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Archived Content

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2019

Douglas Stephan
Douglas Stephan

Department of Chemistry

University of Toronto

2018

Michael Organ
Michael Organ

Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences

University of Ottawa

2017

Sylvain Moineau
Sylvain Moineau

Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Bioinformatics

Université Laval

2016

Barbara Sherwood Lollar
Barbara Sherwood Lollar

Department of Earth Sciences

University of Toronto

2015

Dr. Chris Eliasmith
Dr. Chris Eliasmith

Canada Research Chair in Theoretical Neuroscience and Director, Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience

University of Waterloo

2014

NSERC's cycle of competitions, evaluations, and awards for the NSERC John C. Polanyi Award span two calendar years. We have in the past referred to the cycle starting in 2013, for example, as the "2013 Polanyi Award" even though it was announced and awarded in 2014. As of 2015, we have attributed the prize to the year in which it is announced, not the year in which the competition was launched. Therefore, there was no 2014 Polanyi Award. The winner of the competition launched in the spring of 2014 (Dr. Chris Eliasmith) received the 2015 Polanyi Award.

2013

ALPHA-Canada Team
ALPHA-Canada Team

2012

Greg Scholes
Greg Scholes

Chemistry

University of Toronto

2011

Brendan Frey
Brendan Frey

Engineering

University of Toronto

Benjamin Blencowe
Benjamin Blencowe

Medicine

University of Toronto

2010

Victoria M. Kaspi
Victoria M. Kaspi

Astrophysics

McGill University

2009

Christian Marois
Christian Marois

Astrophysics

National Research Council
David Lafrenière
David Lafrenière

Astrophysics

Université de Montréal
René Doyon
René Doyon

Astrophysics

Université de Montréal

2008

Philip Jessop
Philip Jessop

Chemistry

Queen's University

2007

André Bandrauk
André Bandrauk

Chemistry

Université de Sherbrooke
Paul Corkum
Paul Corkum

Physics

University of Ottawa and National Research Council

2006

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

Scientists have spent years puzzling over the apparent gap between the number of neutrinos thought to be generated in the core of the sun and the number detected on earth. Either something was profoundly wrong with our model of fusion reactions in the sun, or many of the elusive subatomic particles that are considered the basic building blocks of the universe somehow disappeared en route.

Sudbury Neutrino ObservatoryAfter painstakingly designing and building the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO), a Canadian-led team finally confirmed in 2002 that neutrinos escape detection because they spontaneously change their "flavour," or type, after leaving the sun. The results confirmed not only that the models of energy generation in the sun are correct, but that the most basic laws of physics are incomplete. The discovery provided revolutionary insight into the fundamental nature of matter and was one of the top scientific breakthroughs of the year.

SNO sits in a mineshaft two kilometres underground. The massive rock shield overhead and the cleanliness of the laboratory makes for what is considered the world's lowest-radioactivity experimental location. The SNO detector is built around 1,000 tonnes of heavy water in an acrylic vessel. As neutrinos pass through the water, they produce flashes of light called Cherenkov radiation, which are detected by an array of 9,600 photomultiplier tubes.

Members of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory Team

Dr. Alain Bellerive, Carleton University
Dr. Mark Boulay, Queen's University
Dr. Mark Chen, Queen's University
Dr. Hugh Evans, Queen's University
Dr. George Ewan, Queen's University
Dr. Jacques Farine, Laurentian University
Dr. Aksel Hallin, Queen's University
Dr. Douglas Hallman, Laurentian University
Dr. Cliff Hargrove, Carleton University
Dr. Rich Helmer, TRIUMF
Dr. Richard Hemingway, Carleton University
Dr. Jimmy Law, University of Guelph
Dr. Hamish Leslie, Queen's University
Dr. Hay-Boon Mak, Queen's University
Dr. Arthur McDonald, Queen's University
Dr. Anthony Noble, Queen's University
Dr. Robin Ollerhead, University of Guelph
Dr. Scott Oser, University of British Columbia
Dr. Barry Robertson, Queen's University
Dr. David Sinclair, Carleton University
Dr. Clarence Virtue, Laurentian University
Dr. Christopher Waltham, University of British Columbia