Below is a list of research areas by academic unit.
Department of Anthropology
The research interests of Department of Anthropology faculty members reflect the broad mandate of anthropology as a discipline. Researchers cover the traditional four subfields of anthropology: archaeology, biological anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and socio-cultural anthropology; this includes strengths in forensic anthropology and the anthropology of health. The majority of faculty members are tenure-stream active researchers who have obtained research grants from the Tri-Council agencies and similar international sources, as well as numerous university-level competitions.
Department of Biology
Researchers in the Department of Biology expand our scientific knowledge base in a variety of fields. These fields range from cell and molecular biology through ecology and the environment to physiology and paleontology and combine many different methods to understand biological processes. Research involves studies in animals and plants and uses both model and non-model species. UTM Biology researchers consistently have a high level of success in the NSERC Discovery Grant program. This unit holds three CRCs: one Tier 1 CRC and two Tier 2 CRCs.
Department of Chemical & Physical Sciences
The Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences (CPS) is comprised of a number of research disciplines including: Astronomy, geobiology, climate geology, atmospheric physics, surface-water hydrology, tectonic geomorphology, geophysics, biophysics and physical chemistry, biological and medicinal chemistry, structural biology, systems and synthetic biology, analytical chemistry, synthetic chemistry, inorganic and organometallic chemistry, and science education. Home to the Centre for Medicinal Chemistry, and featuring a Core Instrumentation Facility for the structural analysis of small and macromolecules, CPS is consistently successful in the NSERC and CIHR categories. One faculty member in this unit holds a Tier 2 CRC.
Department of Communication, Culture and Information Technology
Faculty in the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology (CCIT) are active researchers, engaged in digital culture and human-computer interaction, media theory, political economy of communication, network analysis, feminist technologies, mobile media, digital labour, professional writing, and intellectual property. CCIT researchers have considerable success across a range of tri-agency programs with particular success in the SSHRC Insight Development Grant competition. The ISI-funded Black Research Network calls CCIT its departmental home where Director Beth Coleman is an Associate Professor. One faculty member in this unit holds a Tier 2 CRC.
Department of Economics
Faculty members in Economics have a wide range of specializations, including macroeconomics, microeconomic theory and policy-relevant applied microeconomics (including economic development, economics of education, environmental economics, industrial economics, labour economics, political economy, public economics, urban economics, and more), econometrics and financial economics. Researchers in the Department of Economics consistently receive SSHRC Insight Grant and Insight Development Grant funding to support their research programs.
Department of English and Drama
The Department of English and Drama strives to provide broad coverage of all the major periods and foci in its discipline. It is unusually strong in medieval and early modern studies, especially where work on the periods intersects; and it has more specialists in dramatic literature faculty than any other department of its size in Canada. Despite the need for broad coverage, it has research strengths in Book History, Theatre History and Textual Editing and Textual Studies. Expertise in Digital Humanities is increasingly an area of faculty research expertise, with several high-profile research projects underway.
Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment
Established in 2003 as the Department of Geography, the department changed its name in 2019 to Geography, Geomatics and Environment (GGE) to reflect the diversity of undergraduate programs and to capture the research and teaching interests of GGE faculty. Since its inception, the department has grown into a highly successful, vibrant, and collaborative academic unit that excels in all facets of research, scholarship, and teaching. Research in the Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment focuses around five research clusters: Economic Development, Environmental Processes and Change in Natural Systems, Geospatial Systems and Geomatics, Human-Environment Interactions, and Urbanization, Transportation and Health.
Department of Historical Studies
The Department of Historical Studies at the University of Toronto Mississauga is transdisciplinary in its approach to learning and research. Established by the merging of Classics, Religion and History in January 2005, faculty research covers a range of disciplines including: Classics, Diaspora and Transnational Studies, History, History of Religions, and Women and Gender Studies. In addition it has interdisciplinary research clusters in the Centre for South Asian Civilizations and Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Its faculty’s research specializations cover considerable geographical, temporal, and thematic ranges. Historical Studies is the departmental home of the ISI-funded Critical Digital Humanities Initiative directed by Professor Elspeth Brown.
Department of Language Studies
The Department of Language Studies at UTM is among the nation's top language departments. Language studies faculty members are highly productive both in terms of quantity and quality of publications, grants and awards. The research strengths of the Department of Language Studies revolve around three disciplines: Literature, Linguistics, and Teaching & Learning. Other areas of research include cinema, theatre and performance, and instructional technology. The Department of Language Studies has had steady growth in both SSHRC and NSERC funding competitions.
Department of Management
UTM Management is home to world-renowned faculty members known for their rigorous, impactful, and cutting-edge research. Faculty are regularly sought out for their expertise on a variety of topics including: Fintech; behavioural economics and finance; equity, diversity and inclusion; corporate governance; financial regulation; accounting standard-setting; data-driven decision-making; and economics of innovation. Research conducted by Management faculty is disseminated widely; shapes policy, scholarship, and practice; and facilitates change management, productivity, and economic prosperity. One faculty member from this unit holds a Tier 2 CRC.
Institute for Management and Innovation
The Institute for Management & Innovation (IMI) is a cross-disciplinary research and teaching institute. IMI faculty are world-class scholars, teachers and writers of award-winning textbooks and cases. Researchers are engaged in seeking answers related to public health, fintech, social justice, diversity, innovation, education policy, ethics, and much more. IMI research has had, and continues to have, far-reaching influence on managerial and policy decisions at the firm, industry, and various levels of government in Canada and globally.
Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences
The Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences embraces the disciplines of Mathematics (pure and applied), Statistics, and Computer Science. Topics of disciplinary expertise include: Robotics; computer science education; machine learning; computer science theory; human computer interaction; mathematics; mathematics education; statistics; and statistics education. The Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences has had consistent success with NSERC funding particularly in the Discovery Grant and Research Tools and Instruments categories.
Department of Philosophy
Philosophy has been taught at UTM from its inception in 1967 (when UTM was known as Erindale College). The Mississauga Department of Philosophy came into being in 2003 when the University of Toronto instituted a tri-campus framework in order to accommodate the growing size and stature of its eastern and western campuses. Since that time, the UTM Philosophy Department has developed a major reputation of its own. The Department of Philosophy has broad strengths in Philosophy of Mind and Language, Metaphysics, Epistemology, History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Biology, Philosophy of Action, and Ethics. Faculty research covers a wide range of topics in these areas, and analysis of the work of particular philosophers. A number of faculty members have interdisciplinary interests that connect their work with research in linguistics, psychology, and other areas. Faculty have a strong track record of receiving grants and awards, with particular success in the SSHRC category.
Department of Political Science
Faculty in the Department of Political Science have a diverse and exciting range of research interests and specializations, from International relations to political economy, from environmental politics to the study of conflict and genocide. Faculty members are involved in many international collaborations, including research projects, co-authorships of papers, refereeing for professional journals, organizing of international conferences, grant review panels, editorial boards, and scientific advisory committees.
Department of Psychology
Psychology at the University of Toronto Mississauga is an experimental discipline situated within the life sciences and devoted to the understanding of behaviour. UTM Psychology’s globally-ranked researchers reflect many analytic approaches to the investigation of behaviour, including both the study of humans and animals. The Department consists of four distinct research clusters: Developmental Science; Behavioural Neuroscience; Health, Adaptation and Wellbeing; and Perception, Cognition and Language. Psychology researchers are some of the most cross-disciplinary at UTM, consistently securing funding from all three of the tri-agencies. This unit also has one NSERC and two CIHR Tier 2 CRCs.
Department of Sociology
Sociology at UTM is one of the highest ranked sociology departments in the world, particularly in the area of law and society and criminology (other areas of strength include sociology of gender, sociology of culture and food, and the sociology of inequality). Research and teaching expertise covers a diverse range of topics that are central to understanding and explaining the state of society and social change. The majority of tri-agency funding comes from SSHRC with particular success in the Insight Grant and Insight Development Grant categories. Two of the current UTM Tier 2 CRCs are from this unit.
Department of Visual Studies
The Department of Visual Studies (DVS) stresses the importance of history, theory and studio practice in the study of the visual. Faculty research is interdisciplinary, often working across some or all of the fields of art history, visual culture, cinema studies, new media studies, critical theory, and philosophy. Research areas include: the art and visual culture of religion; cross-cultural encounters and globalization; critical theory and philosophy; politics; and issues of gender and sexuality. DVS is home to the award-winning Blackwood Gallery, one of the most respected public contemporary art galleries in the greater Toronto area. One Tier 2 CRC is from this unit.