ϳԹawards 2025 internal research grants to faculty members

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ϳԹgatepost

ϳԹhas awarded internal research grants totaling $83,964 in 2025 to 12 faculty members. Five faculty members received internal research grants (IRG); six received Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Explore research grants (SERG); and one received a Lévesque human health internal research grant.

“Congratulations to all faculty members who received these research grants,” said Dr. Greg Naterer, ϳԹVice-President, Academic and Research. “Research at ϳԹis making important advances in knowledge that contribute in meaningful ways to society. This impactful research and scholarly work by faculty members at ϳԹis addressing both local and global challenges.”

Recipients of the IRG awards are as follows:

  • Dr. Gaoliang Fang, Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering: “A Low-Cost Switched Reluctance Electric Drive System with a Reduced Number of Current Sensors”
  • Dr. Pouya Faroughi, Faculty of Science (School of Mathematical and Computational Sciences): “Advanced Statistical Methods for Correcting Measurement Errors and Misclassification in Covariates”
  • Dr. Suzanne Gray, Faculty of Science (Biology): “Finding Shells on the Beach: Visual Sensitivity and Shell Choice of Hermit Crabs on PEI’s Colourful Beaches"
  • Dr. Emma Ladouceur, Faculty of Science (Biology): “Orchid Population Distribution, Change, and Restoration on Prince Edward Island”
  • Dr. Stevan Springer, Faculty of Science (Biology): “Measuring the Mutational Extent of a Magnetic Protein Phenotype”

The SERG recipients are as follows:

  • Dr. Thomas Larkin, Faculty of Arts (History): “Mapping Historic Hong Kong”
  • Dr. Nicholas Mercer, Faculty of Science (Environmental Sciences): “Assessing Water, Energy, and Food Security on the Port au Port Peninsula, Newfoundland: A Two-Eyed Seeing Approach”
  • Dr. Jean Mitchell, Faculty of Arts (Sociology and Anthropology): “Researching Climate Change and Urbanization in Vanuatu”
  • Dr. Sebastien Parker, Faculty of Arts (Political Science): “Information Networks and Environmental Policy Responses: A Comparative Study of Net-Zero Implementation in PEI Communities”
  • Dr. Marie Pascal, Faculty of Arts (Modern Languages): “L'abjection sublime-Volume 1”
  • Dr. Magdalena von Eccher, Faculty of Arts (Music): “Fantasie–A Solo Recording Project–Magdalena von Eccher, Piano”

The Lévesque research grant recipient is Dr. Joel Ross, Faculty of Science (Biology), for a project titled “Human Stem Cell-derived Neurons to Test Regulatory Functions of the Newly Evolved LINC00473 Gene.”

The IRG program supports research projects across a broad range of fields at UPEI. Through this internal funding program, researchers provide excellent student training opportunities and often develop new collaborations with other disciplines. The SERG program supports research pursuits in the social sciences and humanities.

The Fondation J.-Louis Lévesque, a generous supporter of health research at universities and institutes across the country, supports the Lévesque human health internal research grant. J.-Louis Lévesque graduated from Saint Dunstan’s University (SDU)—one of UPEI’s founding institutions—in 1934; he was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree by SDU in 1964.


ϳԹacknowledges the assistance of Canada’s tri-council of federal granting agencies—Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)—through its Research Support Fund, which helps fund services and infrastructure that support research activities at the University. In 2024–2025, UPEI’s RSF allocation is $1,041,691.
 

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