The University of Alberta is gaining 29 of the world’s top doctoral and postdoctoral research prospects, thanks to new federal grants aimed at recruiting international talent to advance Canada’s most important strategic industries.
Announced in the 2025 federal budget and launched in December 2025, the Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards provide doctoral scholarships and postdoctoral research awards to support recruitment of top international talent needed to drive innovation and growth in eight priority research areas:
- Advanced digital technologies (AI, quantum, cybersecurity)
- Health, including biotechnology
- Clean technology and resource value chains
- Environment, climate resilience, and the Arctic
- Food and water security
- Democratic and community resilience
- Manufacturing and advanced materials
- Defence and dual-use technologies
“These new awards represent opportunities for promising doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars from around the world to contribute to groundbreaking discoveries and technological advances happening at the University of Alberta,” says Aminah Robinson Fayek, U of A vice-president of research. “As they join our leading researchers working in these areas, they will increase our already considerable capacity for innovation and impact in helping to secure a strong future for Canada.”
“These new scholars are bringing a massive boost of fresh energy, bold ideas and global perspectives to our labs and classrooms spanning 10 faculties,” says Tracy Raivio, vice-provost and dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. ”When we welcome this kind of talent, we aren’t just supporting individual pieces of research — we are investing in the people who will be running Canada’s labs, launching its tech companies and shaping its policies a decade from now. Their work starts here, but its impact will be felt nationwide.”
The Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards are administered by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).
Doctoral scholarships are valued at $40,000 per year for three years, and postdoctoral research awards are worth $70,000 per year for two years.
Canada Impact+ Research Training Award recipients
The following 19 U of A doctoral students and 10 postdoctoral scholars received a total of nearly $3.7 million in grants from the inaugural round of the awards.
Doctoral scholarships
Mohammad Amin Abbasi (NSERC)
Nominator: Davood Rafiei, Faculty of Science
Ashrakt H. Abdelhamid Ahmed Elmezein (CIHR)
Nominator: Ayman El-Kadi, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Rajshree Acharya (SSHRC)
Nominator: Faith Majekolagbe, Faculty of Law
Carrie Becher (SSHRC)
Nominator: Danielle Peers, Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation
Yomna Badawy (NSERC)
Nominator: James Hogan, Faculty of Engineering
Vahab Barekati (CIHR)
Nominator: Padma Kaul, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
Olubusoye Samuel Boluwatife (NSERC)
Nominator: Olubukola Alimi, Faculty of Engineering
Diana Garduño-Zarzosa (CIHR)
Nominator: David Olson, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
MaryBeth Gavin (NSERC)
Nominator: William Shotyk, Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences
Bertram Markus Ulrich Graf von Reventlow (NSERC)
Nominator: Suzanne Tank, Faculty of Science
Yasaman Kadivar (NSERC)
Nominator: Marleny Aranda Saldana, Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences
Aida Kargar (CIHR)
Nominator: Anna Phan, Faculty of Science
Mst Lucky Khatun (NSERC)
Nominator: Yuxiang Chen, Faculty of Engineering
Isabel Lavallee (NSERC)
Nominator: Stephanie Green, Faculty of Science
Mahdi Neshan (CIHR)
Nominator: Carrie Ye, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
Rodgers Onyango (SSHRC)
Nominator: Elizabeth Onyango, School of Public Health
Muhammad Ali Abbas Rizvi (NSERC)
Nominator: Taha Manzoor, Faculty of Engineering
Yuyang Yao (NSERC)
Nominator: Zhan Shu, Faculty of Engineering
Mohamed Zamzam (NSERC)
Nominator: Zhiwei Peng, Faculty of Engineering
Postdoctoral research awards
Elmer Austria, Jr. (CIHR)
Nominator: Afsaneh Lavasanifar, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Debarun Banerjee (NSERC)
Nominator: Samir Mushrif, Faculty of Engineering
Luisa Giarrana (NSERC)
Nominator: Eric Rivard, Faculty of Science
Houyame Hakmi (SSHRC)
Nominator: Siobhan Byrne, Faculty of Arts
Alexandra Juster (SSHRC)
Nominator: Anna Lund, Faculty of Law
Asantesana Kamuyango (CIHR)
Nominator: Salima Meherali, Faculty of Nursing
Takayuki Kuroda (CIHR)
Nominator: Toshifumi Yokota, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
Mohadeseh Mousazadeh Miandehi (SSHRC)
Nominator: Chloe Taylor, Faculty of Arts
Muhammad Ammar Zahid (CIHR)
Nominator: Patrick MacDonald, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
Kaiming Zhang (NSERC)
Nominator: Hongbo Zeng, Faculty of Engineering
