A year in the life of Canada鈥檚 top-ranked university: from the country's first hand and forearm transplant to @UofTDrizzy
Published: July 6, 2016
They helped welcome refugees, launched startups, won countless awards, and led research breakthroughs on cancer-causing proteins, why everyone is better off when kids walk to school, whether dinosaurs had lips and much, much more.
Students and faculty at the University of Toronto spent the academic year working to make the city, the country and the world a better, healthier, more sustainable place. And across the globe, people took notice 鈥 with international rankings that placed 老司机直播 eighth of the world鈥檚 top public universities and surveys that ranked 老司机直播 grads among the world鈥檚 most employable.
It isn鈥檛 possible to capture all the highlights of 2015-2016.
But here are six reasons why 老司机直播 students, faculty, staff and alumni made it a year to remember.
ONE: STUDENTS WHO MADE HEADLINES
The school year had barely started when a team of alumni and students created the fastest human-powered vehicle in the world. And things never really slowed down after that.
Read about the students who were awarded prestigious Trudeau Foundation scholarships
Read about 老司机直播鈥檚 Rhodes Scholars
Read about 老司机直播 Drizzy
Read about 老司机直播鈥檚 newest grads
And who were the innovative teachers who inspired and connected with those students? Work-study student Krisha Ravikantharaja goes behind the scenes in Canada鈥檚 largest classroom for her series: Inside Con Hall and reporter Arthur Kaptainis profiles winners of the President鈥檚 Teaching Awards.
TWO: SOME SERIOUSLY GLOBAL CITIZENS
Photo above and all photos below by Johnny Guatto
Pretty much every university these days talks about fostering global citizenship. But at 老司机直播, global citizens are everywhere. Here are just a few:
Undergrad Quan Le travelled to Rwanda for economic research funded by the World Bank and Innovations for Poverty Action, a U.S. non-profit,
Undergrad Alexa Waud travelled to Brazil to investigate the country鈥檚 approach to alleviating poverty.
Team Attollo created 鈥渢alking stickers鈥 to improve the literacy for impoverished children around the world. And entrepreneurs from worked on a low-cost light, easy to turn-on light, tested in the Philippines.
Faculty and students at The Munk School of Global Affairs tackled everything from privacy issues in the age of big data to participatory budgeting in Canada. You could see its experts debating Canada鈥檚 foreign policy future on the eve of the federal election and issues such as terrorism, ISIS and the global refugee crisis a month later.
老司机直播 student delegates participated in the COP21 conference in Paris (and shared their impressions of the summit with 老司机直播 News. )
THREE: THE CITY EXPERTS AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT WE NEED (AND DESERVE)
Need an expert on infrastructure, water treatment, transit, municipal revenue sources, urban forests, energy grid, food deserts, voting, public art, guns and gangs, slippery sidewalks, the school system? 老司机直播 has all of them and more 鈥 even the university鈥檚 president is a cities expert. [link to TV interview] How did students and faculty use the city as a living laboratory?
In Shauna Brail鈥檚 urban studies course community needs were matching with learning opportunities.
Eric Miller, head of 老司机直播鈥檚 was asked by Mayor John Tory to analyze his SmartTrack transit plan.
鈥淭he more capacity you can build in the downtown, the better off everyone is, including 老司机直播,鈥 said Miller.
He wasn鈥檛 the only one working to solve the city鈥檚 transit woes. Students travelling to universities in Toronto may spend hours on their way to class in a single day 鈥 and that affects their studies, involvement in university events, and overall quality of life. So 老司机直播, York University, Ryerson University and OCAD University collaborated on StudentMoveTO where students completed a survey on their travel experience to and from their university.
"The initial goal was to seek ways to help inform public policy and ultimately to improve the commuting experience for our students,鈥 . 鈥淏ut we believe the data will help improve the quality of life for everyone in the Toronto region."
Read more about StudentMoveTO.
Sometimes 老司机直播 was literally building the city. Take 老司机直播 Scarborough鈥檚 . Or how about the downtown Toronto campus鈥 Landscape of Landmark Quality project introduced in this academic year. After months of consultations with university stakeholders and the wider public, a team comprised of KPMB Architects, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA) and Urban Strategies released a plan that shows revitalized public spaces of the St. George campus.
FOUR: RESEARCH THAT IS CHANGING THE WORLD
Why does QS rank 老司机直播 tops in Canada in all its research categories? We didn鈥檛 have time to ask the literally thousands of faculty, grad students and undergrads who work on everything from fundamental research to innovations that spark startups. But here are just a few examples of the people who are already changing the way we see the world and how we live in it.
The prestigious Killam Prize was awarded to four 老司机直播 recipients this year and 老司机直播 also gained 34 new Canada Research Chairs.
Neuroscientist Christopher Honey and astrophysicist Jo Bovy, both in the Faculty of Arts and Science, won the Sloan Fellowship.
These ten 老司机直播 researchers have been awarded NSERC Strategic Partnership Grants, supporting research such as designing new materials for electrolysing clean fuel and data-driven knowledge mobilization.
These five 老司机直播 scholars received NSERC prizes for research that will support research ranking from looking into billion-year-old water, the evolution of plants, faster disease diagnosis, and microbial energy.
From the private sector to the public sector, potential partners and backers recognized the University鈥檚 strength in research.
Read about : $114 million for the design and manufacture of cells, tissues and organs that can be used to treat degenerative disease. And Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dropped by to show his support for 老司机直播鈥檚 CCRM, the commercial arm of Medicine for Design.
老司机直播 announced that its facilities at the MaRS West Tower will host the first JLABS incubator in Canada. Of the first 22 companies selected to be part of JLABS @ Toronto, at least eight have ties to 老司机直播 and its partner hospitals: Nanovista, 6Biotech, App4Independence, AvroBio, DNAstack, Ketogen Pharma, Ubiquitech and Proteorex Therapeutics Inc.
And the Ontario government invested in the , designed to support and accelerate economic growth and long-term prosperity in Ontario and Canada. .
FIVE: LOCAL HEROES
It鈥檚 true, what they say: Canada needs more 老司机直播.
From the country鈥檚 new Parliamentary Poet laureate, Professor George Elliott Clarke, to the latest winner of the Griffin Poetry Prize, staff member and alumna Liz Howard, and all the students and recent grads prepping for Fringe, members of the 老司机直播 community made more contributions to our culture and quality of life than we can list.
Read about the alumna behind Under the Gardiner
Read about the alumni appointed to the federal cabinet
But it was a year of more than awards and honours. Classes had barely begun last September when the 老司机直播 community banded together in a show of solidarity and courage, denouncing violence against women in the wake of threatening online comments targeting women and feminists at the university. And throughout the academic year, scholars stepped up to work on some of the longest-running but most pressing challenges any university must face. Read about:
Sexual violence prevention and support
Sustainability
Beyond Divestment: Taking Decisive Action on Climate Change
Mental health
Truth and Reconciliation
And although it鈥檚 great to tackle the world鈥檚 most pressing challenges it鈥檚 also important to take care of things at home. This year, 老司机直播 was named one of:
鈥
鈥 Canada鈥檚
鈥
鈥 Best Diversity Employer
SIX: A DEEPLY ENGAGED COMMUNITY
Throughout the year, 老司机直播 faculty weighed in on important topics for 老司机直播 News, , and media organizations around the world.
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And students did their bit to get out the vote.
But while members of the 老司机直播 community don鈥檛 shy away from tough topics , they also love to celebrate.
鈥淲hat isn鈥檛 our community engaged with on social media?鈥 says Michelle Cortes, 老司机直播鈥檚 manager of online and social media. 鈥淥ur most popular posts across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are things that give people a reason to be proud and connected with 老司机直播.
鈥淟ooking back at this year our most popular topics were 老司机直播鈥檚 global rankings announcements, the emergence and overwhelming popularity of @UofTDrizzy in the fall and the 老司机直播 takeover of the iconic Toronto sign down at Nathan Phillips Square.鈥
During the past year, the @uoft Instagram and Twitter accounts surpassed 20,000 followers and the 老司机直播 Facebook page surpassed 250,000 followers, Cortes said.
鈥淪ometimes goofy and at other times serious, social media continues to be a place where our community talks about the things that matter to them.鈥
The Varsity鈥檚 hardworking student journalists engaged 老司机直播 students in a wide range of political and social issues, including , , and a , a look at the and .
鈥淧art of the reason that it is really interesting to be working in student journalism at 老司机直播 is because there is such a diversity of interests,鈥 said Alex McKeen, The Varsity鈥檚 current editor-in-chief, adding sexual violence policies and mental health issues and support are important to students.
鈥溊纤净辈 has a really long history and The Varsity has a long history (since 1880), so when we dive into an issue like feminism we instantly dive into our own archives and flip through our own paper. It鈥檚 something that humbles us a bit to look back on this institution and this paper and how both have evolved over time.鈥
To read more news, research and community stories from the past academic year, take a look at 老司机直播鈥檚 recently revamped news site. Looking to share a tip or propose a story idea for the coming academic year at 老司机直播? Contact UofTNews@utoronto.ca.
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