The Killam Fellowships, among the most prestigious research granting programs in Canada, grant $70,000 per year over two years to each of the selected researchers. These grants allow the researchers to free themselves from their teaching and administrative duties in order to carry out independent research. 

Professor Raman Kashyap of Poytechnique Montréal is one of the seven selected researchers
Project title: Photon-Induced Cooling by Super Radiance: A Philosophical Project.

Professor Kashyap's research looks at, among other things, photonics and the laser cooling of solids. To design an effective laser cooler, essentially the opposite of a microwave oven, Professor Kashyap will explore the following techniques: laser cooling using two wavelengths by super radiance and by simultaneous anti-stokes emissions and excited state absorption. His book Fiber Bragg Gratings (published in 1999 and re-released in 2009) remains the bible for all researchers in the field of Bragg fibre-optics networks.

Our congratulations to Professor Kashyap!

The grant recipients were chosen by the Killam selection committee, which includes 15 eminent scientists and researchers representing a vast range of disciplines. Seven researchers were chosen from among 95 applicants.

The Canada Council for the Arts Killam Research Fellowships are made possible through the Killam Trusts, a bequest of Mrs. Dorothy J. Killam and a gift she made before her death in 1965 to honour the achievements of her late husband, Izaak Walton Killam. The awards support scholars engaged in research projects of outstanding merit in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences, engineering and interdisciplinary studies within these fields.

In addition to its principal role of promoting and fostering the arts, the Canada Council for the Arts administers and awards many prizes and fellowships in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural and health sciences, engineering and arts management. These prizes and fellowships recognize the achievements of outstanding Canadian artists, scholars and administrators. The Canada Council is committed to raising public awareness and celebrating these exceptional people and organizations on both a national and international level.

To see the detailed list of 2012 Killam Fellowship recipients, click here.

To see Professor Kashyap's expertise fact sheet, click here.