August 11, 2014 [OTTAWA] The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) announced ealier this month the results of the competition for the Collaborative and Thematic Resources Support in Mathematics and Statistics Program (CTRMS).
The successful institutes were the Centre de Recherches Mathématiques (CRM), based at the Université de Montréal (\$1.15 million annually for five years); the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences, based at the University of Toronto (\$1.2 million annually for five years); and the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS), which is a collaboration of nine major universities in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Washington State (\$1.15 million annually for five years).

This funding from the CTRMS program is meant to support Canadian institutions with national and international research activities in the mathematical and statistical sciences, on themes that are deemed among the most active and the most important “cutting-edge” topics.
The grants help cover the institutes' costs for supporting research and collaboration, including lecture series by internationally prominent visitors, specialized workshops, and advanced courses for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. These research activities have broad reach, as they bring international expertise to Canada, providing significant value in advancing the state of knowledge in mathematics and statistics as well as in related interdisciplinary research topics.
Fields was selected for this grant having met, or exceeded, the six selection criteria that were set out by NSERC. These benchmarks included the scope and added value that the Fields Institute activities contributed to Canada and to Canadian science, the impact of the research activities that the Fields Institute has provided which have advanced knowledge in the subjects of mathematics and statistics and their applications, and Fields Institute's excellent record of including underrepresented minority scientists in its activities and into its scientific community.

The Institute has as a strong track record of sponsoring a large spectrum of activities and thematic programs, on topics which span all areas in the mathematical sciences, and has many programs that promote collaboration between academic scientists and their counterparts in industry.

Indeed the NSERC selection committee found that the impact of the research and activities that the Fields Institute has provided has created significant and important advancements in the mathematics and statistical sciences, and in related multidisciplinary fields, and that these activities have been conceived and executed with a high level of excellence.

As well, the Fields Institute's initiatives for developing and fostering of new partnerships was an important element that the NSERC selection committee considered. They found that Fields actively and successfully developed a number of these bonds, and has significantly increased the level of interaction between industry scientists and academic research groups.

Fields sponsors activities that provide training and development of highly qualified personnel through its various programs. The Institute has endeavoured to provide rich opportunities for the development of the skills, abilities and career opportunities of students, undergrads and postdoctoral fellows. Fellowship programs were praised by the review committee at NSERC as having “launched the careers of a multitude of mathematical scientists.” 

The funding provided through the CTRMS program will be applied to support the activities of the Fields Institute for the period 2014 - 2019. It continues the funding that was previously granted under the Major Resources Support Program, a program which was phased out earlier in 2013.

CTRMS is a new program that was launched in February, 2013, and this round of funding represents the first time these grants have been awarded. As one of the first three recipients of these funds, Fields is very happy to be recognized and supported by NSERC.

NSERC’s review committee concluded that “the Fields Institute is a formidable and outstanding institute for research in the mathematical sciences.”

Read the NSERC release here.

For other news, please visit the Fields Institute press releases page.