Prestigious awards mean more visibility, funding, and student participation
Jesse Mellott| Fulcrum Staff
Three U of O professors are now prestigious prize-winners for their dedicated research in their fields.
Dr. Paul Corkum, who is also a National Research Council scientist, will be presented on March 28 with the King Faisal International Prize for Science, in recognition of his research regarding the attosecond.
Corkum’s research focuses on the development of short-pulse lasers, which allow scientists to see chemical reactions as they occur by capturing the motion of electrons in atoms in the attosecond time signature.
Receiving the award is a sign of the recognition of the growing importance the field of attoseconds has in physics, according to Corkum.
“In a way it’s not a personal award, it’s really given to a field of science,” Corkum said. “Now they give it to one person, now that person has to somehow represent the field of science. What this says is the field that I [and others] represent has become increasingly important—important enough to be singled out.”
Corkum isn’t the only professor to be recognized as of late. Faculty of Law Professor Marie-Eve Sylvestre and Faculty of Science Professor Dr. Muralee Murugesu are the winners of the Young Researcher of the Year Award, an award that is given annually to two professors for their exceptional contributions to research and/or student mentorship.
Sylvestre, whose research focuses on how the poor and socially excluded are affected by the punitive policies of the criminal justice system, was pleased to receive the accolade.
“I am really grateful that I was awarded by the university,” Sylvestre said. “It’s an honour for me and I am really excited to continue my research in this context.”
Murugesu was also pleased with the recognition and will use the $10,000 research grant that he receives to hire students to help with future research initiatives. He hopes the award will increase awareness of the work done by the undergraduate community.
“At the end of the day, this [research] is all done by students,” Murugesu said. “The recognition goes not only to me, but also to the students, my research team.”
