The advancement of knowledge is at the core of McGill's mission. Its research activities, whether designing advanced materials to build better aircraft, searching for a cure for cancer or discovering ways to bring clean water to the world, contribute to the betterment of society.

Owen Egan

Quick facts

• According to the most recent Research Infosource figures, full-time professors at McGill lead the country with the highest average research funding, an important indicator of the University's research quality.

• The University and hospital-based research institutes were awarded $543.5 million in research funding from different sources in 2003-04.

• There exist 96 international research and development partnerships between University researchers and their peers around the world.

Skateboarding and Renaissance theatre may be separated by centuries, but Paul Yachnin (right), Tomlinson Professor of Shakespeare Studies, makes the connection. The Making Publics project examines the development of social groups in Renaissance Europe and their impact on today's society with the support of a $2.5-million five-year federal research grant. Yachnin, collaborator Bronwen Wilson (left), Director of Graduate Studies in Art History, and other researchers are developing teaching materials for high school students and teachers.
Owen Egan

Discovery and innovation

• Over 50 centres and institutes based at McGill bring together top practitioners to tackle research problems, ranging from the McGill Centre for Research and Teaching on Women to the Global Environmental and Climate Change Centre.

• McGill researchers investigate problems associated with gambling addiction at the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors.

• Founded by professor Thomas Hudson, the McGill University and Genome Québec Innovation Centre is a world-class genomics and proteomics research facility. To date, it has helped over 300 scientists investigate the genetic basis of diseases such as asthma, depression and cancer.

• K.F. Ng-Kwai-Hang, a professor of animal science at McGill's Macdonald campus, has found that small mutations in the DNA of certain cow genes lead to changes in milk protein, which results in dramatic effects on cheese flavour.

• McGill and Université de Montréal inaugurated the Centre for Poultry Research, a two-site complex with a mandate to develop new tools for the improvement of the quality and safety of poultry products and eggs.

• Groundbreaking research conducted by Dr. Graham Bell and PhD student Sinéad Collins shows that algae absorb less carbon dioxide than previously believed, raising questions about current climate change projections that count on much of the gas being removed from the atmosphere through natural systems.

• Anthropology professor Colin Scott is working with members of the Northern Cree community of Wemindji to develop a combined protected area for the coastal watershed of Paakumshumwaau (Old Factory), Quebec, building on local ecological knowledge and environmental ethics.

• Molecular biologist Erwin Schurr discovered that small changes in the Parkin 2 and PACRG genes result in an increased susceptibility to leprosy, which could have a profound effect on the treatment and prevention of a disease that affects tens of thousands of people worldwide.

• Professor Timothy Geary joined the Institute of Parasitology as Canada Research Chair in Parasite Biotechnology after a 20-year career in industry. His work focuses on destroying the power that parasites have over the immune system in humans and animals.

• Invasive species biologist Anthony Ricciardi has found that the yellow perch—a freshwater fish found across Canada—has developed an appetite for invasive quagga mussels. This could allow a botulism-causing bacteria called Clostridium botulinum found in the mussel to move up the food chain.

• In 2004, McGill paleontologist and Canada Research Chair Hans Larsson discovered fossils of lush ferns and dinosaurs in Canada's Arctic, including Tyrannosaurus bones, previously only found in the Prairies.

• Doctoral candidate Bradley Vines became the first recipient from a Canadian university to receive research funding from the GRAMMY Foundation Grants Program. The $40,000 US award will allow Vines to explore how people respond to visual aspects of musical performance.