Durham College (DC) is pleased to announce that its Office of Research Services, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ORSIE) has been approved to receive $2.24 million in funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), through the council’s College and Community Innovation (CCI) Program and College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF).

Two million of the funds will be used over five years to further enhance the capacity of the college’s Hub for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence for Business Solutions (the AI Hub). Having already established itself as a leader in AI through a number of innovative applied research projects and the creation of the college’s new graduate certificate program, Artificial Intelligence Analysis, Design and Implementation, the grant will allow the hub to engage more faculty, students and industry partners in collaborative projects to improve business innovation, develop talent and contribute to local technological advancement.

A second applied research grant, focusing on developing a unique and scalable housing model for youth living on their own in Durham Region, will receive $240,000 in CCSIF funding over a two-year period. Established in partnership with the Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham District School Board, Durham Mental Health Services and the John Howard Society of Canada, DC will work to develop a ground-breaking, youth-designed housing hub model, while also investigating best practices and determining ways to improve the coordination and collaboration of services for Trusteed Youth.

This funding announcement comes as DC was recently named one of Canada’s Top 50 Research Colleges by Research Infosource Inc., a Canadian research and development intelligence company. This is the sixth consecutive year the college has been included on the list, which is informed by data on research income, research intensity, research partnerships and projects at colleges across the country.

The goal of the CCI Program is fostering partnerships between colleges and the private sector, to encourage business innovation, locally, regionally and nationally. CCSIF grants are intended to support college social innovation research projects in partnership with local community organizations.