Funding Recipients

The Government of Canada has announced new funding to support the research of 70 faculty experts from Toronto Metropolitan University.

July 9, 2025

A variety of innovative projects across disciplines will be supported by $15.9 million in funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through the Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE), Research Tools and Instruments, and Discovery programs as well as from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) through the Insight Grants, Insight Development Grants, Partnership Grants, and Partnership Development Grants programs. Additional federal funding was provided by the Tri-Agencies through the New Frontiers in Research Fund Exploration competition.

76 Total Grants

15.9M Total Funding

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

2025 NSERC Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE)

Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science

Sharareh Taghipour: Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence for Decision Optimization (QAI4DO) Training Program

2025 NSERC Discovery Grant

Faculty of Arts

Maria Rajah: Individual Differences in the Item-Spatial Context Memory and Associated Brain Function
Cheryl Rogers: Continuous Leaf Area Index Measurement to Improve Ecosystem Carbon Monitoring and Modelling
Julia Spaniol: Curiosity and Information Seeking Across the Adult Lifespan

Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science

Ayşe Başar: Explainability and Evaluation of Large Language Models
Habiba Bougherara: Advancing Next-Generation Bioinspired, Data-Driven Sustainable Composites for Biomedical Applications
Seth Dworkin: Sustainable Combustion Modelling and Prediction
Abbas Ghasemi: Advancing Airborne Transmission Modeling: Novel Approaches for Integrating Computational Fluid Dynamics with Individual-Based Models
Khandaker Hossain: Smart Low Carbon Multi-functional Concrete Composites for Construction and Rehabilitation of Resilient Structural Systems
Jinyuan Liu: A Bayesian Approach for Reliability Analysis of Pile Foundations in Glacial Deposits
Jenn McArthur: Cognitive Digital Twins to Support Building Decarbonization
Mehrab Mehrvar: Integration of Advanced Oxidation Technologies and Biological Processes for the Treatment of Actual High-Strength Wastewaters
Khaled Sennah: Integrating Innovative Materials to Bridge Superstructure Resilient Design for Climate Adaptation and Sustainability
Russell Richman: Bottom-Up Archetype Development to Support Development of a National Housing Retrofit Strategy
Reza Samavi: Practical Trustworthiness of Deep Neural Networks
Scott Tsai: Microfluidic Nanobubbles: From Fundamental Science to Next-Generation Technology Development
Bala Venkatesh: 2050 Zero Carbon Distribution System Reliability with Deep Electrification
Hadis Zarrin: Multifunctional “2D Nanocomposites” for Sustainable Energy-Health-Environment Nexus
Lian Zhao: Network Innovations in 6G for Transforming Verticals of 2030
Saeed Zolfaghari: Integrated Pricing and Promotional Strategies under Disruptions

Faculty of Science

Lesley Campbell: Predictive Modeling of Plant Phenotypic Plasticity through Electrochemical Signal Analysis
Samuel Asante Gyamerah: Climate Risk Hedging Instruments under Model Uncertainty
Stefania Impellizzeri: Integrating Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence into Mainstream Photocatalysis and Bioimaging: A Paradigm Change for the Chemist’s and Biologist’s Toolkits
Ali Miri: Security and Privacy of Modern Distributed Learning Systems
Jelena Mišić: Improving Operation of Blockchain Networks and Internet Using Quantum Algorithms
Dérick Rousseau: Structure and Function of Droplet Shape Anisotropy in Crystallizing Food Emulsions
Kathleen Wilkie: Mathematical Models and Methods for Heterogeneous Cancer-Immune Interactions

Ted Rogers School of Management

Anatoliy Gruzd: A Stable Diffusion? – Analyzing the Impacts of Generative AI on the Production and Consumption of Visual Content on Social Media
Shengkun Xie: Interpretable and Explainable Machine Learning Techniques for Automobile Statistical Plan Data
Xingwei (Nancy) Yang: A Multi-Method Approach to Capturing Social Influences and Dynamics in Social Networks
Morteza Zihayat: Fair and Adaptive Search in Dynamic Attributed Graphs

2025 NSERC Research Tools and Instruments

Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science

Rania Hamza: Integrated Biological Activity and Gas Chromatography Analyzer System

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)

2024 Insight Grants

Faculty of Arts

Sarah Bull: Manufacturing Literature: Text Reuse in the Anglophone Novel, 1800–1900
Michael Milona: The Nature and Ethics of Romantic Love

The Creative School

Sibo Chen: Decoding Wildfires: A Study on Media Coverage, Conspiracy Theories, and Public Engagement
David Gauntlett: Practices of Knowing: Research-Creation Beyond Academia

Faculty of Community Services

Julian Hasford: The Black Land Living Lab Project
Kateryna Metersky: Gathering insight on clinical nurse educators’ professional development and socialization to contribute to mitigating the healthcare workforce crisis
Pamela Robinson: Reshaping AI Local Governance in Canada
Magdalena Ugarte: Building a Framework for Mapuche Spatial Planning

Ted Rogers School of Management

Rishad Habib: Understanding Consumer Responses to Minority-Owned Businesses
Atefeh (Atty) Mashatan: Crypto-agility scorecard: Moving towards quantum-resilience and beyond
Hyunghwa (Rick) Oh: AI-driven personalization in hospitality: diverging impacts on luxury vs. non-luxury customer satisfaction

2025 Insight Development Grants 

Faculty of Arts

Evan Cleave: Exploring Local Climate Change Action in Canada: Place-based strategies, community engagement, and environmental justice
Iloradanon Efimoff: Investigating the Effects of Critical Historical Education on Anti-Indigenous Prejudice
Margaret Moulson: Investigating the impact of human-animal interactions on empathy, stress, and social functioning in children and adolescents
Ryan Persram: Daily Interactions between Adolescent Siblings: Insights from a Dyadic Perspective
Julia Spaniol: Advice from algorithms: Adult age differences in trust and advice-taking from generative AI

Faculty of Community Services

Hasina Amanzai: Barriers and facilitators to uptake of and engagement in physical activity among older South Asian immigrant women in Canada
Cristina Catallo: Facilitating access and use of digital technology for social connectedness among immigrant older adults in the Arab community in the Greater Toronto Area: A critical ethnographic study
Kiaras Gharabaghi: Exploring Privatization and For-profit Services in Child Protection in Canada
Nemoy Lewis: The Impact of AI on Racialized Renters in Canada's Housing Market
Kateryna Metersky: Practical and ethical implications of recruiting participants using social media for sensitive research topics: The role of public opinion and backlash

The Creative School

Nicole Blanchett: Innovation, Ideals, and Practice: Examining journalistic roles in Canadian media
Jane Griffith: Narratives for Coexisting: Supervised Consumption Sites, Parenting, and the Settler Colonialism of Public Safety
Louis Laberge-Cote: Enhancing Kinesthetic Empathy in Dance Audiences through XR Technology
Richard Lachman: Adaptive Narratives: AI-Driven Systems for Multi-Perspective Documentary Storytelling
Shari Okeke: On the record, off the mark: the effects journalists have on Black interviewees
Layal Shuman: Re-imagining Universities for Justice-Oriented and Sustainable Futures
Charlie Wall-Andrews: Equity and Entrepreneurship in Canada's Music Ecosystem

Ted Rogers School of Management

Mehak Bharti: Mind Over Markdowns: How Mindfulness Counters the Allure of Discounts
Peter Fisher: Toward a Better Understanding of the Design of Forced-Choice Personality Assessments: Putting the Theory to the Test
Anatoliy Gruzd: Moderating the Machine: The Role of Soft Moderation in AI-Generated Content on Social Media
Atefeh (Atty) Mashatan: From firm-internal to firm-external cybersecurity coopetition: Paving the way for organizational cyber-resilience
Laleh Samarbakhsh: Measuring climate uncertainty cost for Canadian insurance firms
Vessela Stamenova: The Value Proposition for payers and users of Generative AI Message Drafting in Healthcare: A Mixed-Methods Study
Xingwei (Nancy) Yang: Support Beyond Boundaries: Using Online Groups to Fight Mental Illness
Aoran Zhang: The Impact of political ideology on capital market: Does right-wing populism leaning media affect Initial Public Offerings?

Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science

Mohamed Wahab Mohamed Ismail: Composite and deep cross hedging

CERC in Migration and Integration

Richa Shivakoti: Emigration from Canada: Rationale and implications of immigrants leaving

2024 Partnership Grants 

The Creative School

Natalie Alvarez: The Arts Impact Partnership (TAIP): Understanding the Arts’ Civic Impact in the Data-Driven Economy

2024 Partnership Development Grants

Faculty of Arts

Anna Triandafyllidou: FUTUREMIG – Futures of Migration and Mobility Partnership

Faculty of Community Services

Raktim Mitra: Shared Electric Micromobility As A Transportation Solution in Canadian Suburban Communities (SEM-Can)
Kathryn Underwood: Indigenous Disability-Affirming Early learning (IDAEL) and Care Partnership

Government of Canada

New Frontiers in Research Fund: 2024 Exploration Competition

Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science

Vincent Hui: Biodesign for Sustainable Construction: Developing Scalable Living Building Materials Integrating Biomineralization and 3D Bioprinting

The Creative School

Jessica Mudry: Remaking the hospital hallway: Flexible modular seating as clinical space in the ER