Toronto - Five Ontario university researchers will be awarded the 2009 Polanyi Prize, recognizing their outstanding contributions in the areas of chemistry, physiology/medicine, literature, physics and economics.

The Polanyi Prizes were established in 1987 by the Ontario government to honour the achievements of John Charles Polanyi, recipient of the 1986 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

Five prizes are awarded annually to outstanding young researchers in the early stages of their careers at Ontario universities.

The 2009 Polanyi Prize recipients are:

• Dr. Gustavo Javier Bobonis of the University of Toronto, for economics
• Dr. Amelia DeFalco of McMaster University, for literature
• Dr. Michael Kiang of McMaster University, for physiology/medicine
• Dr. Nicholas Jay Mosey of Queen's University, for chemistry
• Dr. Laura Catherine Parker of McMaster University, for physics

They will be honoured in Toronto at a ceremony at Massey College on Monday, November 23, 2009.