Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering
; "David Schindler")
The Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering is NSERC's highest honour and is seen as Canada's premier research prize. The award was originally called the Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering. In 2000, the award was renamed as the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal, in honour of Gerhard Herzberg, winner of Canada's first Nobel Prize for research in Chemistry (1971). The award celebrates Canada's most outstanding scientists and engineers, while also helping to raise public awareness of the major contributions Canada's top researchers make to international science and technology.
The Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal recognizes research contributions characterized by both excellence and influence. It is awarded annually for a body of work conducted in Canada that substantially advances the natural sciences or engineering fields. The Gold Medalist receives $1 million in research funding which is distributed over a five-year period.
The NSERC Herzberg Medalist is selected from three finalists who each receive an NSERC Award of Excellence. The two finalists not selected each receive a monetary award of $50,000.
Two University of Alberta professors have been recipients of the Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering:
2001
David Schindler, Biological Sciences
Dr Schindler is one of the world's leading researchers of water quality and environmental issues. He has had a large influence on the way ecosystems are viewed and his research has led to public policy changes, such as legislation controlling the levels of phosphorous in soaps and detergents.
1991
Raymond U. Lemieux, Chemistry
Dr Lemieux's important contributions to the chemistry of carbohydrates, stretching over close to half a century, have led to a transformation of the discipline. He was a pioneer in the field of carbohydrate chemistry and synthesized the first molecules of sucrose, or table sugar, and oligosaccharides, the sugar that coats red blood cells.