The Nova Scotian government is providing $2.63 million in financing to the Nova Scotia Research and Innovation Trust, which hopes to leverage it into $11 million in R&D funding from a range of partners over the next five years.

The Trust issued a statement saying the funding will “finance 17 research projects over the next five years, and that more than 300 people will be involved in them.”

NSRIT matches funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and the projects they are involved in attract funding from other institutions as well. The beneficiaries of recent funding include Cape Breton University, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia Agricultural College, Saint Mary’s University and St. FX University.

For example, NSRIT recently donated $123,773 of funding to Daniel Boyd, of Dalhousie University, who is using the money to help purchase $330,964 worth of innovative medical devices used in oncology and orthopaedics.

 “They are minimally invasive procedures, and reduce the need for long hospital stays,” said Boyd in the statement. “Worldwide, 40 percent of women over the age of 35 who develop uterine tumours may require a hysterectomy. Our device, implanted in the uterus, treats the fibroid tumour, drastically reducing the need for surgery.” 

The money is also being used to finance clean technology projects, such as a $106,398 grant to Jason Clyburne, of Saint Mary’s University, who is developing technologies to remove CO2 from industrial gas emissions. The project, which requires a total of $265,994 in equipment, will measure the cost savings associated with wasted energy of current carbon capture systems.