Vice-President, Research and Innovation
Dr. Andrew P. Dean
Welcome to the site for Research and Innovation at Lakehead University. Here you will find extensive information about the Office of Research Services, Analytical Services, Technology Transfer, the Senate Research Committee, Research Ethics Board, etc. While Lakehead University is a relatively small university, we are consistently one of the leaders in terms of research productivity and impact.
This year, we were affirmed by Re$earch InfoSource as the Research University of the Year in Canada in our peer category. We are the only university to receive this recognition for three years in a row. Recently, Maclean’s Magazine placed us first in total research dollars (primarily undergraduate category), second in number of citations, and third in funding from Social Science and Humanities grants. These rankings speak very highly to the research intensity of the faculty, but also highlight the quality of the research being produced. Lakehead University is a comprehensive university that includes a medical school, a law school, and extensive graduate programming. While all research is encouraged and supported, the university has defined certain strategic research priorities with a particular emphasis on undergraduate student research, community partnerships, and international research collaborations (see appendices of https://www.lakeheadu.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/108/documents/Academic-Plan-2012-2017-Public.pdf).
These areas reflect our history, collaborations and areas where our research contributes to the economies of Northwestern Ontario and Simcoe County. However, our research is also international, and we continue to add partner institutions and funding agencies throughout the world. The University has 13 research centres and institutes. All of the centres are established by the Senate and usually have significant community research outreach. In Spring 2018, we will open our new research and innovation building, the Centre for Advanced Studies in Engineering and Sciences (CASES). This $20.5 million building is being funded by the Federal and Provincial governments and Lakehead University. It will house a number of our Canada Research Chairs, our Centre for Analytical Services (LUCAS), a graduate student lounge, space for over 80 graduate students and Ingenuity, an incubator hub for student entrepreneurship. This state-of-the-art building will allow for a significant increase in the research capacity of the university and promote the connection of research and graduate studies.
Our research growth is directly tied to our increase in graduate training, especially at the doctoral level. This year and next we will be launching new Ph.D. programs in Electrical Engineering, Health Sciences and international joint doctoral degrees. Innovation and economic development are key components of our office, and our Office of Innovation, Partnerships and Economic Development is there to assist with the development of valued added research.
Each year, we have a celebration of our research and innovation during the second week of March. If you are on campus during that time, I personally invite you to come and attend some of the events and see first-hand why we are the leading research University of the Year in Canada!