Research and innovation are integral to the University of Waterloo and recognized worldwide. Waterloo attracted more than $259.9 million from public and private sources in 2023-2024 to fund research across a spectrum of challenges, and is home to:
- One Nobel Laureate
- Five Killam Prize winners
- 71 Canada Research Chairs
- Three Canada Excellence Research Chairs: Dr. Sara A. Hart (Developmental Science), Dr. Renée J. Miller (Data Intelligence), and Katja Mombaur (Human-Centred Robotics and Machine Intelligence)
- Two Canada Excellence Research Chair Laureates: Philippe Van Cappellen (Ecohydrology) and David Cory (Quantum Information Processing)
- Velocity, Waterloo's flagship entrepreneurship centre
- Waterloo's unique creator-owned intellectual property (IP)
- Waterloo Commercialization Office (WatCo), providing IP and patent services
Waterloo's commitment to research excellence and entrepreneurship includes supporting faculty members across the full research trajectory, applying for and managing funds, safeguarding research, cultivating collaborations with industry or public sector partners and commercialization.
Centres and Institutes
Institutes and research centres are partnerships with the University of Waterloo and are Senate Graduate & Research Council (SGRC) and Senate approved. Several of the Centres and Institutes fall under the umbrella of the Vice-President, Research and International.
You can find a complete list of Waterloo's research centres and institutes on the Faculties and Academics page of the University of Waterloo website.
Publications and strategic plan
- Our Connected World: Research Strategic Plan 2020-2025
- Our Connected World: Research Report 2023/24
- Momentum 02 - Velocity Report (Published 2025)
To request copies of any materials, please email researchoffice@uwaterloo.ca.