York University’s Strategic Research Plan (SRP) and Lassonde’s Strategic Research and Innovation Plan (SRIP) are complementary, reflecting mutual support and agreement on values, research strengths, and future opportunities. York’s SRP highlights strengths in advancing fundamental research, building healthy lives and communities, socially responsible innovation, and more. Research opportunities include digital cultures and disruptive technologies, climate and sustainability, and inter/transdisciplinary research. Entrepreneurship, partnership, and commercialization are also covered in York’s SRP. There are many centralized services, accessible to Lassonde, that enable the activities outlined in the SRP and SRIP, including, but not limited to, Innovation York (partnerships), York’s YSpace Network (entrepreneurship), York International (international collaboration), the libraries (research visibility), and ORUs (inter/transdisciplinary partnership).
Housed within Lassonde are a variety of complementary and unique services (e.g., Lassonde RSO, k2i Academy, communications team, etc.). We have our own ORUs – Centre for Innovation in Computing at Lassonde (IC@L); Mobility Innovation Centre (MOVE); Manufacturing, Technology, and Entrepreneurship Centre (MTEC); and Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science (CRESS).
Each of these ORUs has a dedicated coordinator, providing administrative support that enables events, collaborations, and large-scale grant support. Lassonde is also highly involved with Connected Minds, a York-Queens Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) program, which is at the intersection of social health and justice and disruptive new technologies. Many of our researchers are very involved in pan-university ORUs, most notably the Centre for Vision Research (CVR), one of the longest-standing ORUs at York, as well as the Centre for Artificial Intelligence & Society (CAIS), a more recent initiative. Researchers engaged in biomedical engineering as well as AI and Society work across disciplines, including researchers in law and social sciences. Our researchers are leading NSERC CREATE programs – Smart Mobility Advanced Research and Training (SMART); Geomagnetic Disturbance in Modern Societies and Technological Infrastructures (GMD-MSTI); Additive Manufacturing: Engineering Design and Global Entrepreneurship (AM-EDGE); Microsystems Technologies & Applications (MTA); Smart Autonomous Robotic Technology for Space Exploration (SMART-ART); and Training in Applied Biotechnology for Environmental Sustainability (TABES).
These programs provide enhanced graduate training in areas that are critical to industry and where there is a demand for talent with graduate degrees. Many of these programs are integrated with industry and provide internships for the students.
Key Lassonde facilities include the High Bay Lab, York MicroFabrication Facility (YMF), Climate-Data-Driven Design (CD3) Facility, Canadian Planetary Simulation Lab (CAPS), High Performance Computing Facility, and the York-wide YSciCore Facility. Partnerships with, for example, Venture Lab and OVIN’s SmartTO, provide researchers access to space and equipment they may not otherwise have, and opportunities to collaborate with Ontario Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), municipalities, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).
Overall, York and Lassonde provide a rich environment for research, innovation, and collaboration across various fields, supported by a number of service-based departments, state-of-the-art facilities, and interdisciplinary centers. It is a priority for Lassonde staff to educate and inform researchers about institutional and faculty-based resources and support to encourage uptake and capitalize on the benefits that will drive the success of this SRIP.
