About

A Message from the Vice-Principal, Research and Innovation

The University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) continues to be a thriving campus, generating research discoveries, innovation, and new knowledge from an impressive breadth of fields and collaborations that bridge many disciplines. The leading faculty and outstanding staff and students at UTM contribute to U of T’s standing as one of the world’s top twenty universities, distinguished by our researchers’ unique range of expertise. U of T is one of eight universities to rank in the top 25 globally in 34 fields of research. We rank in the top 50 globally in 48 fields, more than any other university on earth. 

Researchers continue to have high scholarly outputs and secure significant research funding each year, with grants supporting pioneering work in the humanities, natural and life sciences, and social sciences. Strategic projects such as the Black Research Network, Critical Digital Humanities Initiative, Robotics Institute, Centre for Medicinal Chemistry, and Novo Nordisk Network for Healthy Populations empower our researchers and benefit the people, communities, and economies we serve. UTM also hosts a wide range of research programs that address regional and global research questions, from studying pressing environmental issues to developing a more holistic understanding of child development. Initiatives such as the Centre for Urban Environments; Centre for Child Development, Mental Health, and Policy; Centre for South Asian Critical Humanities; and the Centre for NonLinear Analysis and Modeling are sites of groundbreaking crossdisciplinary research and training. 

Furthermore, UTM is involved in a number of cross-divisional research initiatives, including the Data Science Institute, the Mobility Network, and the Climate Positive Energy Initiative. Beyond this are the many other dedicated researchers who are hard at work across the UTM campus, conducting top-tier research in our labs, our libraries, and our communities. 

The Office of the Vice-Principal, Research and Innovation (OVPRI) plays a foundational role in aiding research excellence through state-of-the-art core facilities, internal funding programs, and staff and faculty expertise. Our mission is to provide a comprehensive suite of high-quality services, resources, and knowledge in support of this enterprise. These investments and resources, coupled with the research infrastructure expansions taking place across our campus, have established UTM as a leading centre of creativity, discovery, and positive social change. 

Our vision is to support, promote, and inspire the research, scholarship, and creative activity of our community and to enhance UTM’s research reputation and profile. With this vision in mind, in fall 2023 we launched the OVPRI’s inaugural Strategic Framework, a guide that is both structured and agile, enabling us to adapt our planning as the research practices and needs of our community evolve. 

With a new year underway, our office is putting these plans into action, with our strategic pillars at the foundation of everything we do. We look back at the building blocks and successes of 2023, more enthusiastic than ever about what’s to come. To reflect the expanded scope of the research office, the OVPR will be rebranded to the Office of the Vice-Principal, Research and Innovation (OVPRI) by mid 2024. 

It is my pleasure to share with you Synergy, our Annual Report for 2023. I invite you to read through its pages, where you’ll learn about the various people, supports, innovations, and activities that shaped UTM’s research enterprise this past year.

G. W. K Moore, PhD FRSC
Vice-Principal, Research and Innovation
Distinguished Professor of Theoretical Geophysics of Climate Change

By the Numbers: 2023 Research Impacts

Situated on a stunning 225-acre campus along the Credit River, the University of Toronto Mississauga is the second-largest division of the University of Toronto, with 18 academic units, 180+ programs, and 90 areas of study. UTM is a thriving research environment, involved in numerous community and civic initiatives, and offering award-winning facilities, robust funding programs, and dedicated partnership support. Below are just some of the highlights from the past year.