$83.6M advances UVic-led vision for clean energy shift
April 28, 2023
The Government of Canada announced today that the University of Victoria will be receiving $83.6 million from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF).
This investment is a first-of-a-kind for our campus that will transform the research landscape at UVic and create exciting new opportunities for our faculty, students, and staff.
Led by Curran Crawford, Accelerating Community Energy Transformation (ACET) is a multi-partner, interdisciplinary initiative that brings together expertise in engineering, geography, law, political science, Indigenous governance, public administration, business, economics and environmental studies.
ACET involves integral collaboration with more than 40 partners, including our four universities (Royal Roads University, UBC, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and Yukon University), five First Nations, and 30+ industry innovators and community-based organizations.
Over the next seven years, ACET will catalyze breakthroughs in renewable energy technologies and the implementation of integrated energy systems within Indigenous and remote communities that are currently dependent on diesel. In doing so, ACET will propel Canada toward meeting its ambitious net-zero goals.
Through ACET, UVic will receive support for:
- 8 new faculty members
- 15 new research associates/technicians
- 15 professional staff to support EDI, partnership development, grant facilitation, finance, knowledge mobilization, communications, and Indigenous and community engagement.
- Up to 200 new trainees
This ACET support will be invested across all faculties, helping to increase research capacity and community engagement in all areas of campus.
Congratulations to Curran Crawford, Ned Djilali, Basma Majerbi, Brad Buckham, the VPRI staff and the UCAM team who worked collaboratively to create an outstanding research proposal and interview presentation that successfully showcased UVic's interdisciplinary strengths and commitment to community-engaged, impactful research.
We are one of only a handful of universities across the country receiving this award, which we intend to leverage to further build UVic’s reputation as Canada’s climate university.
Further updates will follow as the project progresses.