News

The Honourable Bardish Chagger, Minister of Small Business and Tourism, was on campus today to announce $5.7 million in funds for Waterloo's Canada Research Chairs in the areas of environmental modelling and analysis, insurance risk processes, bioinformatics, quantum molecular dynamics, number theory, and philosophy and cognitive science. 

“We need to create communities where we’re all helping each other,” says Arts alumnus Michael Robson. Last June, he put that statement into action by starting an award for undergraduates at the University of Waterloo. He pledged $10,000 of his own money over five years to build the Collective Movement Award, which supports students involved in the African, Caribbean or black communities.

How should citizens engage with technological innovation? Professor Heather Douglas is dedicated to helping the public, scientists and policy makers work together for innovation that serves society.

A Department of Economics team, mentored by Professor Jean-Paul Lam, is among five finalists for the Bank of Canada’s Governor’s Challenge.

Professor Patricia Marino demonstrates every week how philosophy is or can be applied in everyday life. Her weekly blog, The Kramer Is Now ("Accidental girl philosopher encounters modern life") offers engaging, candid, funny and powerfully insightful commentary on topics from paper coffee cups to the all-female Ghostbusters.

As world leaders gather in Marrakech, Morocco next week for the 22nd Session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22) they will be joined by University of Waterloo students from the Faculties of Arts, Engineering, Environment and Science.

Gord Pennycook published research on everything from BS to how smartphone use is linked to lazy thinking. Now he’s on a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University.

Pennycook is a psychology expert on how humans think, reason and make decisions. His passion for cognitive science may well be connected to his own extraordinary ability to think fast.

The Globe and Mail reports on essay writing skills with comments by Associate Dean, Undergraduate Programs, Katherine Acheson:

Even in an age of quick-bite digital communication, writing skills are key because they can be transferred to any number of other forms, including a song, a sales pitch, or even a profile on a dating site.

Zuhair Zaidi, a student in the Master of Public Service program at Waterloo, has been interested in Canadian politics since the age of 15. Thanks to Waterloo’s flexibility in allowing students to arrange their own jobs, Zaidi landed a co-op work term in the House of Commons this past spring.

The social and clinical psychology areas of the Department of Psychology have much to be proud of - and this week that includes the announcement of the prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships for 2016. Two PhD students are among the recipients.