Media Releases
Below is a selection of recent press releases. For all the latest news please visit www.utoronto.ca/news
General Inquires +1 (416) 978-0100 Email media.relations@utoronto.ca
Higher-income students have an edge when it comes to working memory
Toronto, ON – University of Toronto and MIT researchers have discovered important differences between lower and higher-income children in their ability to use “working memory,” a key brain function responsible for everything from remembering a phone number to doing math in your head. Using functional MRI (fMRI) to measure and map the brain activity of a group of middle-schoolers, the researchers – working in collaboration with Harvard University – were able to physically document that the lower-income students tested had…
“Perfect storm” brought sea louse epidemic to BC salmon: University of Toronto study
Toronto, ON – High ocean temperatures and poor timing of parasite management likely led to an epidemic of sea lice in 2015 throughout salmon farms in British Columbia's Queen Charlotte Strait, a University of Toronto-led study has found. The sea lice spread to migrating juvenile wild salmon, resulting in the highest numbers of sea lice observed on wild salmon in a decade. In spring of 2015, a team of U of T ecologists led by postdoctoral researchers Andrew Bateman and Stephanie…
X Marks the Spot at the Centre of the Milky Way Galaxy
Toronto, ON – Two astronomers — with the help of Twitter — have uncovered the strongest evidence yet that an enormous X-shaped structure made of stars lies within the central bulge of the Milky Way Galaxy. Previous computer models, observations of other galaxies, and observations of our own galaxy have suggested that the X-shaped structure existed. But no one had observed it directly; and some astronomers argued that previous research that pointed indirectly to the existence of the X could be…
Behavioural scientists help Ontario save money through more online licence plate renewals: first-of-its kind Rotman collaboration
Toronto, ON – As tedious as waiting in a government services line-up can be, that’s what most people do, despite having the option of getting their business done online. In Ontario, only about 10 per cent of vehicle owners do their annual licence plate sticker renewals via the Internet. Maintaining the overhead to serve everyone else in person costs Canada’s most populous province nearly $36 million a year. But using study methods drawn from behavioural science, a team of researchers found…
How does water behave in space? U of T Engineering researchers aim to solve longstanding mystery
Toronto, ON – U of T Engineering researchers are launching an experiment that aims to solve the longstanding myster of how water behaves in space. Their experiment will launch at 12:45 am on Monday, July 18 aboard SpaceX CRS-9 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, headed for the International Space Station (ISS). There, an astronaut will run the experiment and capture photos and video of their glass jar of purified water. The iniative is led by post-doctoral fellow Aaron Persad and Professor Emeritus…
Business Executives Receive Appointments at University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management
Toronto, ON – Three seasoned executives with experience as entrepreneurs and in the financial services sector have received appointments at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. Mitchell Goldhar and David Scrymgeour have been appointed as Adjunct Professors while Jun Yuan has been appointed as an Executive in Residence. Mitchell Goldhar is the founder of SmartCentres which developed over 250 shopping centres across Canada in the past 21 years, including 175 Walmart stores. Recently, he converted SmartCentres into SmartREIT and…
Warm Jupiters not as Lonely as Expected
Toronto, ON – After analyzing four years of Kepler space telescope observations, astronomers from the University of Toronto have given us our clearest understanding yet of a class of exoplanets called “Warm Jupiters”, showing that many have unexpected planetary companions. The team’s analysis, published July 10th in the Astrophysical Journal, provides strong evidence of the existence of two distinct types of Warm Jupiters, each with their own formation and dynamical history. The two types include those that have companions and thus,…
Massive open-access database on human cultures created
Toronto, ON – An international team of researchers has developed a website at d-place.org to help answer long-standing questions about the forces that shaped human cultural diversity. D-PLACE – the Database of Places, Language, Culture and Environment – is an expandable, open access database that brings together a dispersed body of information on the language, geography, culture and environment of more than 1,400 human societies. It comprises information mainly on pre-industrial societies that were described by ethnographers in the 19th…
Former Rotman School Dean Appointed to the Order of Canada
Toronto, ON – The former Dean of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management has received one of Canada’s highest civilian honours. Professor Roger Martin, who led the Rotman School from 1998 to 2013 as Dean, was named as a Member of the Order of Canada for his for his leadership in business education and for his innovative studies in corporate management. The appointment was announced by His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, on…
Clusters in Ontario – Creating an Ecosystem for Prosperity
Toronto, ON – A new working paper from the Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity suggests that the province of Ontario could increase its prosperity through the growth of clusters and makes recommendations on how to improve the ecosystem that fosters successful clusters including the loosening of foreign direct investment restrictions and reducing government involvement in venture capital markets. As of 2015, the prosperity gap, measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), between Ontario and its North American peers stood at $12,500 per…