The Ontario government has announced $45 million for five major research projects as part of $115 million in investments approved under the first round of the Ontario Research Fund's Research Excellence Program (ORF-REP). The REP funds typically cover one third of project costs led by provincial universities. The new investments are: Ontario BioCar Initiative, Univ of Guelph. (Total project cost: $18 million; REP: $6 million); Initiative for Automotive Manufacturing Innovation, McMaster Univ (Total project cost: $56.8 million, REP: $15.6 million); Innovative Research Using High-Performance Computing, Queen's Univ (Total project cost: $34.6 million, REP: $11.6 million); Ontario Fuel Cell, Research and Innovation Network, Queen's Univ (Total project cost: $16.5 million, REP: $5.5 million); Productivity Enhancement and Risk Management for Underground Construction and Mining, Laurentian Univ (Total project cost: $16 million, REP: $8 million). All projects were evaluated through a competitive, peer reviewed process.....