50th Anniversary Research Challenges
Explore Life on the Smallest Scales
Defining the component structures and functions of living systems on the smallest scales leads to biotechnological innovation. We will discover and create new materials, invent new therapeutics and explore new approaches to enhance plant and animal health.
Harness Microbial and Genetic Worlds
If we understand the inner workings of microbes, we can harness their power. Using knowledge of nature’s own solutions, we will find innovative ways to combat disease through novel antimicrobial, antiviral and anti-fungal compounds.
Transform Tomorrow’s Devices
Discoveries in chemistry, physics and mathematics at the quantum scale will facilitate invention of the next generation of electronics and open the gateway to quantum computing. Our insights will improve device speed, reduce energy costs, increase usability and widen application space.
Make Computers our Sixth Sense
Ethically designed, secure and intelligent computing systems, robotic devices and sensors will augment human capabilities, improving human-to-human connections, mitigating disabilities, enhancing agriculture and modernizing manufacturing. Through the study of cognition in nature, we will design and invent learning systems, computers and sensors to create a more humane and livable world.
Revolutionize Science and Math Literacy for the 21st Century
Engaging and accessible education equips people with the scientific, mathematical, statistical and computational literacy needed for success in modern society. We will innovate, measure and refine our practices so that society has the tools to embrace the scientific method, better analyze information and make sounder decisions.
Expand our Contribution to the Innovation Ecosystem
Fuelled by faculty discoveries, entrepreneurial pursuits of our graduates and help from our alumni and community partners, we will stoke the innovation ecosystem that is expanding Manitoba’s economy. As we grow the number of new companies and products originating from the Faculty of Science, we will increase collaborations with industry and government to help solve society’s impossible problems.
Leverage the Origins of the Universe
The image of earth as a pale blue dot in space changed our perspective of the human experience forever. We seek novel revelations into the structure of matter, the forces of nature, the essence of the universe, and life beyond earth. The new knowledge gained will, as it has in the past, serve as a wellspring for revolutionary new solutions to our most challenging problems, impacting the future in yet unimagined ways.
Reconnect Nature’s Networks
Complex social communication and interactions sustain all natural interconnected systems. We will explore these systems on a range of scales and from diverse viewpoints, including the subcellular, the ecosystem and the network. Through discoveries in all disciplines, we will invent and use novel technologies to preserve biodiversity, minimize our disruption of earth’s ecosystem and anticipate change.
Cultivate Remote and Rural Communities
Innovative scientific applications can stimulate opportunity in remote and rural communities by creating local sources of energy, clean water and food. New technology means access to education, healthcare, the internet and support for entrepreneurship – services primarily associated with metropolitan living. Recognizing that humans have long flourished by connecting communities, we will collaborate on initiatives that promote remote resilience and opportunity.
Research Resources
Funding & Awards
The Faculty of Science at the University of Manitoba offers support for researchers in identifying potential funding sources and preparing grant applications.
Research Facilitation & Business Development
The Faculty of Science is committed to supporting researchers and community partners and provides research facilitation and business development services to achieve this mandate.
Facilities, Institutes, Capabilities
Researchers in the Faculty of Science have a wide range of expertise and capabilities which present opportunities to engage and collaborate across many areas of interest.
Researcher Profiles
News & Events
Dr. Mark Belmonte appointed to expert panel by the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA)
MAY 31, 2022 — DR. MARK BELMONTE, BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES. PHOTO CREDIT: KIRA KOOP. Mark Belmonte, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Manitoba, has been appointed as a member of the Expert Panel on Gene-edited Organisms for Pest Control at the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA), which has been tasked by the federal government and Health Canada’s...
Meet Raphaël Clouâtre, 2021 Rh Award Winner in the Natural Sciences category
MAY 27, 2022 — Raphaël Clouâtre is an associate professor in the mathematics department, whose research seeks to understand the structure of infinite matrices. Clouâtre is the 2021 recipient of the Terry G. Falconer Memorial Rh Institute Foundation Emerging Researcher Award in the Natural Sciences category, in recognition of his theories underlying recent developments in operator algebras...
Meet Aleeza Gerstein, 2021 Rh Award Winner in the Health Sciences category
Aleeza Gerstein is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Science, who specializes in the evolution of human fungal pathogens. Her interdisciplinary lab combines clinical sampling, microbial experiments, and computational statistical methods to understand conditions that promote disease. Gerstein is the 2021 recipient of the Terry G. Falconer Memorial Rh Institute Foundation Emerging Researcher Award...