SNOLAB researchers 'thrilled' with $9 million funding

The provincial government has announced roughly $9 million in funding into dark matter research, hoping to find clues into the origin of the universe.

The research is taking place at SNOLAB, two kilometers underground at Vale Inco’s Creighton Mine in Sudbury.

Dr. Mark Boulay and Dr. Mark Chen of Queen’s University are the lead researchers. They are working to understand the origin of the universe and how it continues to evolve.

“We’re thrilled with this new funding,” Chen said. “It allows us to go forward with new experiments that address fundamental and important questions that will help our understanding of the evolution of the early universe.”

This research has the potential of opening up “new windows on our universe,” Boulay said.

“Dark matter particles have not yet been discovered, but are thought to account for most of the matter in our universe.

“This new funding will allow us to increase (our sensitivity to discovering) these particles, possibly allowing us to detect them for the first time.”