David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics

Awarded by the Government of Canada, Canada Research Chair positions are designed to reinforce academic research and training excellence with a view to improving depth of knowledge and quality of life, strengthening Canada’s international competitiveness and helping to train the next generation of highly skilled people.

“I’m delighted to congratulate all the University of Toronto faculty members who have been appointed Canada Research Chairs or had their positions renewed in the Fall 2024 cohort,” said Leah Cowen, ��˾��ֱ��’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives. “From molecular psychiatry and causal machine learning to mental health and homelessness in Indigenous women and two-spirit people, these ��˾��ֱ�� scholars are advancing knowledge in important areas and generating solutions to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time.”

The latest cycle of Canada Research Chair appointees from ��˾��ֱ�� includes 20 new and 22 renewed positions:

New Canada Research Chairs

Husam Abdel-Qadir at Women’s College Hospital and the department of medicine in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 2 in Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Outcomes
Claudia dos Santos at St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto and the department of medicine in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 1 in Accelerated Translation for Critical Care
Mikaela Gabriel at St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health – Tier 2 in Indigenous Women & 2-Spirit Mental Health and Homelessness
Christina Guzzo in the department of biological sciences at ��˾��ֱ�� Scarborough – Tier 2 in Single Virus Particle Analyses
Clement Hamani at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the department of surgery in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 1 in Translational Research
Kristin Hope at University Health Network and the department of medical biophysics in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 1 in Leukemic Stem Cell Biology
Stephen Hwang at St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto and the department of medicine in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 1 in Homelessness, Housing and Health
Angela Jerath at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the department of anesthesiology and pain medicine in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 2 in Acute Care Health Technology and Practice Innovations
Jude Kong in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health – Tier 2 in Community-Oriented Artificial Intelligence & Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases
Deepa Kundur in the Edward S. Rogers Sr. department of electrical and computer engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – Tier 1 in Cybersecurity of Intelligent Critical Infrastructure
Azadeh Kushki at Bloorview Research Institute and the Institute of Biomedical Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – Tier 2 in Neurodiversity and Personalized Health
Enid Montague in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – Tier 2 in Human-Centered Automation
Kathryn Rozen-Gagnon in the department of molecular genetics in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 2 in Arbovirus Infection and RNA Biology
Ahilya Sawh in the department of biochemistry in the Faculty of Medicine – Tier 2 in 4D Genomics
Helen Tran in the department of chemistry in the Faculty of Arts & Science – Tier 2 in Polymer Chemistry
Andrea Tricco at St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health – Tier 1 in Knowledge Synthesis for Knowledge Users
Linbo Wang in the department of computer and mathematical sciences at ��˾��ֱ�� Scarborough – Tier 2 in Causal Machine Learning
Amy Yu at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health – Tier 2 in Data-driven design of stroke systems
Nur Camellia Binte Zakaria in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health – Tier 2 in Mobile Health Solutions
Yu Zou in the department of materials science and engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – Tier 2 in Materials and Manufacturing for Extreme Environments

Renewed Canada Research Chairs

Jeffrey Ansloos in the department of applied psychology and human development at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) – Tier 2 in Indigenous Studies of Health, Suicide, and Environmental Justice
Martin Beaulieu in the department of pharmacology in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 1 in Molecular Psychiatry
Jennifer Campos at University Health Network and the department of psychology in the Faculty of Arts & Science – Tier 2 in Multisensory Integration and Aging
Arthur Chan in the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – Tier 2 in Atmospheric Chemistry and Health
Warren Chan at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – Tier 1 in Nanobioengineering
Leah Cowen in the department of molecular genetics in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 1 in Microbial Genomics and Infectious Disease
Maria Drout in the department of astronomy and astrophysics in the Faculty of Arts & Science – Tier 2 in Time-Domain and Multi-Messenger Astrophysics
Natalie Enright Jerger in the Edward S. Rogers Sr. department of electrical and computer engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – Tier 2 in Computer Architecture
Michael Garton at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – Tier 2 in Synthetic Biology
Maria Hupfield in the department of visual studies at ��˾��ֱ�� Mississauga – Tier 2 in Transdisciplinary Indigenous Arts
Noah Ivers at Women’s College Hospital and the department of family and community medicine in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 2 in Implementation of Evidence Based Practice
Jonathan Kelly at the ��˾��ֱ�� Institute of Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – Tier 2 in Collaborative Robotics
Vincent Kuuire in the department of geography at ��˾��ֱ�� Mississauga – Tier 2 in Immigrant Well-being and Global Health
Hyun (Kate) Lee in the department of biochemistry in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 2 in Biomolecular Phase Transitions
Heather McFarlane in the department of cell and systems biology in the Faculty of Arts & Science – Tier 2 in Plant Cell Biology
Sharmistha Mishra at St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto and the department of medicine in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine - Tier 2 in Mathematical Modeling and Program Science
Dilip Soman at the Rotman School of Management – Tier 1 in Behavioural Science and Economics
Yu Sun in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – Tier 1 in Micro and Nano Engineering Systems
Michael Thaut in the Faculty of Music – Tier 1 in Music, Neuroscience, and Health
Neil Vasdev at the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health (CAMH) and the department of psychiatry in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 1 in Radiochemistry and Medical Imaging
Kimberley Widger in the Faculty of Nursing – Tier 2 in Pediatric Palliative Care
Ding Yuan in the Edward S. Rogers Sr. department of electrical and computer engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – Tier 2 in Systems Software

Read the Government of Canada announcement

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Renée Hložek awarded Rutherford Memorial Medal by Royal Society of Canada

rahul.kalvapalle — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 18:21:44 +0000

Renée Hložek awarded Rutherford Memorial Medal by Royal Society of Canada

Research & Innovation

rahul.kalvapalle Tue, 09/10/2024 - 14:21

Faculty

St. George

David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics

Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics

Faculty of Arts & Science

Royal Society of Canada

Rutherford Memorial Medal

landscape

Renée Hložek (photo by Portmanteau Media Inc

Renée Hložek, an associate professor at the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics and the David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the Faculty of Arts & Science, has been awarded the Royal Society of Canada's Rutherford Memorial Medal.

The annual award recognizes researchers in the early stages of their careers in chemistry or physics. It is presented in memory of Ernest Rutherford, a scientist and a leader in nuclear research who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908.

Hložek's research involves advancing our understanding of the universe’s structure, origin and evolution. She is a member of the recently decommissioned Atacama Cosmology Telescope collaboration, as well as the active Simons Observatory in northern Chile, where she studies the Cosmic Microwave Background – light from the universe when it was approximately 400,000 years old. She is also investigating dark matter and dark energy through her work with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Large Synoptic Survey Telescope dark energy science collaboration.

“[The medal] was something that I wanted, but not something that I ever really expected to get because there are so many great people in Canada, so I’m kind of shocked – but pleased,” says Hložek.

“I work in big teams, so my work represents a ton of people working together. I wouldn't be here without the support of all the people in my collaborations building instruments and figuring out how to do analysis and all of that good stuff.”

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Yanqin Wu elected to American Academy of Arts & Sciences

rahul.kalvapalle — Thu, 09 May 2024 14:11:20 +0000

Yanqin Wu elected to American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Community

rahul.kalvapalle Thu, 05/09/2024 - 10:11

Faculty

St. George

American Academy of Arts & Sciences

David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics

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Yanqin Wu (supplied image)

Yanqin Wu, a professor in the Faculty of Arts & Science's David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, has been named an international honorary member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences is among the oldest scholarly societies in North America and its members rank among the world’s most accomplished scientists, scholars and artists. Wu is one of 250 members newly elected to the academy in recognition of their excellence in their respective fields and invited to uphold the academy's mission of promoting engagement across disciplines.

Wu studies the interiors of planets, the structure of proto-planetary discs and circumstellar dusty debris discs, the organization of planetary systems and the formation history of moons and satellites in the solar system. She is also exploring the evolution of the Kuiper Belt – a region of the solar system beyond the orbit of Neptune, believed to contain many comets, asteroids and other small bodies made largely of frozen gases.

“It is a definite honour, though there are many other scientists whom I consider equally or more deserving,” she says. “So this is more of a motivator for continuing the pursuit, and hopefully this helps me to attract good students and post-docs. Also, I’m interested in raising science literacy in society at large, so maybe this title will help a bit in that.”

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Maria Drout awarded Newton Lacy Pierce Prize

rahul.kalvapalle — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 18:45:22 +0000

Maria Drout awarded Newton Lacy Pierce Prize

Research & Innovation

rahul.kalvapalle Wed, 01/17/2024 - 13:45

Faculty

St. George

David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics

Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics

Faculty of Arts & Science

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Assistant Professor Maria Drout (supplied image)

Maria Drout, an assistant professor at the David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, has been awarded the 2024 Newton Lacy Pierce Prize by the American Astronomical Society.

The prize is awarded annually to an astronomer under the age of 36 for outstanding achievement in observational astronomical research based on measurements of radiation from an astronomical object.

Drout, who is an associate at the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, was part of the first team to see a source of gravitational waves in visible light, created by two merging neutron stars in a galaxy 130 million light-years away. More recently, she helped uncover the first-known population of helium stars stripped in binaries, developing a new survey in the ultraviolet spectrum to find them.

Drout said the accolade is a “huge honour,” noting that it’s especially meaningful because it recognizes a time in her career that was deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I started my faculty position in 2018, so I had just a year and a half before the pandemic hit,” Drout said. “Then we had to figure out how to make the research group work almost entirely remotely for a couple of years, both in terms of access to telescopes and even just how students worked with me and worked with each other. It was very difficult to navigate.”

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Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics

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Ting Li and Corliss Sio recognized with Dorothy Shoichet Women Faculty in Science Award of Excellence

lanthierj — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 21:59:24 +0000

Ting Li and Corliss Sio recognized with Dorothy Shoichet Women Faculty in Science Award of Excellence

Research & Innovation

lanthierj Tue, 12/12/2023 - 16:59

Faculty

St. George

David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics

Department of Earth Sciences

Dorothy Shoichet Women Faculty in Science Award of Excellence

Faculty of Arts & Science

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Ting Li and Corliss Sio (supplied images)

Two early-career researchers from the Faculty of Arts & Science are recipients of the Dorothy Shoichet Women Faculty in Science Award of Excellence: Ting Li, an assistant professor in the David A. Dunlap department of astronomy and astrophysics; and Corliss Sio, an assistant professor in the department of Earth sciences.

The award was established in 2016 by University Professor Molly Shoichet to help early-career female researchers focus on their research.

Li’s research goal is to better understand the formation of the Milky Way Galaxy and galaxies in the nearby universe.

“I am profoundly honoured to have been selected as the recipient of the Dorothy Shoichet Award, and I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to my department for nominating me,” says Li, “especially as I embark on establishing an optical instrumentation lab in my department and take on the role of chairing a large international collaboration.”

Sio’s research lies at the intersection of isotope geochemistry, experimental petrology and numerical modeling. She was instrumental in winning a major Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) grant for the GEMINAE lab (Geochemistry of Elements and Metal Isotopes in Nature and Experiments).

“I am incredibly honoured to receive this award and am grateful for Professor Shoichet’s generosity and my department’s support,” says Sio. “This award could not be better timed, coming while I am in the thick of building a laboratory that will be the first of its kind in Canada.”

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Six ��˾��ֱ�� faculty members named to Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists

lanthierj — Tue, 05 Sep 2023 19:16:47 +0000

Six ��˾��ֱ�� faculty members named to Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists

Research & Innovation

lanthierj Tue, 09/05/2023 - 15:16

Faculty

Mississauga

St. George

David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics

Department of Family and Community Medicine

Department of Physics

Department of Political Science

Department of Psychology

Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Faculty of Arts & Science

Royal Society of Canada

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

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Six faculty members at the University of Toronto – renowned for their pathbreaking leadership in a wide range of disciplines – have been appointed to the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.

“From scientific advances in astrophysics, atmospheric physics and social psychology to timely leadership in climate governance, computer security and privacy, and sexually transmitted infection prevention, these scholars and scientists are making an impact on issues that affect the lives of people across Canada and around the world,” says Leah Cowen, ��˾��ֱ��’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives.

“The University of Toronto congratulates them on this significant recognition.”

The new college members are:

Jo Bovy of the David A. Dunlap department of astronomy and astrophysics in the Faculty of Arts & Science
Ann Burchell of Unity Health and the department of family and community medicine in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine
Jessica Green of the department of political science in the Faculty of Arts & Science
Nicolas Papernot of the Edward S. Rogers Sr. department of electrical and computer engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
Nicholas Rule of the department of psychology in the Faculty of Arts & Science; vice-principal academic and dean, ��˾��ֱ�� Mississauga
Debra Wunch of the department of physics in the Faculty of Arts & Science

Each faculty member receives a seven-year membership in the college, which recognizes and supports academic leadership and collaboration among those who have received their PhDs within the last 15 years.

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Four ��˾��ֱ�� researchers awarded Alfred P. Sloan Fellowships

lanthierj — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 18:15:25 +0000

Four ��˾��ֱ�� researchers awarded Alfred P. Sloan Fellowships

Research & Innovation

lanthierj Fri, 02/24/2023 - 13:15

Faculty

Mississauga

St. George

Sloan Research Fellowships

Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences

��˾��ֱ�� Mississauga

Faculty of Arts & Science

Department of Computer Science

David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics

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(L-R) Duncan Dauvergne, Jimmy Ba, Sushant Sachdeva and Maria Drout (photos supplied)

Jimmy Ba, Duncan Dauvergne, Maria Drout and Sushant Sachdeva have been named 2022 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellows in recognition of their “creativity, innovation and research accomplishments” in the fields of computer science, mathematics and physics.

Ba is an assistant professor in the department of computer science in the University of Toronto's Faculty of Arts & Science and a member of the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence. He addresses some of the biggest challenges in training deep neural networks and his “significant contributions have advanced our field by making deep learning more efficient and reliable,” says Professor Eyal de Lara, chair of the department.

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Joshua Speagle wins 2022 John Charles Polanyi Prize in physics

lanthierj — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 15:53:08 +0000

Joshua Speagle wins 2022 John Charles Polanyi Prize in physics

Research & Innovation

lanthierj Tue, 01/17/2023 - 10:53

Faculty

St. George

John Charles Polanyi Prize

Faculty of Arts & Science

David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics

Department of Statistics

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Joshua Speagle, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Arts & Science’s David A. Dunlap department of astronomy and astrophysics and the department of statistical sciences, has been awarded the prestigious John Charles Polanyi Prize in physics for 2022.

“I'm honoured and humbled to receive the Polanyi Prize and hope to live up to the legacy of John Polanyi that it represents,” says Speagle. “This award highlights the incredibly exciting opportunities enabled by interdisciplinary research such as in astrostatistics and data science and reaffirms Ontario's commitment to supporting similar efforts by future young scientists.”

Speagle is developing new statistical techniques to create a high-resolution 3-D map of the Milky Way, as well as create new machine-learning methods that will help accelerate data processing. This map will be critical in helping scientists and astronomers better visualize the galaxy and understand its past, present and future.

The Polanyi Prize is awarded each year to as many as five researchers from an Ontario university in the early stages of their career. Given by the Ontario Council of Universities, it is named in honour of John Polanyi, a University Professor Emeritus in the department of chemistry and recipient of the 1986 Nobel Prize.

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Roberto Abraham awarded 2023 Jackson-Gwilt Medal

lanthierj — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 20:36:37 +0000

Roberto Abraham awarded 2023 Jackson-Gwilt Medal

Research & Innovation

lanthierj Fri, 01/13/2023 - 15:36

Faculty

St. George

Jackson-Gwilt Medal

Royal Astronomical Society

Faculty of Arts & Science

David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics

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University of Toronto Astronomy Professor Roberto Abraham has been awarded the 2023 Jackson-Gwilt Medal by the Royal Astronomical Society, for his innovative work with the Dragonfly Telephoto Array.

Abraham is a professor and chair of the David A. Dunlap department of astronomy and astrophysics in the Faculty of Arts & Science, as well as an associate at the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics. He shares the award with Professor Pieter van Dokkum of Yale University, his co-principal investigator.

The Dragonfly Telephoto Array is an innovative optical design that uses clusters of Canon lenses. The design and filters minimize stray light, which helps it to achieve an unpreceded sensitivity to low surface brightness features.

Abraham and van Dokkum, along with their research teams, began designing the telescope in 2013, starting with just three Canon lenses. Dragonfly now has 78 lenses and is expected to expand to 168 lenses within the next year. The professors’ work has contributed greatly to investigations of galaxy evolution, and shedding light on the nature of dark matter.

“It is a tremendous honour to receive this award,” says Abraham. “Previous honourees include some of my astronomical heroes, stretching back over a hundred years. It’s especially cool to be awarded the same medal that Clyde Tombaugh got for discovering Pluto – I don’t care what anybody says, that thing is still a planet in my book!”

CHIME radio telescope collaboration wins Brockhouse Canada Prize

lanthierj — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 17:03:43 +0000

CHIME radio telescope collaboration wins Brockhouse Canada Prize

Research & Innovation

lanthierj Tue, 10/25/2022 - 13:03

Faculty

St. George

NSERC

Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering

Faculty of Arts & Science

David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics

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A cross-Canada collaboration including the University of Toronto has won the prestigious Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering from the National Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) for its groundbreaking insight into astrophysical mysteries.

The award recognizes outstanding Canadian teams of researchers from different disciplines engaged in research that draws on their combined knowledge and skills – and has produced a record of excellent achievements in the natural sciences and engineering.

The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) is a groundbreaking radio telescope – one of the most novel and extraordinarily powerful in the world – located at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in B.C. It is described by NSERC as “one of the biggest success stories in Canadian astrophysics.”

“CHIME’s success arose from thinking outside the box and innovating without constraints of convention,” says Ue-Li Pen, a professor in the Faculty of Arts & Science’s Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics and a CHIME member. “The experiment leveraged leading Canadian expertise across the country to implement the novel cosmological intensity mapping concept pioneered in Toronto.”

“Building CHIME took a huge effort from the whole team, years of long nights for students, faculty and engineers across Canada,” says Keith Vanderlinde, a professor in the Faculty’s department of astronomy and astrophysics, Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics and a CHIME member. “It’s been amazing to watch the telescope come to life and start pouring out science.”

With files from NSERC

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David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics

42 ��˾��ֱ�� researchers receive new or renewed Canada Research Chairs

New Canada Research Chairs

Renewed Canada Research Chairs

Read the Government of Canada announcement

Renée Hložek awarded Rutherford Memorial Medal by Royal Society of Canada

Read the Faculty of Arts & Science story

Read about the Royal Society of Canada award winners

Yanqin Wu elected to American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Read the American Academy of Arts & Sciences announcement

Maria Drout awarded Newton Lacy Pierce Prize

Read the Dunlap Institute story

Ting Li and Corliss Sio recognized with Dorothy Shoichet Women Faculty in Science Award of Excellence

Read the Faculty of Arts & Science story

Six ��˾��ֱ�� faculty members named to Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists

Four ��˾��ֱ�� researchers awarded Alfred P. Sloan Fellowships

Read more about Ba

Read more about Dauvergne

Read more about Drout

Read more about Sachdeva

See the complete list of 2023 Fellows

Joshua Speagle wins 2022 John Charles Polanyi Prize in physics

Read the Faculty of Arts & Science story

Roberto Abraham awarded 2023 Jackson-Gwilt Medal

Read more at the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics

CHIME radio telescope collaboration wins Brockhouse Canada Prize

Read the Faculty of Arts & Science story