When the School of Graduate Studies and the Office of Research Services handed out their Research Excellence awards recently, there were no trophies, only cold hard cash to the tune of more than $700,000, which was shared by 36 student recipients of graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral studies awards.

The investment in research funding directed toward candidates in masters and doctoral programs is critical to help grow the U of L's research programs and its place as a comprehensive research university.

"These creative and highly intelligent people are the researchers of tomorrow. They are already working on world-class projects right here in Lethbridge, and this competitive funding shows that our graduate-level candidates are very successful in obtaining scarce research dollars at a national level," says Dr. Robert Wood, the Interim Head of the School of Graduate Studies.

The research funding was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Alberta-based agencies Alberta Ingenuity Fund, Alberta Innovates Health Solutions, the Alberta Cancer Foundation, and the Alberta government-funded Ralph Steinhauer Awards of Distinction.

There were also several new awards, including an Alberta Award for the Study of Human Rights and Multiculturalism won by Health Sciences master's candidate Ruksana Rashid. As well, more than $50,000 was received from three separate funds by chemistry and biochemistry candidate Cassandra Churchill.

A complete listing of all recipients can be found on the School of Graduate Studies website: www.uleth.ca/sgs