The New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) 2019 Exploration competition awarded a total of $46.3 million in funding nationally to support 186 research projects that bring disciplines together in nontraditional ways to explore new research directions.
NFRF is a federal research funding program that fosters world-leading discovery and innovation by encouraging Canadian researchers to explore, take risks, lead, and work with partners across disciplines and borders. The NFRF’s Exploration stream addresses gaps in the federal funding system to promote innovation. It supports research that defies current paradigms, bridges disciplines, or tackles fundamental problems from new perspectives. A key principle of this stream is the recognition that exploring new directions in research carries risk, but is worthwhile given the potential for significant impact.
Twenty projects led by UBC researchers were awarded a combined $5m through the federal New Frontiers in Research Fund Exploration Stream.
UBCO-LED PROJECTS:
Abbas Milani (Engineering)
UBC Co-applicants: Apurva Narayan (Computer/Data Science), Rudolf Seethaler (Engineering)
Develop a Sim-to-Real Transfer Learning AI architecture for reliable prediction and optimization of advanced manufacturing processes in the presence of limited data
$250,000
Alexander Uhl (Engineering)
UBC Co-applicant: Curtis Berlinguette (Chemistry)
CO2 Recycling for Carbon-Neutral Solar Fuels
$250,000