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Research: Realize your future with TMU Graduate Studies

Grad students and professor sitting at table in an office talking

As an urban innovation university, Toronto Met offers 60+ cutting-edge, career-oriented graduate programs, as well as 125+ research centres, institutes and labs, in a wide range of disciplines. Our close connections with industry, government and community partners provide opportunities to apply your knowledge to real-world challenges and make a difference.

Finding a Supervisor

With nearly 900 affiliated and associate graduate teaching faculty, you can find the right supervisor at Toronto Met.

In some graduate programs, a supervisor is assigned to you at (or soon after) the start of the program. In other programs a faculty advisor is assigned until the topic of research is identified. In most programs however, it is your responsibility to find a faculty member who agrees to supervise your graduate research work; a process that often takes place prior to an offer of admission being made.

The selection of a supervisor is a critical decision that impacts the quality of your graduate experience and influences your career path. We advise students to obtain information about potential supervisors and the environment in which they will be working. Consider the following tips:

  • Academic competence is of course important, but the supervisor must also be willing to provide advice, guidance, and mentorship.
  • A healthy student-supervisor relationship is one in which there is open and effective communication and expectations are clearly laid out.
  • Check out program websites in detail for profiles of faculty members and descriptions of ongoing research and research facilities.
  • If you will be working in a laboratory setting or as a member of a research team, speak with current students in that environment about their experiences and interactions with a particular supervisor.

It is important that whenever possible, to meet with your potential supervisor to determine compatibility. Take that opportunity to discuss issues such as expectations, research project support, identifying a thesis topic and scope, student funding, and strategies to ensure timely completion and quality work.

View the list of all full, associate and emeritus members of the graduate school:

 (google sheet) YSGPS Membership List (external link) 

Research at TMU

At Toronto Met, you’ll explore emerging fields and find new approaches to established ones — digital media and technology; energy and sustainability; health and well-being; city building and social justice; design, culture and creative industries; and technological and industrial innovation, to name just a few.

We work with industry partners, not-for-profit organizations, government, communities and individuals, to help showcase Canada as an international innovator and create tangible benefits for the public. And with nearly 900 affiliated and adjunct graduate teaching faculty, you are bound to find the right supervisor at Toronto Met.

Research funding and publications have doubled in the past five years at Toronto Met. Our interdisciplinary approach to research represents the collaboration of over 125 centres, institutes and labs and over 190 local, national and global funding partners.

Learn from leading thinkers (and doers)

Our faculty comprises leading researchers and innovators, award winners and changemakers.

This is the highest academic honour awarded to Canadian scholars, and those joining Canada’s National Academy from Toronto Met include:

  • Bin Wu, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Candice Monson, Psychology
  • Catherine Beauchemin, Physics
  • Irene Gammel, English
  • Marta Braun, Image Arts
  • Martin Antony, Psychology chair
  • Maurice Yeates, former dean of graduate studies
  • Sepali Guruge, Nursing (College Member)

The Canada Research Chairs (CRC) program invests $265 million annually to attract and retain some of the world’s most accomplished and promising researchers, and we have 20 of them here at TMU:

  • Reza Arani, CRC in Smart Grid Cyber-Physical Security
  • Ebrahim Bagheri, CRC in Social Information Retrieval
  • Rupa Banerjee, CRC in Economic inclusion, Employment and Entrepreneurship of Canada's Immigrants
  • Umberto Berardi, CRC in Building Science
  • Roberto Botelho, CRC in Biomedical Sciences and Technologies
  • Anton de Ruiter, CRC in Spacecraft Dynamics and Control
  • Seth Dworkin, CRC in Sustainable Energy Modelling and Simulation
  • Bilal Farooq, CRC in Disruptive Transportation Technologies and Services
  • David Gauntlett, CRC in Creative Innovation and Leadership
  • Anatoliy Gruzd, CRC in Privacy-Preserving Digital Technologies
  • Dae Kun Hwang, CRC in Microarchitecture for Advanced Polymeric Materials
  • Miranda Kirby, CRC in Quantitative Imaging
  • Damien Lee, CRC in Biskaabiiyang and Indigenous Political Resurgence
  • Atefeh Mashatan CRC, in Quality of Security (QoSec) Framework for Internet-of-Things (IoT)
  • Alexandra Mazalek, CRC in Digital Media and Innovation
  • Jas Morgan, CRC in Digital Wahkohtowin and Cultural Governance
  • Michael Olson, CRC in Molecular Cell Biology
  • Julia Spaniol, CRC in Cognitive Aging
  • Sharareh Taghipour, CRC in Physical Asset Management
  • Ali Tavallaei, CRC in Systems and Devices for Cardiovascular Interventions

These are 58 leaders in their fields, with unique ideas and visions of the future, including:

  • Author John Ralston Saul
  • Broadcaster Alan Cross
  • Filmmaker Atom Egoyan
  • Former information and privacy commissioner Ann Cavoukian
  • Former politician Olivia Chow
  • Humanitarian and activist Stephen Lewis
  • Journalists Steve Paikin and Diane Francis
  • Justice Michael Tulloch, Ontario Court of Appeal
  • Labour leader Buzz Hargrove
  • Media CEO Nadir Mohamed
  • Public policy specialist Anne Golden
  • Street nurse Cathy Crowe
  • TV producer Linda Schuyler

Toronto Met’s numerous partnerships provide opportunities for graduate students to participate in research internships toward solving industry challenges. Our partners include:

  • Google
  • SickKids
  • CAMH
  • Ericsson Research Canada
  • Enbridge