University of Winnipeg Joins TRIUMF

Paul Young, Chair of the Board and Vice President for Research at the University of Toronto, said, “TRIUMF is a national enterprise that leverages the combined strengths of Canada’s great universities. The University of Winnipeg is a welcome addition. ”

The university’s closer association with TRIUMF will allow it to participate in discussions about setting the direction of the laboratory as well as enhanced partnerships for new research infrastructure that strengthens efforts on the University of Winnipeg campus.”

“The University of Winnipeg team of outstanding researchers is tackling the most pressing issues of our time, with specialties that include physics, the biomedical sciences, urban ecology, water stewardship, green chemistry, and Indigenous science,” said Dr. Lloyd Axworthy, President and Vice-Chancellor, UWinnipeg. “The TRIUMF partnership is an incredible opportunity that expands our research capacity not unlike the construction of our new state-of-the-art Richardson College for the Environment and Science Complex nears completion, with classes beginning in September 2011. Today’s announcement enhances our ability to provide cutting-edge innovation, research and development, and incubation and commercialization on campus that will continue to attract world-class experts to the University.”

Dr. Neil Besner, Vice-President, Research and International, at the University of Winnipeg, said, “The University of Winnipeg is honoured to have been approved for associate membership to the TRIUMF consortium. We are excited about the opportunities this will bring to our researchers and institution, and look forward to a new level of research excellence.”

The University of Winnipeg has been informally involved in TRIUMF for several decades through some of the original experiments in particle and nuclear physics as well the materials-science facilities. In 2008, Professor Jeff Martin began discussions with two laboratories in Japan and TRIUMF in Canada to formulate a new national initiative for understanding the properties of the neutron with a premier research facility known as the Ultra-Cold Neutron Source. Under his leadership, a proposal to the Canada Foundation for Innovation was prepared and successfully awarded $4.225 million. The three-way Memorandum of Understanding among TRIUMF, Winnipeg, and the Japanese laboratories was formally approved in February 2011.

Professor Martin said, “The completion of cutting-edge physics research at TRIUMF is a great opportunity for me, and for my colleagues from the University of Winnipeg and elsewhere. TRIUMF is an important resource for all researchers in my field throughout Canada and the rest of the world. The approval for associate membership in TRIUMF demonstrates the University of Winnipeg’s rising leadership in physics research in Canada.”

Nigel S. Lockyer, director of TRIUMF, commented, “TRIUMF is about excellence in research and connecting leading university researchers to the world. The University of Winnipeg’s ultra-cold neutron project is a perfect example of how we can work together to keep Canadian science relevant—and competitive. We look forward to working more closely with their excellent team.”

TRIUMF’s core operations are supported via a contribution through National Research Council Canada with additional funding from CIHR, CFI, NRCan, NSERC, and WD. The Government of British Columbia has provided building capital funds.