Hello, Madam Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for the invitation to be here today.
My name is Timothy Chan. I am the associate vice-president and vice-provost for strategic initiatives at the University of Toronto. In that role, I am responsible for the identification, assessment, prioritization and support of large-scale, excellence-driven, interdisciplinary research initiatives. Our institutional strategic initiatives, ISIs, cover areas including AI, robotics, energy and infectious disease. They tackle global challenges and catalyze collaboration across disciplines.
I am also a professor in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering. My research focuses on the development of novel optimization models to solve decision-making problems in health care, medicine, transportation and sports. Mirroring the focus of my administrative role at the university, my research program is deeply interdisciplinary and has been funded by a variety of sources, including NSERC and CIHR.
I'm here today representing the University of Toronto, which, according to the Times Higher Education world university rankings, is the number 21 ranked university in the world, number 10 among public universities and number one in Canada.
In 2024-25, U of T and our hospital partners secured approximately $1.5 billion in research funding, with about a third coming from the granting councils.
How does this funding translated into impact? In the last five years, we've published close to 70,000 scientific articles that have been cited over 1.4 million times. More than that, this research lays the foundation for industrial innovation. Last year alone, we supported close to 700 start-ups and generated over 100 patents. In 2025, PitchBook named U of T Canada's top university for producing venture-backed entrepreneurs. Every year, we engage industry partners in over 200 joint R and D projects.
Our reputation is also a magnet for international talent attraction. The most recent example comes from the Canada impact+ research chairs program, where U of T and our partner hospitals received nearly 1,000 applications from international scholars eager to join us.
I provide this information to the committee as context so you know how my research and institution shape my thinking around interdisciplinarity. Historically, the way much research has been done has been within disciplinary boundaries, and we have done well in this regard; however, societal grand challenges that we are faced with are increasingly requiring an interdisciplinary approach. Wicked problems require wicked approaches. Misson-driven priorities require focused support and coordination to ensure that strategic goals are met.
The granting councils provide a critical foundation for our national research ecosystem. Canada must leverage this foundation as it contemplates how best to invest in new mission-driven and strategic priorities, whether through a capstone agency or other mechanisms that provide an extra layer of coordination and support.
Thank you.