TORONTO, Dec. 7, 2021 – 91��ɫ is investing more than $3.5 million in interdisciplinary research with a focus on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that could have real-world, global impact through its Catalyzing Interdisciplinary Research Clusters (CIRC) initiative.

The initiative will help fund research excellence for interdisciplinary projects in strategic areas, including artificial intelligence and society, digital cultures and financial technologies (fintech), disaster and risk governance, as well as 91��ɫ’s new Markham Campus and the proposed Vaughan Healthcare Centre Precinct.

Today, 91��ɫ announces the first recipients of the new CIRC funding valued at $150,000 per year over three years for each research cluster, through the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation.

Rhonda Lenton, 91��ɫ President and Vice-Chancellor

“91��ɫ is a dynamic, research-intensive university that is committed to enhancing the well-being of the communities we serve,” said Rhonda Lenton, president and vice-chancellor. “We work to address society’s most urgent demands by supporting research excellence, interdisciplinary knowledge translation, and collaborative partnerships that expand the influence of scientific discovery. The inaugural recipients of the Catalyzing Interdisciplinary Research Cluster grants are producing ground-breaking discoveries in a wide variety of fields; making impactful contributions towards 91��ɫ’s Strategic Research Plan and University Academic Plan, as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals; and driving positive change in our local and global communities.”

The projects are as follows:

Collaborative Technology for Healthy Living led by Professor Robert Allison of the Lassonde School of Engineering (Lassonde).

AI Systems: Engineering, Governance & Society led by Associate Professor Giuseppina D’Agostino of Osgoode Hall Law School (Osgoode) with co-applicants Associate Professor James Elder of Lassonde and Professor Marin Litoiu of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS).

Digital Justice led by Associate Professor Patricio Dávila of the School of Arts, Media Performance & Design (AMPD) with co-applicant Associate Professor Ganaele Langlois of LA&PS.

Digital Currencies led by Professor Joann Jasiak of LA&PS with co-applicant Associate Professor Henry Kim of the Schulich School of Business.

Indigenous Climate Leadership and Self-Determined Futures led by Associate Professor Deborah McGregor of Osgoode and the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change (EUC) with co-applicant Assistant Professor Angele Alook of LA&PS.

Partnership for Youth & Planetary Wellbeing led by Kate Tilleczek of the Faculty of Education with co-applicants Associate Professor Deborah McGregor of Osgoode and EUC, Professor James Orbinski of the Faculty of Health and Postdoctoral Fellow James Stinson of the Faculty of Education.

Disaster and Health Emergency Urban Systemic Risk Transformation Cluster led by Professor Jianhong Wu of the Faculty of Science with co-applicant Associate Professor Afshin Rezaei-Zare of Lassonde.

“91��ɫ is pleased to invest in interdisciplinary research clusters that will continue to facilitate our leadership in research that aims to have a transformative impact on society,” said Amir Asif, vice-president research and innovation. “The CIRC funding is bringing together talented researchers from across disciplines to address questions of global importance, such as health and the environment, enhancing the diverse socioeconomic impacts of our research.”

In addition, six other highly ranked proposals will each receive interim one-year funding of $75,000. These include proposals titled: Overcoming Epidemics: Transnational Black Communities Response, Recovery, and Resilience co-led by Associate Professor Sylvia Bawa and Assistant Professor Mohamed Sesay both of LA&PS, and Assistant Professor Oghenowede Eyawo of the Faculty of Health; 91��ɫ-Water Urban Sustainable Ecosystem Interdisciplinary Research Cluster co-led by Professor Satinder Brar and Associate Professor Pouya Reza both of Lassonde; Youth, Gender Violence, Health and Gender Justice led by Professor Annie Bunting of LA&PS; Catalyzing Collective Action at the Intersection of Global Health and the Arts co-led by Professor Caitlin Fisher of AMPD and Professor Steven Hoffman of the Faculty of Health and Osgoode; From Colonial Genocide to Just Relationships: Building Interdisciplinary Research Excellence for Indigenous Futurities co-led by Professor Luann Good Gingrich of LA&PS and Assistant Professor Heidi Matthews of Osgoode; and New Pathways for Youth Thriving in Intersecting Contexts of Marginalization led by Associate Professor Jonathan Weiss of the Faculty of Health.

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91��ɫ is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change and prepare our students for success. 91��ɫ's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91��ɫ’s campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future. 

Media Contact:
Sandra McLean, 91��ɫ Media Relations, 416-272-6317, sandramc@yorku.ca

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TORONTO, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020 – Ramón Alain Miranda Quintana, a postdoc and 91��ɫ Science Fellow at 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Science, is the John Charles Polanyi Prize winner in chemistry, the Ontario’s Ministry of Colleges and Universities today.

He is one of five university researchers in Ontario who have been recognized with a 2019 Polanyi Prize in the fields of chemistry, literature, physics, economic science and physiology/medicine.

“Their work helps advance Ontario’s innovation economy, strengthening our province’s reputation in research, while changing the way we approach and understand issues that directly impact Ontarians,” said Ross Romano, minister of colleges and universities.

The prizes are awarded in honour of Ontario’s Nobel Prize winner John C. Polanyi, who won the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research in chemical kinetics.

Faculty of Science Postdoc and 91��ɫ Science Fellow Ramon Alain Miranda Quintana

"Receiving a John Charles Polanyi Prize is a prestigious honour for early-career scientists. 91��ɫ is proud to see one of our own researchers receive this recognition," said Rui Wang, dean of science and interim vice-president research and innovation at 91��ɫ. "Dr. Miranda Quintana came to 91��ɫ as a and his work will potentially lead to game-changing advances in areas such as electricity transmission and managing nuclear waste. 91��ɫ continues to cultivate and support brilliant young researchers like Dr. Miranda Quintana."

Miranda Quintana is researching new ways to understand the behaviour of complex chemical compounds using computational algorithms, which could lead to new innovations in industry and health. Current tools for theoretical chemistry can explain only about 90 per cent of chemical molecules.

“For the remaining 10 per cent, the existing methods of testing these compounds computationally are so inefficient it could take years to arrive at even the simplest calculation and, in some cases, billions of years,” says Miranda Quintana, who came to 91��ɫ from Cuba in 2018. “That 10 per cent contains molecules that are really important with potentially huge applications.”

These include molecules with rare metal centres that are found in nuclear fuels, nuclear waste and even some enzymes in the human body. Understanding these enzymes better, could lead to medical breakthroughs in treatments.

The goal is to create highly efficient and accurate computational tools that are also safer than traditional chemical lab experiments. “Once we are able to do that, we can apply these new tools to these compounds to understand how they behave, how their function changes when their structure is modified, and how to make them more efficient,” says Miranda Quintana, whose supervisor at 91��ɫ is Chemistry Department Chair René Fournier.

Already, Miranda Quintana and a team of colleagues have developed a general and convenient framework called FANCI (Flexible Ansatz for N-body Configuration Interaction) to test various theories about how these complex compounds behave and function using simple calculations, a combination of math and coding.

New tools such as FANCI would potentially allow researchers to understand how to modify these compounds so they convert energy more efficiently at regular temperatures, rather than needing to be cooled to close to minus 273.15 degrees Celsius, as is the case now. This could make the creation of superconductive materials possible and hold the key to revolutionizing the power industry, creating microscopic data storage devices, and better quantum computers. It could also lead to the creation of new nuclear fuels and a simpler way to dispose of nuclear waste.

The idea is to make FANCI software available on open source so researchers can study processes, such as magnetism, superconductivity and thermodynamics, and have a reliable answer much more efficiently than with currents methods. It would speed up the testing of ideas and lead to faster innovations.

The 2018 Polanyi Prize winner for chemistry was also from 91��ɫ, Assistant Professor , whose research explores ways to remove precious metals from the manufacturing process for plastics, pharmaceuticals and other industrial products. His goal is to make production less expensive and more sustainable.

The Polanyi Prizes are awarded each year to innovative researchers in Ontario who are either continuing postdoctoral work or have recently gained a faculty appointment. Each of this year’s winners will receive $20,000 in recognition of their exceptional research in the fields of chemistry, physics, economic science and physiology/medicine.

PHOTOS OF RAMÓN ALAIN MIRANDA QUINTANA:

Ramon Alain Miranda Quintana writes an equation on a blackboard at 91��ɫ. Photo courtesy of 91��ɫ

Ramon Alain Miranda Quintana writes equations on a blackboard at 91��ɫ. Photo courtesy of 91��ɫ

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91��ɫ champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91��ɫ students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world’s most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91��ɫ U is an internationally recognized research university – our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91��ɫ is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni. 91��ɫ U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact:

Sandra McLean, 91��ɫ Media Relations, 416-272-6317,
sandramc@yorku.ca

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