Shaping the future for nearly 200 years
McGill is one of the highest-ranking research-intensive universities in North America, with a long tradition of excellence in research that includes scholars such as Sir Ernest Rutherford, Wilder Penfield, Donald Hebb, Otto Maass, Charles Taylor and many others.
Along with the University of Toronto, it is one of only two Canadian member universities of the American Association of Universities – an organization of 63 leading research universities from across the United States and Canada.
Founded in 1829, the Faculty of Medicine is McGill’s oldest faculty and has historically played a leading role in McGill research. At the same time, both fundamental and applied research in all other fields – from science and the social sciences to the humanities – has also always flourished. New and ongoing initiatives at McGill are grounded in the belief that teaching and research are mutually reinforcing, and we strive to develop research in ways that can be carried into classroom learning.
Today's researchers at McGill work in a range of exciting new domains, including genomics and proteomics, nanotechnologies, climate research, intelligent systems, new materials, food technology, statistics applied to the social sciences (including health care), and even the technology of music and the Internet. McGill encourages opportunities in these emerging fields, while nevertheless constantly working to support and strengthen research in its founding disciplines.
McGill also has a strong tradition of successfully translating research results to the outside community where it can serve the public good, and has often helped researchers apply their work to the private sector. The Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada, established at McGill in 1926, stands as one of the earliest examples of industry-university collaboration.
Finally, with the largest percentage of international students of any Canadian research-intensive university, as well as increasing involvement in various international development projects throughout the world, we are confident that the global impact of McGill's ongoing and new research activities will only continue to grow.