University of Melbourne

Global research alliance between U of T and University of Melbourne to take ‘strong relationship to another level’

lanthierj — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 11:33:21 +0000

Global research alliance between U of T and University of Melbourne to take ‘strong relationship to another level’

lanthierj Thu, 10/28/2021 - 07:33

Cutline

The Global Research Alliance between U of T, left, and the University of Melbourne, right, will provide faculty and students at both institutions with new opportunities for collaboration (photos by Diana Tyszko and University of Melbourne)

Scott Anderson

Topic

Global Lens

University of Melbourne

Chemistry

Faculty of Arts & Science

Global

International Collaboration

Joseph Wong

Research & Innovation

A wide-ranging partnership between the University of Toronto and the University of Melbourne in Australia will give faculty and students at both institutions new opportunities to collaborate on – and generate insights into – areas of common scholarly interest, say leaders at the two universities.

The newly formed Global Research Alliance, developed over the past four years, will provide funding for faculty members at the two institutions to work on joint research projects, a collaborative academic program to train PhD students and “global classrooms,” which will enable undergraduate students in Toronto and coursework students in Melbourne to study and learn together both in person and virtually.

Joseph Wong

The partnership builds on existing research ties and student exchanges between the universities and promises to expand the scope and reach of scholarship, especially in areas such as Indigenous health and truth and reconciliation, where Indigenous scholars have already met and discussed opportunities.

“There’s a tremendous opportunity for our two institutions, as flagship universities of settler countries, to do some really great work,” says Joseph Wong, U of T’s vice-president, international.

University of Melbourne Pro Vice-Chancellor (International) Adrian Little says the similarities between the two universities make them natural partners: Both are large institutions covering many academic disciplines that have deep connections to a diverse, multicultural city.

“There were lots of seeds that were ripe to bloom; they just needed a bit of co-ordination and a push,” he says, noting that the new agreement will “take a very strong relationship to another level.”

Adrian Little

For U of T, the partnership brings greater access to faculty and students at one of the top universities in Australia. It also serves as a launchpad for making new connections in the Asia-Pacific region, further expanding its roster of collaborators.

“One of the really interesting conversations we’re having is about bringing in partners from east Asia,” says Wong. “By partnering with Melbourne, we’re starting to knit together a kind of global network of networks – and that’s very enticing.”

There will be advantages for individual researchers at each university, too, who will gain from wider exposure for their work, says Wong.

“[Journal] articles written by colleagues here and in Australia suddenly have two different markets,” he notes. “I think we’re going to see greater research output, more novel output and greater global impact.”

University of Melbourne Pro Vice-Chancellor (Graduate and International Research) Justin Zobel says “faculty at both institutions are keen to partner with each other. As the leading institutions in our regions, with deep and complementary strengths in areas of global importance, working together creates the opportunity to address challenges across all fields of research.”

The two universities issued a call for joint research proposals last year. Six of those received up to $30,000 each. The winning proposals spanned several disciplines, from sociology to geography to medicine. One of the projects, by Dwight Seferos, a professor in U of T’s department of chemistry in the Faculty of Arts & Science, and Wallace Wong, a senior chemistry lecturer at Melbourne, will look at the use of advanced materials for harvesting and storing energy in remote communities. Another project will investigate the social and ecological benefits of urban trees.

Justin Zobel

Common to all the funded projects, say Little and Wong, are a commitment to academic excellence and a clear articulation of how a Toronto-Melbourne collaboration adds value to the research. Projects that showed potential for growth – for example, if the researcher-to-researcher relationships be expanded to include graduate students – were more likely to be approved.

A second call for proposals was issued by the universities this past summer – this time targeting researchers early in their careers. Applications are open until Nov. 1.

On the teaching side of the partnership, Wong envisions more opportunities for students to travel abroad and, through a new “global classroom” project, engage virtually with their peers at the University of Melbourne. U of T faculty who are interested in developing a global classroom can apply for funding from the office of the vice-president, international, and each campus now has an experienced global classroom adviser to work with faculty members, Wong says.

“Our initial aim is to develop several dozen global classrooms. We hope departments will see their value and start building them into their regular course offerings.”

Little also sees advantages for faculty as well as students. “As an academic, the idea that I could get my counterpart in Toronto into an online classroom with my students to be exposed to knowledge and expertise that is complementary to my own is an exciting prospect,” he says.

Rounding out the elements of the partnership is a joint academic program that pairs, or clusters together, researchers to co-supervise PhD students. Last year, 12 projects from such disciplines as computer science, public health, sociology and engineering were selected for the program. The next round of 10 successful projects across a diverse range of fields has just been announced.

In addition to being an attractive opportunity for globally minded doctoral students, the program could help faculty members build new research relationships through a larger pool of PhD students. The program could lead to joint grant applications and, eventually, joint publications.

While the partnership serves as a platform for all academic divisions at each university, some departments have been identified as strong initial candidates because of previously established relationships or common scholarly interests. These include Indigenous studies and Indigenous health, social work, migration, medicine and public health.

For Little, who is a professor of political theory, the potential for advancing knowledge around Indigenous topics in the two countries is particularly appealing.

“It seems to me we’ve got an awful lot to learn from one another,” he says. “And it must begin from sharing Indigenous knowledge – not the elite, top-down form of knowledge, but by building connections with Indigenous communities in each of our places – so we can reckon with our past and do better in the future.”

Regardless of the academic discipline, though, Little says the two universities are interested in combining forces to generate research and learning with a global impact.

“By bringing together two of the world’s best universities, the capacity for genuine advances is greatly accentuated.”

‘How powerful is place?’ U of T hosts major global academic summit with Times Higher Education

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 19:47:54 +0000

‘How powerful is place?’ U of T hosts major global academic summit with Times Higher Education

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 09/02/2021 - 15:47

Cutline

(Photo by University of Toronto)

Yanan Wang

Topic

Global Lens

Johns Hopkins University

University of Melbourne

Diversity and Inclusion

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

School of Cities

Alumni

Centre for Indigenous Studies

Faculty of Arts & Science

Rotman School of Management

Times Higher Education

University of Oxford

The University of Toronto has brought together university leaders from around the globe for the Times Higher Education World Academic Summit 2021 – a digital-first event that explores the idea of “place” during the pandemic and beyond.

“The pandemic has brought many changes to our daily lives and the way we interact with one another,” said U of T President Meric Gertler in a pre-conference interview.

“That raises some interesting questions for our sector: Is the residential model of university education still the dominant model after all this? How will international education and experience be transformed as a result of the pandemic? What does the future of global research collaboration look like?

“U of T is ideally positioned to host these conversations.”

The three-day global conference, co-hosted by Times Higher Education and U of T, kicked off yesterday and features leading higher education administrators, prominent researchers and political and business leaders. Together, they are examining four important topics under the overarching theme of: “How Powerful is Place?”

President Meric Gertler

Some sessions considered universities’ “contributions to place” by taking a look at their impact on the regions where they are located, including their role as economic and civic anchors that foster resilience, reinvention and innovation. Others focused on “place’s impact on universities,” discussing the importance of local politics and policies – and the critical role location plays in attracting and retaining students, staff and faculty.

Still others explored “how global collaboration can complement local success,” and whether a university’s location affects its international partnerships and networks.

Sessions that looked at a fourth theme – “Has the digital classroom replaced the campus?” – involved discussions around the use of virtual learning and other technologies to adapt programming during COVID-19, and how universities can use these technologies to complement traditional in-person learning post-pandemic.

The conference was several years in the making. Originally scheduled to be hosted by U of T in 2020, the summit was postponed due to the global pandemic and its original theme of “The Power of Place” was reimagined to reflect new challenges.

Featuring a combination of keynote speeches, participatory debates, case studies and panel discussions, the conference also marks the exclusive live reveal of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022, followed by a data masterclass.

Times Higher Education’s university rankings are among the most closely watched in the world.

President Gertler joined leaders from Johns Hopkins University, the University of Cape Town and the University of Oxford for an opening panel discussion focused on the relationship between universities and geographic divisions.

“This theme is of direct relevance to U of T, where we have arguably one of the most diverse student bodies in the world,” President Gertler said prior to the event, adding that a commitment to inclusive excellence is core to the university’s mission.

Another key focus was Indigeneity and place, which explored the historical and contemporary relationship between Indigenous Peoples and the places where universities are situated. In a keynote event, Associate Professor Susan Hill, director of U of T’s Centre for Indigenous Studies, and Shaun Ewen, pro vice-chancellor (Indigenous) at the University of Melbourne explored “The legacy of place: How to take transformative action.”

Other timely discussions at the summit focused on the following areas: innovation and equity; opportunities for global collaboration; how the pandemic has changed the way universities communicate; what universities owe the descendants of slavery; how to attract and retain talent; and remote learning through the eyes of students.

In an address to summit attendees, Toronto Mayor John Tory, a U of T alumnus, emphasized the importance of the two-way relationship between universities and the urban regions that support them.

“Our educational institutions have allowed us to lead on a variety of fronts, including health care, medicine, machine learning, law, finance, film, pharmaceuticals, technology – the list goes on and on,” he said, noting that universities are a key economic driver for the Toronto region.

Similarly, Cheryl Regehr, U of T’s vice-president and provost, highlighted the advantages enjoyed by U of T because of its location.

“Our three campuses benefit immeasurably because they are located in one of the world’s most dynamic – and most diverse – urban areas,” said Regehr, who previously discussed the power of place with university leaders in Davos during the World Economic Forum.

“That helps us attract the best minds and, in turn, imparts a global outlook to our research and scholarship that elevates both the university and the city in which it resides.”

U of T experts participating in the three-day event include:

· Dan Breznitz, University Professor, Munk chair of innovation studies and co-director of the Innovation Policy Lab

· Karen Chapple, professor in the department of geography and planning and director of U of T’s School of Cities

· Richard Florida, University Professor at the Rotman School of Management

· Susan Hill, associate professor of Indigenous studies and history and director of the Centre for Indigenous Studies

· Geoffrey Hinton, distinguished professor emeritus and deep learning pioneer

· David Estok, vice-president communications

· Susan McCahan, vice-provost of academic programs and vice-provost of innovations in undergraduate education

· Joseph Wong, vice-president, international

· Simon Pratt, director, research strategy and excellence

Several talks sought to examine the role of physical space in an increasingly digitized world.

Vijayakumar Bhagavatula, director of Carnegie Mellon University Africa, is scheduled to discuss the function of global branch campuses on Thursday. Also on Thursday, Krishna Rajagopal, acting vice-president of open learning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will discuss how digital delivery can enhance learning on campus.

In the case of U of T, President Gertler said he expects the university’s three campuses to retain their strong ties to the Greater Toronto Area amid advances in remote learning and digital communications.

“There’s no question that we have viewed our locations as one of our most important assets,” he said. “I think that’s going to continue to be true. But this summit asks: In what ways will that relationship change over time?”

University of Melbourne

Global research alliance between U of T and University of Melbourne to take ‘strong relationship to another level’

​‘How powerful is place?’ U of T hosts major global academic summit with Times Higher Education

‘How powerful is place?’ U of T hosts major global academic summit with Times Higher Education