From cleaner energy and enzymes that eat plastic to smarter organizations, Queen's early-career researchers are at the forefront of advancing critical research for everyday life in Canada. Recently, the Vice-Principal (Research) Portfolio announced this year's recipients of the Prize for Excellence in Research for Outstanding Emerging Researchers – Laurent Karim Béland (Mechanical and Materials Engineering), Abayomi Baiyere (Smith School of Business), and Graeme Howe (Chemistry). Their work spans computational materials science, digital transformation, and enzyme discovery, with profound implications for energy, technology, and sustainability.

“This year’s recipients are advancing innovative research that is helping to address complex challenges in areas ranging from sustainability and technology to organizational transformation,” says Nancy Ross, Vice-Principal (Research). “Early-career recognition is an important catalyst for future discovery and leadership, and these award recipients exemplify the strength and impact of research at Queen’s. Congratulations to Drs. Howe, Baiyere, and Béland on this well-deserved recognition.”

Each year, faculty Deans nominate early-career researchers who have distinguished themselves through their significant contributions to research. Nominees are within ten years of completing their highest degree and can represent any field or discipline in which research is carried out at Queen’s. Nominations are reviewed by a multidisciplinary committee including major award winners and students. Up to three recipients are selected annually and each receives a $5,000 prize recognizing their outstanding contributions to research at Queen’s.

Learn more about this year’s winners below.
 

2026 Prizes for Excellence in Research

Professor Béland is a computational materials scientist who develops advanced simulation and AI methods to understand how materials change, fail, and perform over time. His work is distinctive in connecting atomic-scale events, such as the motion of defects, atoms, and interfaces, to engineering-scale problems in energy, infrastructure, and health. His group develops tools that make it possible to study processes that are too small, too fast, too slow, or too complex to observe directly, with applications in metals and alloys for nuclear power generation and nuclear waste storage, electrocatalysis, critical mineral extraction, semiconductor technologies, concrete, clays, and bone. Professor Béland has led research projects totalling over $7M, organized and co-organized major national and international conferences, and trained or is training 37 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Across his career, he has authored more than 85 peer-reviewed publications and received the Ontario Early Researcher Award.

Dr. Baiyere is a Distinguished Research Fellow in Digital Technology at Smith School of Business where his research explores how organizations and societies navigate the digital world. His work on bias in generative artificial intelligence (AI), digital transformation, and disruption, and societal impact of digitalization have significant real-world relevance. His studies have looked at these issues from an organizational and societal perspective with his research taking ethnography, mixed methods, or design science orientations to address practical challenges. Dr. Baiyere’s advances in the field of information systems have been recognized with several best paper awards, as well as the Mid-Career Award by the Association for Information Systems. He also leads and co-organizes the African Workshop in Information Systems series.

Dr. Howe is a biochemist focusing on the discovery of new enzymes with the potential to address some of the world's most pressing environmental challenges. His team uses advanced computational tools to search large gene databases and identify new proteins that could be useful for breaking down plastics, cleaning up environmental contaminants, or producing medicines. He leads the enzyme discovery efforts within the Open Plastic research consortium, a national initiative tackling plastic pollution. His group recently made a breakthrough by discovering a new enzyme that represents a major advance toward sustainable biological nylon recycling, drawing significant attention from researchers worldwide. He has been the recipient of the Polanyi Prize in Chemistry, the Thieme Chemistry Journals Award, and was named an Emerging Talent in Sustainability Research by ChemSusChem, a leading venue for research in sustainable chemistry. Dr. Howe is also a committed mentor who has supervised 43 trainees, many of whom have gone on to win nationally competitive awards.

The 2026 Prizes for Excellence in Research for Outstanding Emerging Researchers will be presented at spring convocation. To learn more about the award and past recipients, visit the Vice-Principal (Research) Portfolio website.