UBC Reports | Vol. 47 | No. 03 | Feb. 8, 2001

Gala to trumpet research achievements

Week-long celebration recognizes UBC researchers' work

Stellar research at UBC will be recognized at Reach for the Stars, a celebration evening to be held Thursday, March 8 at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.

"Our researchers have contributed enormously to scholarship and to society," says Indira Samarasekera, vice-president, Research. "They are recognized locally and internationally and we need to take time to celebrate their achievements in our own community."

Illustrating the event's theme will be pictures of the Cosmos taken by the Hubble telescope and exhibits relating to the Gemini project that seeks to explore the deeper universe, both provided by the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy.

In addition, the School of Music will provide entertainment with a piano performance by Prof. Robert Silverman and a scene from "The Crucible" performed by students in the Opera Program.

UBC researchers and award winners from all faculties will be honoured and video interviews with researchers describing their work will be shown. Recipients of research prizes -- the Prof. Jacob Biely Faculty Research Prize, the Charles A. McDowell Award for Excellence in Research, the Killam Research Prizes and the Japan Prize -- as well as the new inductees into the Royal Society of Canada and the Order of Canada will be recognized.

The gala is the centrepiece of Research Awareness 2001 -- a week of research recognition events being held at UBC and other teaching sites March 3-9.

"Highlighting the length and breadth of research activity by UBC and its partner institutions is what this initiative is about," says Pharmaceutical Sciences Prof. Sid Katz, who is leading the research awareness programs.

The week includes: the UBC Health Sciences Research forum; a series of UBC Library workshops called The Research Journey: From Primary Sources to Original Scholarship; and a breakfast symposium at the Vancouver Board of Trade, with UBC President Martha Piper, Commerce and Business Administration Prof. Michael Goldberg and others speaking about innovation.

Research Awareness 2001 is part of a program called Celebrate Research that encompasses a variety of forums to communicate UBC's research activities. Recognition of faculty achievement is a strategy in Trek 2000, the university's vision document.

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To obtain a free ticket to the gala or for more information on the week's activities contact celebrate.research@ubc.ca or check the Web site at www.research.ubc.ca.