Bernard Duncker, Professor in the Department of Biology, has been reappointed as Associate Vice-President (AVP), Interdisciplinary
Research, for a three-year term, starting on September 1, 2022.
Professor Duncker has held the AVP role in the Office of Research since 2018 and has been instrumental in promoting and facilitating interdisciplinary research; overseeing and supporting the University Research Centres & Institutes; and developing and overseeing international research partnerships. In this role, he has also served as the University of Waterloo lead, on behalf of the Vice-President, Research and International, for the National Research Council-University of Waterloo Collaboration Centre and served as co-Chair of the Waterloo Awards Committee.
Under his leadership, Professor Duncker successfully launched the Interdisciplinary Trailblazer seed funding program; co-chaired the Interdisciplinary Task Force; oversaw the nomination and appointment process for several University Centre & Institute executive directors; strengthened international research with key strategic partners including the University of Bordeaux and Technion; and served as the University of Waterloo’s administrative lead, in partnership with Leader’s Fund, Communitech, and the Schulich Foundation, for the successful inaugural $1M Leaders Prize AI competition.
In his second term, Professor Duncker aims to advance interdisciplinary collaboration through the creation of networking and event spaces; align the University’s research strengths with important global challenges through the work of the University Centres & Institutes; promote the formation of cross-faculty graduate student teams; advance a performance management system (i.e., key performance indicators) for the University Centres & Institutes; and develop and implement processes for Faculties to engage with the Centres & Institutes and the Office of Research in an efficient and effective manner.
Professor Duncker joined the University of Waterloo as a faculty member in 2000. He earned his B.Sc. (Hons.) from the University of Ottawa, his Ph.D. in Biology from Queen’s University and completed a Terry Fox Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research in Lausanne, Switzerland. His research on yeast and the proteins involved in controlling DNA replication and cell cycle checkpoints has applications in detecting the presence of environmental carcinogens and cancer in humans.
Congratulations Professor Duncker on his reappointment!