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2025–2030 Strategic Research Plan Development

About

The 2020–2025 Strategic Research Plan (SRP) articulates the university’s key research themes, which represent Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) strengths and reflect the diverse scholarly, research and creative (SRC) activity that is taking place across the institution.

The Strategic Research Plan is required by the Federal government (external link, opens in new window)  to support the university’s applications for major institutional funding (e.g., Canada Research Chairs Program, Canada Foundation for Innovation). 

Guided by a Steering Committee, the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation (OVPRI) is now undertaking the development of a new 2025–2030 Strategic Research Plan. The university is also undertaking a review of its Academic Plan. The alignment of the two plans provides an opportunity to highlight areas of strength and reaffirm the university’s commitment to scholarly, research and creative activity.

Principles to Guide the Strategic Research Plan Development

In line with TMU’s mission, vision and values, the development of a new Strategic Research Plan will be guided by the following principles:

  • Inclusion: The review will involve a wide array of stakeholders and provide the opportunity for diverse perspectives to be included in the conversation.
  • Transparency: Regular reports will be provided to the SRC Leaders Group, and communication best practices will be employed throughout the review.
  • Excellence: Areas of strength will be identified based on impact, funding, contribution to training (e.g., graduate training), collaborations and partnerships, innovation, national/international reputation, and depth and excellence of research.
  • Equity: The review will be underpinned by the university’s commitment to following and implementing the Dimensions Charter (external link, opens in new window) .

Next Steps

The SRP Steering Committee has successfully completed its mandate and produced a draft 2025 - 2030 Strategic Research Plan that will proceed through the collegial governance approval process this Fall. The development of this SRP has been a comprehensive and collaborative effort, rooted in the insights and feedback from our SRC community.

To ensure broad and meaningful engagement, the SRP Steering Committee undertook a multi-phased, iterative consultation process involving town halls, focus group sessions, and an online feedback mechanism. These efforts were designed to capture diverse perspectives and ideas from across TMU’s SRC community.

The SRP Steering Committee carefully synthesized the comments gathered during these consultations to form the foundation of the draft Strategic Research Plan. The draft SRP was written and refined throughout the Spring and Summer, and it is on track to follow the collegial governance process to be presented to Senate at its November meeting, with approval to be sought at the December meeting.

If you have additional comments or questions, please contact the SRP Steering Committee. 

Contact

To contact a member of the Strategic Research Plan Development Steering Committee or provide feedback for the development process, please email SRP@torontomu.ca.

2025–2030 Strategic Research Plan Development Steering Committee

  • Naomi Adelson, Professor, Associate Vice-President, Research and Innovation, OVPRI
  • Areej Al-Hamad, Assistant Professor, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Faculty of Community Services
  • Nick Bellissimo, Associate Professor, Director of the Nutrition Discovery Labs, School of Nutrition, Faculty of Community Services
  • Christopher Campbell-Duruflé, Assistant Professor, Lincoln Alexander School of Law
  • Colleen Derkatch, Professor, Interim Chair, Department of English, Faculty of Arts
  • Amy Desjarlais, Lead Facilitator, Rebirthed Teachings, Office of Indigenous Initiatives, OVPECI
  • Anatoliy Gruzd, Professor, Canada Research Chair in Privacy Preserving Digital Technologies, Ted Rogers School of Management
  • Rania Hamza, Associate Professor, Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
  • Cynthia Holmes, Dean, Ted Rogers School of Management
  • Jenna Jacobson, Associate Professor, Retail Management, Ted Rogers School of Management
  • Miranda Kirby, Associate Professor, Canada Research Chair (Tier II), Department of Physics, Faculty of Science
  • Janet Koprivnikar, Interim Associate Dean, Programs, Yeates School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
  • Melanie Martin-Griem, Executive Director, Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation
  • Kisha McPherson, Assistant Professor, Professional Communication, The Creative School
  • Jennifer Meness, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Faculty of Arts
  • Ashika Niraula, Senior Research Associate, Project Lead, CERC in Migration and Integration
  • Ashley Patora, Graduate Student Senator
  • Pawel Pralat, Professor, Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science
  • Rai Reece, Assistant Professor, Sociology, Faculty of Arts
  • Yukari Seko, Associate Professor, Professional Communication, The Creative School
  • Carol Shepstone, Research and Impact Assessment Librarian, Toronto Metropolitan Libraries
  • Emanuel Tessema, Undergraduate/Faculty of Community Services Student Senator
  • Jeff Xi, Professor, Aerospace Engineering, NSERC Senior Industrial Research Chair, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science