Strategic Research Plan

With our collective future tied to climate change and the fate of cities, the health of our urban environments relies on innovative solutions to complex and often interlinked social, economic, political, environmental, cultural and technological challenges. Our current expertise ranges from sustainable housing and renewable energy to the future of land use and water policy, from food security to smart infrastructure, migration, settlement, responsible development and urban design.

Art and creative expression expand the ways we think about the world and our place in it, enrich our lives and help us arrive at creative solutions to real-world problems. Blurring the line between conventional research and creative practice, Ryerson faculty combine traditional media with new technologies to drive innovation in design and culture industries. Fields of inquiry range from the digital humanities, photography and theatre to augmented reality, activist art, the protection of cultural heritage and accessible design.

Ryerson researchers work across a range of disciplines and perspectives that address personal, social, economic, technological and environmental factors impacting health and well-being at the individual, community and global levels. We are innovators in the fields of biotechnology and robotics, and in the use of intelligent systems in disease recognition and treatment, advancing research impact in areas such as patient experience, nursing, aging, mental health, housing design, social practices and nutrition.

Increasingly, democratic states and institutions are facing a combination of external and internal challenges, ranging from fundamental alterations in how information is communicated to eroding trust in public institutions and growing income, social and judicial inequities. These challenges, impacts and intersections are taken up by our faculty as we continue to build capacity in the study of democratic institutions with a focus on inclusivity, governance and engagement.

Canada’s competitiveness and prosperity depend on building a resilient workforce by matching skills and employment opportunities, increasing access to life-long learning, and ensuring the full participation of the underemployed and unemployed, including equity-seeking groups and underserved communities. As technological and skills innovation are key areas of research at Ryerson, we are ideally positioned to take the lead in developing tools and strategies that will advance inclusive, ethical and sustainable economic growth and productive employment.

Ryerson is pioneering technology and design in sectors such as manufacturing, aerospace, robotics, security, retail and construction. Working with industrial partners, we are creating a strong technological and industrial ecosystem through our research in engineering, design, management and production. Innovations in sustainable industrialization and intelligent systems are transforming a wide variety of sectors, including the Internet of Things, autonomous systems, process optimization, advanced manufacturing, 3D printing, aerospace, robotics and cybersecurity.