IDRC unveils international research chairs

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) has announced the chair holders of its International Research Chairs Initiative (IRCI) which teams current holders of Canada Research Chairs (CRC) with researchers from developing nations. A first of its kind, the program received 104 applications resulting in a decision to increase the number of awards from five to eight.

Each chair receives approximately $1 million over five years, with 80% of funding going to the foreign researcher. IDRC is currently in discussions with unnamed parties to see whether funding can be secured to expand the IRCI. It was originally conceived by former Canada Foundation for Innovation president, Dr David Strangway, and was one of several Africa-focused research initiatives being considered by the government of Paul Martin prior to its defeat (R$, February 7/05).

All 16 chairholders were in Ottawa recently to refine their research programs. The chairs are intended to contribute to quality of life in the developing world, enhance university research capacity and foster world class research discoveries.

The research being undertaken by the 16 chairholders covers a wide range from the management of resources in fishing communities and improving child nutrition to wireless communication systems design and new search engine and translation technologies.

The chairholders are:

Fikret Bekes (Univ of Manitoba) and Alpina Begoissi (State Univ of Campinas, Brazil);

Christopher Wood (McMaster Univ) and Adalto Bianchini (Federal Univ of Rio Grande, Brazil);

Jianhong Wu (York Univ) and Yiming Shao (National Centre for AIDS/STD Control & Prevention, China);

Ming Li (Univ of Waterloo) and Xiaoyan Zhu (Tsinghua Univ, China);

Robert Schober ( Univ of British Columbia) and Ranjan Mallik (Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi India);

Mostafa Benzaazoua and Rachid Hakkou (Univ of Cadi Ayyad, Morocco);

John Davis (McMaster Univ) and Nelson Sewankambo (Makerere Univ, Uganda); and,

Grace Marquis (McGill Univ) and Anne Lartey (Univ of Ghana).

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