For the fourth consecutive year, Research Infosource Inc. ranked the University of Toronto asthe best Canadian Research University.
Research Infosource is a consulting firm that provides information for organizations related to science, technology and innovation. It ranks universities based on three categories: firstly, the amount and quality of exterior funding the university attracts; secondly, the universitys ability to publish academic findings and literature; and thirdly, the impact of the universitys published research, based on citations.
U of T not only excels in these three categories, but also provides opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students to engage in research projects with faculty. UTM in particular is home to various research initiatives that strive to discover and distribute knowledge through work in institutes and labs.
One such initiative is the program on Globalization and Regional Innovation Systems (PROGRIS), co-established by UTM political science professor David Wolfe Located at the Munk Centre for International Studies at St. George, PROGRIS aims to investigate the relations between firms and institutions that promote innovation at a regional level, as well as to study how globalization affects sub-national and regional systems of government. Another UTM-based research project is the Human Communications Lab, where faculty and students examine the connections between sensory systems and how they affect perception and communication. The director of the lab, psychology professor Bruce Schneider, studies the operations of the auditory and visual systems and the way that knowledge and expectation affect memory encoding of associated stimuli.
Other than the many institutes that are established and run by UTM professors, many diverse research projects take place on campus. These projects vary from innovations in computer technology to philosophical ethics studies and biomedical research.
Andrew Peterson, a lecturer and faculty advisor at the Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences at UTM, worked with a group of undergraduate students to experiment with computer processors. Peterson and his team are working to create a computer that will process information at a faster speed rather than simply run a larger number of applications.
In the natural sciences department, biology professor Marla Sokolowski conducts research on fruit flies to examine the relationship between genes and weight. She found that a single gene affects a persons tendency to gain a large amount of weight in the winter, then shed the pounds in the summer. This process is known as seasonal affective disorder. Fruit flies have a similar variation with the regards to this particular gene. Sokolowskis research aims to find treatment for weight disorders.
Professor Paul Young, vice president of research, congratulated U of T on a job well done. It is further evidence that our research is making a tangible impact on global society across the disciplines in the life sciences, physical sciences, social sciences and humanities. I extend my congratulations to the U of T research community on this brilliant showing.
UTM offers students the chance to engage in research projects through the Research Opportunity Program. Information can be found on department websites.
