Physics shines in 2026 Canadian Foundation for Innovation funding

March 15, 2026

The Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) Fund’s 2026 award recipients have been announced! We congratulate our Department of Physics & Astronomy researchers who have been granted funding for their projects, selected for their cutting-edge research, the expansion of knowledge in their fields, their ability to address global challenges and their contribution of meaningful and sustainable benefits to society.

The CFI provides financial support to partially cover research infrastructure costs for projects such as new equipment, labs, technologies and work spaces, and works to bring in the remaining fundings through attracting investment from various sectors. Through its Innovation Fund competition, the CFI aims to facilitate internationally competitive research and technological development to increase institutional capacity for research/technological development and to engender benefits to Canadian society.

This year’s competition included new streams for project eligibility, including demonstrating a “leading edge of exploration and knowledge generation” and embedding in the project the “creation, renewal and upgrade of core facilities” to attract and train international researchers.

UBC has been awarded $50.6 million in funds for fourteen projects with UBC researchers leading and co-leading.

The awarded projects that include UBC Department of Physics & Astronomy faculty are the following:

UBC as lead institution

Quantum Matter Institute Core Facilities (QMI-CF): Creating the Building Blocks for Future Quantum Technologies
Project Leads: Andrea Damascelli (Physics & Astronomy, UBCV) and Pinder Dosanjh (Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute, UBCV)

UBC MRI Research Centre Expansion: Integration of Multi-nuclear MR Technology to Assess Brain Disease and Injury
Project Leads: Cornelia Laule (Radiology; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UBCV) and Piotr Kozlowski (Radiology, UBCV)

RadMol: A Radioactive Molecule Lab
Project Leads: Kirk Madison (Physics & Astronomy, UBCV) and Stephan Malbrunot (TRIUMF)
Collaborating: University of Manitoba, University of Toronto, University of Waterloo

Canadian GRAIN - leading the next frontier in astrophysics
Project Leads: Jess McIver (Physics & Astronomy, UBCV) and Daryl Haggard (McGill University)
Collaborating: Bishop's University, McGill University, Université de Montréal, University of Lethbridge, University of Manitoba

Second-generation instrumentation for the CCAT telescope
Project Lead: Douglas Scott (Physics & Astronomy, UBCV)
Collaborating Institution: University of Toronto

Awarded Projects (Led by other institutions)

Building a Future for Canadian Neutron Scattering, Part 2
Project Leads: Bruce Gualin (McMaster University) and Patrick J. Clancy (McMaster University)
UBC Lead: Meigan Aronson (Physics & Astronomy; Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute, UBCV)
Lead Institution: McMaster University
Collaborating: Brock University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Queen's University, St. Francis Xavier University, Toronto Metropolitan University, Université de Montréal, University of Alberta, University of British Columbia (The), University of Calgary, University of Guelph, University of Regina, University of Saskatchewan, University of Toronto, University of Western Ontario (The), University of Windsor

Chiral Belle: Leveraging New Physics through a Polarization Upgrade of the SuperKEKB Particle Collider
Michael J. Roney (University of Victoria) and Savino Longo (University of Manitoba)
UBC Lead: Christopher Hearty (Physics & Astronomy, UBCV)
Lead Institution: University of Victoria
Collaborating: McGill University, St. Francis Xavier University, The University of British Columbia, University of Manitoba

ATLAS Tier-1 Centre and Distributed Computing at the LHC Energy Frontier
Project Leads: Bernd Stelzer (Simon Fraser University) and Reda Tafirout (TRIUMF)
UBC Lead: Alison Lister (Physics & Astronomy, UBCV)
Lead Institution: Simon Fraser University
Collaborating: Carleton University, McGill University, The University of British Columbia, Université de Montréal, University of Alberta, University of Toronto, University of Victoria, York University

A Canadian Contribution to the ANDES instrument for the European Extremely Large Telescope
Project Lead: René Doyon (Université de Montréal)
UBC Lead: Allison Wing Shan Man (Physics & Astronomy, UBCV)
Lead Institution: Université de Montréal
Collaborating: McGill University, Royal Military College of Canada, Université Laval, The University of British Columbia, University of Toronto

Unveiling the microsecond radio sky
Project Leads: Victoria Kaspi (McGill University) and Jason Hessels (McGill University)
UBC Lead: Ingrid Stairs (Physics & Astronomy, UBCV)
Lead Institution: McGill University
Collaborating: Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, The University of British Columbia, University of Toronto
 

Congratulations, PHAS researchers!

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