Congratulations to Dr. Will Kymlicka — Canada Research Chair in Political Philosophy — for being awarded the the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Gold Medal, one of the highest honours for the social sciences in Canada. "His groundbreaking work on the link between democracy and diversity has advanced knowledge on models of citizenship and social justice within multicultural societies." Find out more about Dr. Kymlicka in "Inspiring future generations" in the Gazette online.

On September 30, 2019, MPP Steve Clark (Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes) announced $930,000 in new provincial investments in local research projects at an event in Mitchell Hall. Attendees included: (l-r) Farhana Zulkernine (Computing); Michael Rainbow (Mechanical and Materials Engineering); Bhavin Shastri (Physics); Kingston and Thousand Islands MPP Ian Arthur; Principal and Vice-Chancellor Patrick Deane; Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes MPP Steve Clark; Interim Vice-Principal (Research) Kimberly Woodhouse; Laura Wells (Chemical Engineering); and Sheela Abraham (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences). (University Communications). Read more detais in "Funding on the cutting edge" in the Gazette online.

Queen's University hosted the Nobel Prize Inspiration Initiative on September 25, 2019. A sold-out crowd at the Isabel Bader Centre was given the rare opportunity to listen to the journeys of two Nobel Laureates, Martin Chalfie (2008 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry) and Arthur McDonald (2015 Nobel Laureat in Physics), as well as the insights of Mona Nemer (Cheif Science Advisor of Canada) in a public dialogue on "Failure, persistence and joy: finding the right balance for research success" at the Isabel Bader Centre in a lively conversation moderated by renowned Health Columnist André Picard (The Globe and Mail). Read the Gazette article, "Nobel Laureates share their thoughts on research success", online, which also includes a video of the event for those who missed it. About 35 promising graduate students and post-doctoral fellows also had the opportunity to chat with Dr. Chalfie at an exclusive round-table discussion.

Congratulations to Dr. Claudio Soares (Psychiatry) who received the 2019 Outstanding Clinical and Basic Research Award from the North American Menopause Society at the NAMS Annual Meeting (September 25-28, 2019) for his research into depression and menopause. Read details online in Dean Richard Reznick's "it's time to change the way we think about depression and menopause".

Congratulations to Dr. Stephen Vanner, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Gastrointestinal Diseases Research Unit at the Kingston Health Sciences Centre, for his induction as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences on September 19, 2019. (Photo credit: Dr. Chris Simpson.)

Congratulations to three Queen's researchers for being recognized by the Governor General, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Julie Payette. (top l-r) Dr. Wendy Craig (Psychology, co-founder of PrevNet) was named an Officer of the Order of Canada for her anti-bullying work. Dr. Heather Stuart (Public Health Sciences, Bell Mental Health and Anti-Stigma Research Chair) was named a Member of the Order of Canada for her work on mental heath and anti-stigma programs. (bottom) Dr. John Smol (Biology, PEARL laboratory), received the Polar Medal for his work in the Canadian North. Read more in "Queen’s researchers recognized by Governor General" in the Gazette online.

Congratulations to (top l-r) Dr. Rosa Bruno-Jofré (Faculty of Education), Dr. Margaret Moore (Department of Political Studies, cross-appointed to Philosophy), and (bottom l-r) Dr. Kim Nossal (Department of Political Studies & School of Policy Studies) for being elected as Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), and to Dr. Grégoire Webber for being elected to the RSC College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. Announcements for the Class of 2019 were made on September 10 with induction to occur in November of 2019. Read more in "A Royal Honour for Research" in the Gazette online: 

Congratulations to Queen's three newest Canada Research Chairs: Dr. Lindsay Morcom (Tier 2, Education), Dr. Heather Aldersey (Tier 2, Rehabilitation Therapy) and Dr. Anna Panchenko (Tier 1, Pathology and Molecular Medicine). We also congratulate the eight researchers whose CRCs were renewed. For more details, see "Leaders in their fields garner competitive research chairs" in the Gazette online.

Congratulations to Queen's researchers, Margaret Moore (Poliltical Studies), Tucker Carrington (Chemistry; Physics, Engineering Physics & Astronomy), Mark Daymond (Mechanical and Materials Engineering; Physics, Engineering Physics & Astronomy), Robert Ross (Kinesiology and Health Studies), and Nancy van Deusen (History), recipients of the 2019 Prizes for Excellence in Research! Recipients were honoured at Spring Convocation. See Gazette story "Recognizing research excellence at Queen’s" online.

On May 15, 2019, the Office of the VPR hosted a networking event at ONRamp to further assist startups in our region and provide profile to Queen’s researchers and the Kingston innovation ecosystem.The event was attended by Queen's based entrepreneurs, Queen's alumni and potential investors, in addition to representatives from the OVPR, including the Office of Partnerships and Innovations, and University Relations.  See "Opportunities to connect at ONRamp" in the Gazette online.

On May 16, the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Sport, was at Queen's to announce more than $35 million in funding for the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships and the Banting Post-Doctoral Fellowships. Prior to the announcement event, Principal and Vice-Chancellor Daniel Woolf signed the Dimensions EDI charter on behalf of Queen's, signing on to this pilot program designed to increase equity, diversity, and inclusion in the post-secondary and research sectors. See "Canada's universities take on new Dimensions" in the Gazette online.

Science Rendezvous attracted over 5000 visitors on Saturday, May 19 at the Leon's Centre. One significant visitor was Dippy the Diplodocus (measuring 26 m in length), a long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur from the Jurassic period. More pictures from the event can be found in the Science Rendezvous Kingston 2019 Flickr album. See the Gazette story on this "day of learning and exploring with Queen’s Research".