Durham College is leading the way as one of Canada’s Top 50 Research Colleges

For a remarkable tenth time, Durham College (DC) has been recognized as one of Canada’s Top 50 Research Colleges by Research Infosource Inc.

DC placed 19th on the Top 50 list, up from 37th last year. That jump was powered by our tremendous 116.3% increase in year-over-year research income, proving that we’re leading the way in applied research. Among medium-sized colleges, DC secured second place for the number of paid student researchers, seventh for completed research projects, and eighth for research partnerships.

DC’s Office of Research Services, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ORSIE) leads applied research initiatives and helps solve industry and social challenges with innovation and collaboration by engaging industry, faculty, students and the community-at-large in research projects to address the needs of a technology-driven knowledge economy. Notable research accomplishments for this year include:

  • Opening the Centre for Innovation and Research, which is now home to ORSIE and four of six applied research centres, including the AI Hub, Centre for Cybersecurity Innovation, Mixed Reality Capture Studio and the Social Impact Hub, as well as the Institutional Research Team and the Experiential Learning Hub.
  • Receiving a Technology Access Centres (TAC) grant from the College and Community Innovation (CCI) program. DC’s AI Hub will receive $350,000 per year over the next five years, creating new opportunities to enrich student training, support skills acquisition and launch new services.
  • Continuing to develop more creative and meaningful applied research projects and co-operative education work-terms for students in a growing number of host sites, supported in part through the Diane Blake Student Success Initiative.

“This is an acknowledgement of the tremendous expertise that we have developed here in ORSIE across our research centres,” said Debbie McKee Demczyk, dean, ORSIE. “It’s also a testament to the relationships that we’ve developed in the business community, the organizations that trust us to do this important work to help them to grow and innovate and be efficient and productive, all while supporting student learning.”

To learn more about DC’s applied research centres, visit www.durhamcollege.ca/orsie.

To learn more about ORSIE, read the 2022-2023 Annual Report.