Awards and honours 2022-23

Professor Kathleen Gilmour’s groundbreaking work in fish physiology has earned her one of Canada's highest honours in zoology—the prestigious Fry Medal. Her dedication to research and mentoring has left an indelible mark on the scientific community, inspiring future generations to explore the wonders of the natural world.

Modern photonics beamed onto the scene with the invention of the laser in 1960, and has continued to make tremendous strides ever since. Today, the spotlight shines bright on two University of Ottawa researchers who have each received a prestigious Optica award for their glowing contributions to the science of light.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences goes in this fifteenth edition to Anne L’Huillier (Lund University, Sweden), Paul Corkum (University of Ottawa and the National Research Council, Canada) and Ferenc Krausz (Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Germany), the three pioneers of “attosecond physics” or “attophysics” whose work has made it possible to observe subatomic processes unfolding over the shortest time scale captured by science.

Medals of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) are among the most prestigious recognitions bestowed upon Canadian researchers. The Faculty of Science is proud to announce that two of its esteemed scientists are 2023 RSC medal recipients. Congratulations to Professors Abdelhamid Sayari and Ebrahim Karimi for this well-deserved recognition of their visionary research.

At the pandemic’s outset, uOttawa researcher Michael Organ was approached by Toronto Research Chemicals (TRC) to create a flow reactor that manufactures a key molecule used to prepare PCR test kits to diagnose COVID-19. Billions of tests have since been performed around the world thanks to his flow reactor technology.

Chemistry professor Adam Shuhendler is most in his element when he’s developing innovative chemical technologies that push the frontiers of molecular imaging and sensing research. Now, thanks to the Dorothy Killam Fellowship, he will be working on chemical probes that provide a clearer picture of how cancers form and spread in our bodies at the molecular level.