The University of Lethbridge's School of Graduate Studies celebrated the achievements of some of its top student researchers at the 10th Annual Celebration of Graduate Students' Research Excellence on Wednesday, Jan. 23.

A total of 33 students were recognized for the outstanding calibre of their research projects, all of which have been granted significant external funding support.

"The evening was a celebration of the excellent research our graduate students continue to be involved in," says School of Graduate Studies Dean, Dr. Robert Wood. "To see major awards from agencies such as the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council given to our students, demonstrates the work they are doing is of national importance."

Of the awards being recognized at the celebration was a $35,000 Alexander Graham Bell Graduate Doctoral Scholarship NSERC award to Ashley Moore (Biological Sciences), working under the supervision of Dr. Anthony Russell.

Chenyuan Hu (Mathematics and Computer Science, Dr. Hua Li supervisor), Andriy Bilichak (Biological Sciences, Dr. Igor Kovalchuk supervisor), Farhad Faghihi (Chemistry & Biochemistry, Dr. Paul Hazendonk supervisor) and Aki Matsuoka (Biological Sciences, Dr. Igor Kovalchuk supervisor) all received funding in excess of $30,000 from Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures.

"The level of research our graduate students undertake is exceptional, and these awards reflect not only the commitment from the University to continue to build its research portfolio, thereby making it a destination university for graduate students, but the commitment of our faculty to actively engage and support graduate student research opportunities," adds Wood.

The complete awards list can be found here.