John Charles Polanyi Prizes
2019

The innovative and ground-breaking work of five university researchers in Ontario has been recognized with the award of the 2019 Polanyi Prizes, ranging from discoveries that could lead to game-changing advances in the safe handling of nuclear waste to better long term outcomes for liver transplant patients.

These prestigious prizes are awarded in honour of Ontario’s Nobel Prize winner John C. Polanyi, who won the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research in chemical kinetics.

“I would like to congratulate this year’s recipients of the John C. Polanyi Prizes,” said Ross Romano, Minister of Colleges and Universities. “Their work helps advance Ontario’s innovation economy, strengthening our province’s reputation in research, while changing the way we approach and understand issues that directly impact Ontarians.”

“Their innovative work is an excellent reminder of why it is so important to support our researchers, the bright young minds that are helping solve some of our most pressing issues, producing breakthroughs and helping to create a better future for students, our communities, and the province,” said David Lindsay, President and CEO of the Council of Ontario Universities (COU).

The Polanyi Prizes are awarded each year to innovative researchers who are either continuing postdoctoral work or have recently gained a faculty appointment. Each winner receives $20,000 in recognition of their exceptional research in the fields of chemistry, literature, physics, economic science and physiology/medicine.

For more information about how the awards are administered, click the link below.

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Polanyi Prize for Economic Science
  • Dr. Abel Brodeur, Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics, University of Ottawa
Polanyi Prize in Physiology/Medicine
  • Dr. Mamatha Bhat, Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, and Staff Heptologist at University Health Network
Polanyi Prize in Chemistry
  • Dr. Ramon Alain Miranda Quintana, Postdoc (York Science Fellow) in the Department of Chemistry, York University
Polanyi Prize in Literature
  • Dr. Audrey Walton, Assistant Professor in the Department of English and Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto
Polanyi Prize in Physics
  • Dr. Maria Drout, Assistant Professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto