Meric Gertler

Why Uber's new Toronto research hub is a big win for Canada: Op-ed by Meric Gertler

lanthierj — Wed, 10 May 2017 18:48:11 +0000

Why Uber's new Toronto research hub is a big win for Canada: Op-ed by Meric Gertler

lanthierj Wed, 05/10/2017 - 14:48

Cutline

(photo by Christopher Wahl)

Meric Gertler

Author legacy

Meric Gertler

Topic

City & Culture

Raquel Urtasun

Research & Innovation

A thriving innovation ecosystem needs both homegrown startups and scale-ups, as well as knowledge-intensive multinationals investing locally in research and development, University of Toronto President Meric Gertler writes in The Globe and Mail.

“For too long, we have watched our best and brightest talent in burgeoning fields like artificial intelligence pack their bags to leave Canada and make their future elsewhere. That all changed a few weeks ago, when I joined a room crowded with some of our country’s leading researchers in deep learning to celebrate the opening of Toronto’s Vector Institute.”

The investment in AI is designed to establish Canada as a place “where our talent wants to build their careers and a place that attracts talent from around the globe,” he writes.

“This week, that is exactly what happened. San Francisco-based Uber announced the establishment of a new Toronto research hub dedicated to the development of self-driving vehicles, to be led by renowned University of Toronto computer scientist Raquel Urtasun. Uber plans to hire researchers and engineers and will make a $5-million commitment to Vector.

“The best way to generate momentum and self-sustaining, clustered growth is to foster a rich mix of local and non-local firms, and to support spin-offs when budding entrepreneurs want to leave larger firms to start their own enterprise. Innovation hot spots worldwide all share these characteristics.

“Do we need a national strategy for scaling up homegrown firms? Absolutely. Do we need public policies that encourage more Canadian firms to invest in well-educated talent and R&D at home? You bet."

Read the complete op-ed at The Globe and Mail

Meric Gertler: research universities – good for what ails America (and Canada)

lavende4 — Tue, 08 Nov 2016 14:55:55 +0000

Meric Gertler: research universities – good for what ails America (and Canada)

lavende4 Tue, 11/08/2016 - 09:55

Meric Gertler

Author legacy

Meric Gertler

Topic

Global Lens

President Meric Gertler

In the days leading up to the American election, Professor Meric Gertler, president of the University of Toronto, reflected on the role universities can play in addressing a deeply polarized electorate.

With Americans ready to head to the polls, it was fascinating to be in Washington DC recently at the semi-annual gathering of the Association of American Universities.

Fellow presidents of America’s leading research universities (the University of Toronto is one of only two foreign members) wanted to move past the daily headlines about the U.S. election, to understand the forces that have produced a deeply polarized electorate. Discussion turned to the forces that are driving America’s current malaise, and the role that universities might play in helping address these challenges.

What are these forces? The most compelling arguments are economic.

New York Times commentator David Leonhardt, who spoke at the AAU meeting, argued that for the first time in history, many among the current generation of working-age Americans are worse off, on balance, than previous generations. The median net worth of Americans is lower than it was 30 years ago. Life spans are shorter for many groups, as obesity and other conditions have taken their toll on health. While other segments of American society may have thrived, for the first time for a significant subset of the U.S. population, life isn’t better than it used to be. The roots of Trumpism, Leonhardt explained, are to be found in the declining prosperity of some and the growing economic polarization within American society.

The solutions to this challenge are likely to be complex and difficult, particularly if they rely on redistributing income by making the income tax system more progressive or expanding social transfers. That’s why there is a unique and important role for universities to play at this moment.

First, it is now well established that the longstanding and sustained commitment to publicly funded research has created the foundations for so much of America’s post-war prosperity. The technologies embedded within the smartphone, for example, derive from decades of publicly funded research that spawned multi-touch screens, GPS, the Internet and other core technologies. Scientists working at universities did much of this fundamental research. Similar stories can be told about the science supporting medical breakthroughs or green energy technologies. At a time when the US economy is still emerging from a sustained slowdown (and when Canada is trying to figure out how to enhance prosperity and foster inclusive innovation), public expenditures on curiosity-driven research have never been more important.

Second, education is the single most important leveler of social and economic disparities within our population. By providing the tools and knowledge to function effectively in today’s working world, now more than ever education is the primary pathway to full participation in society, and the most reliable source of long-run prosperity. It is critically important, therefore, that we provide access to advanced education for all academically qualified applicants, no matter what their financial means. And our best institutions should embrace this responsibility as fully as the rest. The University of Toronto’s access policy – enacted in 1998 – has enabled tens of thousands of lower-income students to study at an institution that is consistently ranked among the top ten public universities in the world. Fully 50 per cent of our domestic undergraduates receive needs-based financial assistance – a figure that compares well to our US counterparts: UCLA is at 28 per cent, UC Berkeley at 23 per cent.

Third, the quality of our prosperity-creating research depends directly on our openness to the rest of the world. Universities need to be able to recruit the best talent – faculty and students – both locally and globally. And they need to work collaboratively with colleagues around the world, contributing to the productive circulation of ideas. At a time when America seems to be turning inward on itself and threatening to weaken its ties with its continental neighbours, the importance of openness cannot be overstated. Research universities are natural champions of this cause.

Access is not incompatible with excellence. On the contrary, access and openness enhance diversity, which accelerates the generation of new ideas, not only in research but in the kind of public policy innovation we will need in order to address pressing social problems such as inequality and polarization.

MERIC GERTLER is President of the University of Toronto

Toronto has the right recipe for innovation

lanthierj — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 12:27:38 +0000

Toronto has the right recipe for innovation lanthierj Fri, 09/16/2016 - 08:27

Meric Gertler

Author legacy

Meric Gertler and Ilse Treurnicht.

Topic

City & Culture

President Meric Gertler

Cities

Innovation

MaRS

Cities are becoming the leading engines of innovation, according to University of Toronto President Meric Gertler and MaRS Discovery District CEO Ilse Treurnicht.

And Canada will fall behind unless it embraces downtown density as a driving force in the new economy.

“Toronto is home to a vast network of innovation catalysts, and the largest and most comprehensive node in this network – MaRS – exemplifies a new global model for urban multi-sector innovation hubs, right in the heart of Toronto’s Discovery District,” they write in the Toronto Star.

Read the complete Op-ed in the Star

Welcome back from President Gertler

lavende4 — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 16:10:28 +0000

Welcome back from President Gertler

lavende4 Fri, 09/02/2016 - 12:10

Cutline

(Photo by Brian Summers)

Meric Gertler

Author legacy

Meric Gertler

President Meric Gertler

Welcome – or welcome back – to the University of Toronto, Canada’s leading university and an institution of global stature and impact. And to those who are new to the Greater Toronto Area, welcome to one of the greatest city-regions in the world.

As we start a new academic year, I encourage every member of the U of T community to take full advantage of the amazing opportunities around us – both inside and outside the classroom. Whether on the St George campus, at U of T Mississauga, or at U of T Scarborough, we have the chance to work and learn alongside the best and brightest in virtually every field imaginable. We can pursue our interests and passions with friends and colleagues in a huge range of co-curricular activities. And we’re an integral part of the wonderfully diverse and vibrant communities around us, enjoying the astonishing array of cultural opportunities here in the Toronto metropolitan region.

The University of Toronto consistently ranks among the world’s top institutions for research, education, innovation, and entrepreneurship. To all of those who make this possible – students, faculty, staff, alumni, volunteers, and friends – thank you for joining our academic community. I wish you health and success in the year to come.

Sincerely,

Meric Gertler