, sociology
and psychology, Necalau will analyze irrational crowd behaviour and
attempt to understand how and why everyday people get caught up in
mass violence. His work may hold the key to predicting and preventing
destructive crowd behaviour, as witnessed in New Orleans after Hurricane
Katrina.
“Research is an essential part of a university education,”
said Stan Shapson, acting president of SSHRC. ”And every year SSHRC’s
scholarship and fellowship programs grow to ensure more and more of Canada’s
top students and emerging researchers receive the training they need to
excel.”
The successful students were chosen by independent juries of expert researchers
who rewarded only the highest standards of academic achievement.
List
of successful candidates (pdf document 826 KB)
For additional information on this release and other SSHRC research projects,
please contact:
Doré Dunne
Media relations officer
Telephone: (613) 992-7302
E-mail: dore.dunne@sshrc.ca
