Research Opportunities in Canada – Popular Research, Funding and Achievements

Research is the most important part of education for graduates. Statcan data has found out that almost 30% of the students are non-Canadians. In fact research opportunities play a cruicial role in students’ decision to study in Canada. 

Universities of Canada support its students who have come out with the best research ideas.  They, also provide monetary benefits in the form of scholarships for their research work. Institutes like the University of Toronto, which are global leaders when it comes to research and innovation, have leading technology and resources to back up research in a wide-ranging fields of study. As a matter of fact, U of T alone has been awarded $1.27 billion CAD research funds for 2017-2018 academic session.

Students have the freedom to work on any research idea with the support of lectures in the institutions. If in case, the research of some students is extra-ordinary, they are supported by government and corresponding industries to work further on the idea.

While studying in Canada, students are encouraged to think different. Canada spends a lot of resources required by global students in the form of ELP and FLP, support services, workshops and training for academic and personal advancement.

Investment in R&D

• Universities performed CAD 13 billion in Research and Development in 2014, which is 40 percent of total Canadian research and development.
• Canadian Universities conduct CAD 1 billion in research for businesses and help build their competitive advantage.
• Canadian Universities conduct CAD 1.2 billion for the non-profit sector which has tripled since the year 2000.

Canada’s Worldwide ranking for Scientific Research

According to in-depth report, Canada ranks 4^th around the globe for its quality of scientific research. Evaluation of science and technology was done in Canada, conducted by Council of Canadian Academies.

The assessment of in-depth report included 5,000 researchers and the authors of most widely cited scientific papers in the world.

Only three countries, U.S. Britain and Germany were leading the way.

Best Universities in Canada in terms of Research

The best universities in Canada such as University of Toronto and University of British Columbia have state-of-art education system. They are highly respectable in case of academic work because of the high research impact.

Other universities following the league are: -

• McGill University
• McMaster University
• University of Montreal

Research Opportunities in Canada

Research is one of the most wanted requirement of post-secondary education. One has ample opportunities to do research in any field. The industries and government institutions (The National Research Council (NRC)) are open to support research based on medicine, agriculture, telecommunication, computer science and environmental science.

Fields in which Canada has high level of specialization and high impact include: -

• Clinical Medicine
• Biology
• Businesses
• ICT
• Agriculture
• Environmental Sciences
• Economics
• Fisheries and Forestry

Outstanding Researches and Researchers in Canada

Science has seen incredible discoveries in the past such as vaccines, laser and drugs. Apart from that, radio and television are also most-required discoveries for the obvious reasons.

Canada’s scientists are working on challenging researches such as food security, life-threatening diseases and artificial intelligence.

Mentioned are few researches which have succeeded in improving lives at home and the world.

• Developing energy-efficient computer memory
• Food prevention – green roofs
• Clean water for rural areas
• Tobacco helps to fight cancer
• The “Canadian vaccine” against Ebola
• Big data to battle traffic
• Preserving indigenous languages
• Artificial Intelligence
• Stem cell research

Mentioned are few well-known researchers in Canada

• Gary Kobinger – Eradicating Ebola virus
• Xiangguo Qiu – Preventing Ebola virus
• Tom Chau – Giving voice to voiceless
• Kamran Khan – Big data to uncover outbreaks of infectious diseases
• Louis Taillefer – Making waves in the quantum physics

Canadian Research Funding Contributors

Funds and awards for scientific research/research networks/research infrastructure.

Federal Funding Programs

• Canada’s 3 Research Councils – NSERC, SSHRC and CIHR
• Canada First Research Excellence Fund
• Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships
• Banting Post-Doctoral Fellowships
• International Council for Canadian Studies (ICCS) Awards
• Canada Foundation for Innovation
• Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarships
• Canada Research Chairs and Canada Excellence Research Chairs

Other Organizations

• Trudeau Foundation Doctoral Scholarships
• Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarships
• Sauvé Public Leadership Program

Top 5 Scientific Achievements in Canada

1. Development of computerized weather forecasting systems

Developer Scientist – Roger Daley in Montreal and Boulder Colorado

Development of such system is now used worldwide. The weather forecasting system make use of complex mathematical models in 3- dimensions. While orbiting the Earth, they catch, store and transmit data to the Earth base stations.

2. Discovery of stem cells

Discovered by - James Till and Ernest McCulloch, at the Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto.

Special cells in a human body has the ability to divide and regenerate body tissue.

3. Theory of plate tectonics

Discovered by – John Tuzo Wilson

The fact that earth’s crust is made up of floating plates, which when shifts, causes earthquakes.

4. Discovery of Insulin

Discovered by Nobel Prize winner Frederick Banting and Charles Best

Discovered insulin in the human body which could treat diabetes.

5. Mapping the Visual Cortex

Discovered by Nobel Prize winner David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel

Discovered where in cerebral cortex of the brain does the vision processing takes place. Data such as lines, brightness, contrast, edges, color, motion and much more is processed.

Artificial Intelligence in Canada

Currently, AI is gathering most of the researchers’ attention.

• Canada has been an academic forefront in various fields of AI over 30 years. Companies are investing for AI advancement which proves the keen interest of the industry in Canada. Businesses are developing and commercializing AI. Google Brain and Uber are expanding in Canada for a deep AI research.
• The professors and other researchers are deriving more talent esp. from Montreal and Toronto.

Canada is not only an IT Park, but major research station worldwide. It is a famous research conducting country providing benefits to the researchers in every aspect including monetary funds and scholarships for their project.

Canada never discriminates in the field of study, rather, it promotes the students for research in any field irrespective of their field of study. In case, the research project is accepted, a major contribution for the students are backed with support from the organization and funds from government too. Canada inspires researchers to take a step ahead and build.