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Alison and Ralph, theoretical astrophysicists from the Department of Physics & Astronomy, have both received Discovery Accelerator Supplements from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

“Only a handful of Discovery Accelerator Supplements are typically awarded every year across Canada to support physics research projects,” says Alison. “To be awarded two supplements within the same subset of a department in the same year is just outstanding.”

Introduced in 2007, the supplements provide substantial and timely resources to a small group of researchers who have superior research programs that are highly rated in terms of originality and innovation and who show strong potential to become international leaders within their fields.

Supplements are valued at $120,000 over three years. In 2019, NSERC awarded $15.4 million in supplements to 129 recipients. Alison and Ralph were among six McMaster researchers to receive the Discovery Accelerator Supplement earlier this year.

Evaluation groups for NSERC Discovery Grants review all applications and nominate a limited number of researchers for supplements without departmental, faculty or university input. An executive committee for the evaluation groups then assesses and prioritizes applications, with NSERC awarding supplements.

“Alison and I both wrote the absolute best NSERC Discovery Grant applications that we possibly could,” says Ralph. “Receiving two Discovery Accelerator Supplements says a lot about the quality of our Astrophysics program.”

Alison and Ralph plan to use their supplements to hire postdoctoral fellows to support their research projects. Alison is exploring the formation and evolution of star clusters through large-scale simulations of interstellar gas, dust, and stars. Ralph’s multidisciplinary research is focused on connecting the formation and chemical properties of planets in young star clusters with the origin of critical biomolecules and conditions necessary for the origin of life on rocky worlds.