February Events

Turning the Lab into a Studio: Conversations Between Art and Science

With Dr. Sari Hannila
Hosted by Sarah Fuller, SoA Sessional Instructor

Event Details:
Date: Thursday, February 6, 2025
Time: 11:30 AM–12:30 PM
Location: 368 ARTlab, University of Manitoba

Art and science share foundational elements of curiosity, experimentation, and discovery. Dr. Sari Hannila will discuss her groundbreaking collaborations that bring these fields together, including Neurocraft and Dura Mater: Objective/Subjective. These projects transformed laboratories into studios, enabling artists to use scientific techniques and tools in their creative processes.

Dr. Hannila is an Associate Professor of Human Anatomy and Cell Science at the University of Manitoba and a leader in neurobiology research, focusing on neural plasticity and regeneration. Her innovative outreach initiatives include anatomy drawing workshops and art-science exhibitions, making her a pioneer in interdisciplinary collaboration.

Workshop and Artist Talk with Jen Sonnenberg

Explore the Craft of Woodfired Pottery
Hosted by Anaies Mehrabian, UM Ceramics Club

Event Details:
Date: Monday, February 3, 2025
Location: Room 115, Ceramics and Sculpture Building

Schedule:

• Morning Demonstrations: 10:00 AM–12:00 PM
• Artist Talk: 1:00–1:30 PM
• Afternoon Demonstrations: 1:30–4:30 PM

Jen Sonnenberg’s functional porcelain and stoneware capture the beauty of the woodfiring process, resulting in unique, timeless works. This workshop offers a hands-on opportunity to learn her techniques, including creating stretched plates, bellied pots, and stamped mugs.

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More upcoming Winter 2025 Speakers

In addition to these February events, the Visiting Speakers Series has an exciting lineup of guests this term with more to come:

• Tehching Hsieh: March 5–6, 2025
• Dr. Juliana Espana Keller: March 14, 2025
• Sarah Ann Johnson: March 25, 2025

*Dates may be subject to change.

About the Visiting Speakers Series

The School of Art is proud to present the Visiting Speakers Series, which highlights art professionals at the forefront of contemporary art, criticism, and design. This series is a vital component of the student experience at the School of Art, offering diverse perspectives on the most pressing issues facing today’s artists and scholars.

Each guest presents their work to a broad audience of students and community members, while many also engage in small, focused gatherings tailored to their unique practices. These settings provide invaluable opportunities for critique, conversation, and mentorship.

These events showcase the depth and breadth of contemporary artistic practice, offering unique learning experiences for students and the wider community. Join us to be inspired by the creative possibilities at the crossroads of art, science, and craft!

For more information, visit our School of Art Exhibitions and Events page.

One UM subject, Food science and technology, also broke the global top 100 this year, a significant achievement. ShanghaiRanking annually evaluates more than 5,000 universities worldwide and includes the University of Manitoba as one of 1,900 universities from across 104 countries on its top-ranked list.

Placing 45th worldwide, Food science and technology moves up from last year’s 101-150 placement. The subject ranks second in Canada, up from sixth last year, and is UM’s highest subject ranking nationally and globally.

It is one of three UM subjects that rank in the national top five. Dentistry and oral sciences, along with biological sciences (up from 14th last year), both rank fifth nationally and in the top 101-150 globally.

“We are delighted by our increased rankings due to the impressive performance of UM researchers, with one UM subject now ranking in the global top 100, and virtually doubling UM subjects in the national top 10 and top five,” says Vice-President (Research and international) Dr. Mario Pinto.

Other UM subjects on national top 10 lists include: human biological sciences and agricultural sciences, both ranking seventh (up from 11th and 12th, respectively); nursing, pharmacy and oceanography, all ranking at ninth; and telecommunications engineering, which broke this year’s top 10 (up from 12th in 2023).

Several subjects place just outside of the top ten. Both math and public health rank eleventh nationally, with public health up from thirteenth last year. Atmospheric science and clinical medicine both rank thirteenth.

The global list evaluates 55 subjects; ranking factors include research output, research influence, international collaboration, research quality and international academic awards.

Rankings: UM research excellence and impact

Vice-President (Research and international) Dr. Mario Pinto notes that increasing UM rankings is identified as a goal of the new Strategic Research Plan, launched earlier this year. Change through Research highlights how UM researchers are bringing creative solutions to local and global challenges, resulting in greater positive impact and increased external profile.

“These new rankings in the 2024 report speak to the commitment to research excellence at UM and reflect our strategic focus on measuring success and increasing external recognition,” Pinto says.

Through UM’s many academic and research-intensive programs, our researchers and student-researchers are having an indelible impact on our world, tackling complex problems such as infectious diseases, Arctic research, climate change, global public health, human rights, social justice and sustainability.

As Manitoba’s largest and most research-intensive university, UM offers more than 100 programs of study, the most of any post-secondary institution in Manitoba. The quality, diversity and breadth of UM programs make it a competitive option nationally and internationally.

Chemistry professor Rebecca Davis and PhD candidate Hunter Sturm, from UM’s Davis Research Group, are applying machine learning algorithms and AI to help understand what is happening at each step of  the antibiotic drug development process.

The team has developed a new understanding of machine learning algorithms that can help see the complexity of AI decision making through Explainable AI (XAI).

“We want to teach the computer how to show us what steps it is taking to arrive at a conclusion, rather than just assuming the steps it took are the correct ones,” says Sturm. “We know that AI is only as good as the information that is fed into it, so we want to remove the mystery and train the AI model on what it should look for and understand the steps it has taken.”

Davis and Sturm recently presented their work at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society. They are among a small number of researchers in North America who are trying to build a greater understanding amongst the science community around this subset of AI and reduce skepticism around new methodologies.

 “We collaborate with researchers at UM and around the world to make progress on drug development aided by computational and physical chemistry,” says Davis. “We definitely punch above our weight with this innovative work to help provide insight into how AI make decisions in order to help move forward with better antibiotics.”

As part of a larger international collaborative effort that combines the expertise of chemists (Davis, Manitoba), microbiologist (Cardona, Manitoba), bioinformaticians (Hu Lab, Western) and computer scientists (Friederich, KIT, Germany), they are working to develop methods to improve the antibiotic discovery pipeline.

This innovative research in drug development may lead to improved accuracy and less time to analyze data for large pharmaceutical companies. The team hopes this will dramatically reduce the time and cost of new drug development and improve the availability of antibiotics on the market.

Read more about this work 

Attend one or more of the Discover Your Future in Healthcare virtual sessions or check out one of the recorded sessions and discover the many healthcare options available for you!  Career Services will be highlighting a few healthcare occupations this year including:

• Career Choices in Healthcare: Tuesday, February 20 | 1:30 – 3 p.m.
• Discover Your Future in Healthcare Occupational info sessions:
  • Nurse: Wednesday, February 21 | 9:30 – 11 a.m.
  • Medicine/Physician: Thursday, February 22 | 9:30 – 11 a.m.
  • Midwife: Thursday, February 22 | 1:30 – 3 p.m.
  • Respiratory Therapist: Friday, February 23 | 1:30 – 3 p.m.
  • Athletic Therapist: Tuesday, February 27 | 1:30 – 3 p.m.

Each session in the series offers the chance to learn first-hand about the occupation and will feature a professional (or two) from the field who will speak about their experiences in the role. Admissions and academic program information will also be highlighted, if applicable.

All sessions will be virtual.  Register in advance on UMConnect to reserve your spot today! 

Career Services supports all University of Manitoba graduates with their career planning and job search needs.  If you need some help in making a career decision, you can book an appointment with a Career Consultant.  Visit the Career Services webpage for more information on how to access the resources and services available for you.

The just-released 2023 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS) includes UM as one of 1,900 universities worldwide across 104 countries and regions that made the list from more than 5,000 universities evaluated.

The influential annual list by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy includes 55 subjects across the natural sciences, engineering, life sciences, medical sciences and the social sciences. Ranking factors include research output, research influence, international collaboration, research quality and international academic awards.

UM ranked fourth in Canada in dentistry and oral sciences — its top ranking nationally, and in the top 101-150 globally.

Top 10 national academic subject rankings for UM include food science, mathematics, oceanography, pharmacy and veterinary sciences. In food science and technology, UM ranked sixth in the country and from 101-150 globally; mathematics at UM placed eighth in Canada and in the 201-300 category globally. UM ranked ninth in oceanography nationally and from 101-150 globally; pharmacy at UM was also ranked ninth in Canada, and in the top 151-200 globally out of 500, while veterinary sciences at UM ranked tenth nationally and in the top 201-300 globally.

UM’s other medical sciences subjects also made the list, with nursing ranking eleventh in Canada, while clinical medicine and public health both ranked thirteenth nationally. All were in the 201-300 category globally.

In the life sciences category, nationally UM ranked eleventh in human biological sciences, twelfth in agricultural sciences and fourteenth in biological sciences.
Other strong UM subject showings were telecommunications engineering, ranked twelfth in Canada and from 101-150 globally, and education and transportation science and technology, both ranked fourteenth nationally.

UM research excellence and impact

“We are thrilled at the positive performance of UM researchers both nationally and globally, as outlined in this report,” said Vice-President (Research and international) Dr. Mario Pinto. “These results speak to the commitment to research excellence at UM and the impacts we are making both at home and around the world.”

UM is Manitoba’s largest and most research-intensive university, offering more than 100 programs of study, more than any other post-secondary institution in Manitoba. The quality, diversity and breadth of UM programs make it a competitive option nationally and internationally, and the post-secondary institution of choice in Manitoba.

Through UM’s many academic and research-intensive programs, our researchers and student-researchers are having an indelible impact on our world, tackling complex problems such as infectious diseases, Arctic research, climate change, global public health, human rights, social justice and sustainability.

UM is also an indispensable driver of economic growth and development for our province and contributes to the well-being of communities in Manitoba, as well as the people of Canada and the world.

“UM is committed to creating solutions to the most pressing societal issues, both at home and abroad,” said Pinto.

“It’s wonderful to see the hard work and accomplishments of UM scholars recognized on the global stage, as a true testament to the hard work and dedication of these individuals.”

Le doctorant de l’Université du Manitoba Aurélien Caron a reporté le 3e prix du jury, ainsi qu’une bourse de 1 250$, lors de la finale canadienne du concours Ma thèse en 180 secondes (version francophone de 3-minutes Thesis). Cette finale a rassemblé à Montréal des doctorants et des doctorantes venant de 21 universités canadiennes, d’un océan à l’autre, et de divers domaines de recherche.

Aurélien Caron est originaire de France, et est venu au Canada pour faire sa thèse. Il étudie la contribution du système migratoire rostral à la régénération du cerveau chez le poisson-zèbre, au sein de la Faculté d’anatomie humaine et de sciences cellulaires. En avril dernier, il avait remporté le premier prix de la finale manitobaine du concours, lui permettant de se rendre en finale canadienne.

“Partager mes recherches avec un public qui n’a presque pas d’expérience en Sciences fut un vrai plaisir. A travers ma performance, j’espère avoir encouragé d’autres personnes à se lancer dans la Recherche et à partager leurs passions.” note Caron.

“Le niveau de la finale nationale étant très élevé, l’arrivée d’Aurélien en troisième est des plus remarquable et montre que la recherche faite par des francophones en milieu minoritaire est vigoureuse et a toute sa place au Canada. Félicitations à lui et à tous les participants”, remarque le Professeur Jean-Eric Ghia, Université du Manitoba, Organisateur de la finale provinciale manitobaine.

“Merci, Aurelien Caron, d’avoir rapporté cette troisième place au Manitoba et à l’Université du Manitoba. Nous espérons un même succès aux candidats qui participeront aux prochaines éditions. L’université du Manitoba possédant de talentueux orateurs francophones, et c’est un plaisir de les voir récompensés au niveau national,” mentionne Professeure Kelley Main, Université du Manitoba, Doyenne, Faculté des études supérieures.

Organisé par l’Acfas – Association francophone pour le savoir depuis 2012, le concours Ma thèse en 180 secondes s’adresse aux candidat·e·s de maîtrise et de doctorat, qui ont pour défi de présenter en 3 minutes un exposé clair, concis et convaincant de leur projet de recherche devant un auditoire profane et diversifié. La finale nationale s’inscrivait dans la programmation du 90e Congrès de l’Acfas, qui est une association pancanadienne et multidisciplinaire de chercheurs et chercheuses d’expression française.

La University of Manitoba souhaite toutes ses félicitations à Aurélien Caron pour sa performance impeccable au concours!

Photo provided by Hombeline Dumas.

Canadian final of Ma thèse en 180 secondes : UM student Aurélien Caron wins the 3rd prize

The University of Manitoba doctoral student Aurélien Caron won the 3rd prize of the jury, and a $1,250 grant, at the Canadian final of the Ma thèse en 180 seconds competition, the French-language version of the 3-minute Thesis. This final brought together, in Montreal, doctoral students from 21 Canadian universities, from coast to coast, and from various fields of research.

Aurélien Caron is originally from France and came to Canada to do his thesis. He studies the contribution of the rostral migration system to brain regeneration of the zebrafish at the Faculty of Human Anatomy and Cellular Sciences. Last April, he won first prize in the Manitoba competition’s final, allowing him to participate in the Canadian final.

“Sharing my research with a large public with little to no experience in Science was a real pleasure. I hope that, by my performance, I encouraged people to take part in Research or communicate their passions” says Caron.

“The level of the national final being very high, Aurélien’s third-place finish is most remarkable and shows that research done by Francophones in a minority setting is vibrant and has its place in Canada. Congratulations to him and all the participants,” says Professor Jean-Eric Ghia, University of Manitoba, Organizer of the Manitoba Provincial Final.

“Thank you, Aurelien Caron, for bringing this third place win to Manitoba and the University of Manitoba. We hope for the same success for candidates participating in the next editions. The University of Manitoba has talented francophone speakers and it is wonderful to see them be recognized at a national event,” mentions Kelley Main, Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Manitoba.

Organized by Acfas – the Francophone Association for the Advancement of Sciences since 2012, the Ma thèse en 180 secondes competition invites doctoral and masters candidates to present their research in 3 minutes in a clear, concise and convincing way in front of a diverse audience. The national final was part of the program of the 90th Acfas Congress. Acfas is a pan-Canadian and multidisciplinary association of French-speaking researchers.

The University of Manitoba congratulates Aurélien Caron on his impeccable performance at the competition!

Discover Your Future in Science

Do you have a passion for science but you aren’t sure what you can do with a science degree? If so, consider attending The Discover Your Future in Science series.

Learn valuable information about the careers in science, and our Science Co-op program. UM Career Services will be talking about professional careers in science. Academic advisors and professors will be on hand to talk about degree programs, (both undergraduate and graduate level) and supports available to you. Student group representatives will also be there to share the many ways to get involved the Faculty of Science.

Come discover the many options available for you! 

FREE to attend! Light refreshments will be served.

Register in advance. Space is limited.

Attend one session or all three!

Discover Your Future in Science: Life Sciences
Thursday, Jan. 26, 2022
5:45 PM – 7:30 PM
W230 Duff Roblin Bldg. Register

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Discover Your Future in Science: Math & Computing
Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2022
5:45 PM – 7:30 PM
W230 Duff Roblin Bldg. Register

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Discover Your Future in Science: Physical Sciences
Monday, Feb. 6
5:45 PM – 7:30 PM
W230 Duff Roblin Bldg. Register 

Photo by Kira Coop

“My students learn how to identify what they need to achieve their objectives, and to assess and take advantage of the tools at their disposal,” explains Pahud, an instructor in the department of physics and astronomy.

“I encourage my students to start with a goal in mind and, for this course, that involves choosing a scientific question to answer. We then take the time to learn about what observations we need to answer that question, and plan an approach and schedule to attain that goal.”

Experiential learning is often associated with co-ops and work placements, with a focus on making students “job-ready.” But, as Pahud demonstrates, experiential learning is more than career preparation. It is life preparation.

The Glenlea Astronomical Observatory. // photo courtesy of Danielle Pahud

“Things don’t always go as planned–between the weather and quirks with the equipment,” Pahud adds. “So, troubleshooting, creative problem-solving and even re-evaluating goals are part of the course, all of which translates into useful life skills. Plus, they’re often working as a group, so it gives them some real experience working collaboratively with peers.”

A piece of astronomy equipment aimed at the night sky.

At its core, experiential learning is when students learn by doing, and then reflect back to make meaning from what they just learned. Students put into practice their course content, finding ways to apply theoretical concepts in the real world and deepening their learning along the way.

Experiential learning teaches students a variety of life competencies that support them to become more adaptable and resilient in a changing world. It helps students to advance their personal growth and build professional and community connections. This year, as many students are returning to in-person learning, experiential learning also enables students to make new friends and explore new spaces.

The University of Manitoba has a long history of using experiential learning as a pedagogical tool. It views the learning environment as seamless, spanning both formal and informal learning spaces. It supports a broad definition of experiential learning that includes both curricular and co-curricular experiences.

UM also recognizes that experiential learning integrates principles drawn from Indigenous pedagogies, and is inextricably linked to Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing.

A still image from a video of Brian Rice and students launching a canoe.

Brian Rice is a member of the Mohawk Nation and a professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management. He is a land-based educator who has visited Indigenous peoples in many places in the world, and works to integrate experiential learning into his undergraduate and graduate courses.

“Instead of being stuck in classrooms for hours, I wanted my students to experience the actual places where Indigenous history and culture happens.”

“I’d been teaching Indigenous issues for about 26 years when I realized I wanted to approach things differently,” says Rice. “Instead of being stuck in classrooms for hours, I wanted my students to experience the actual places where Indigenous history and culture happens.”

Among other things, Rice has taken students canoeing along the Red River so that they could experience what voyageurs and Indigenous Peoples had been doing for centuries. He’s received permission from an Elder to conduct a sweat lodge for his students and has built snow shelters with them on the university’s agricultural land. Rice has organized overnight camping trips, waking students up at 5:30 am so they can experience the sunrise firsthand and discuss the Indigenous history surrounding them.

The Assiniboia Residential School, as seen in modern day. // photo courtesy of Brian Rice

“We touch on many aspects of pre-colonial and post-colonial history,” Rice explains. “For example, we can go to the places where Métis were forced out of their homes or to the Assiniboia Residential School, which is still there. We can walk down Wellington Crescent, where there are sites that are more than 3,000 years old, and imagine the Indigenous people who lived there and what might have been important to them.”

Rice is especially fond of taking his students for long walks, going as far as 12 kilometers at a time. His passion for walking is not surprising, as he completed a 1,000-kilometre walk from Tyendinaga near Belleville, Ontario to Rochester, New York as part of his doctoral dissertation. His trek followed the Journey of the Peacemaker, which united the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca people into the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

“You don’t have to go 300 miles out into the wilderness to do experiential, land-based learning.”

Ideally, Rice likes to take his students to sites through wooded and natural settings, so they get to experience and learn about nature. “You don’t have to go 300 miles out into the wilderness to do experiential, land-based learning,” he says. “There are wonderful natural settings right here in the city and, because of the rivers, we have a lot of beautiful trails. In the winter, we can even snowshoe up Buffalo Hill at FortWhyte Alive to see the bison herd.”

A metal wayfinding plaque installed on UM's Fort Garry campus to point in the four cardinal directions. // photo courtesy of Brian Rice

Rice believes that one of the core benefits of experiential learning is that it encourages young people to be physically active and healthy. He’s also keen to leverage students’ own creativity and motivation to help them succeed.

According to Rice, “I’d have students who lacked confidence about teaching Indigenous issues and didn’t know where to get relevant information on the assigned topics. When I suggested they could do something artistic, such as a poem or song, their resistance evaporated and they found a way to excavate what they needed to know.”

Students building a snow shelter in heavy parkas. // photo courtesy of Brian Rice.

As a leader in experiential learning, UM encourages all faculty to leverage it as a pedagogical tool. The university has recently outlined six criteria and 12 types of experiential learning as a resource for faculty and staff. You can find the complete list of types of experiential learning on our website.

UM is also committed to providing students with access to more and different types of experiential learning opportunities across all programs. It recently launched UMConnect, the home for both curricular and co-curricular experiential learning, job postings and a number of faculty co-op programs.

TeachingLIFE

UM is a place where we prioritize an inclusive learning and innovative teaching environment, in order to foster a truly transformative educational experience. TeachingLIFE tells the stories of our ground-breaking educators and their impact on student success.

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About CATL

The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning is an academic support unit that provides leadership and expertise in furthering the mission of teaching and learning at the University of Manitoba.

Learn more about CATL

Dr. Christopher O’Dea contributed the earliest observations of this system from the 70’s and 80’s which detected the first oscillation in the brightness of the quasar and established the beginning of the full 45 year timeline which was analyzed. This was based on work O’Dea started as a graduate student at University of Massachusetts with collaborators William Dent, Thomas Balonek, and Wayne Kinzel.

As Caltech reports:

Locked in an epic cosmic waltz 9 billion light-years away, two supermassive black holes appear to be orbiting around each other every two years. The two massive bodies are each hundreds of millions of times the mass of our sun and separated by a distance of roughly fifty times that between our sun and Pluto. When the pair merge in roughly 10,000 years, the titanic collision is expected to shake space and time itself, sending gravitational waves across the universe.

A Caltech-led team of astronomers has discovered evidence for this scenario taking place within a fiercely energetic object known as a quasar. Quasars are active cores of galaxies in which a supermassive black hole is siphoning material from a disk encircling it. In some quasars, the supermassive black hole creates a jet that shoots out at near the speed of light. The quasar observed in the new study, PKS 2131-021, belongs to a subclass of quasars called blazars in which the jet is pointing towards the Earth. Astronomers already knew that quasars could possess two orbiting supermassive black holes, but finding direct evidence for this has proved difficult.

Reporting in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the researchers argue that PKS 2131-021 is now the second known candidate for a pair of supermassive black holes caught in the act of merging. The first candidate pair, within a quasar called OJ 287, orbit each other at greater distances, circling every 9 years versus the two years it takes for the PKS 2131-021 pair to complete an orbit.

The tell-tale evidence came from radio observations of PKS 2131-021 that span 45 years. According to the study, a powerful jet emanating from one of the two black holes within PKS 2131-021 is shifting back and forth due to the pair’s orbital motion. This causes periodic changes in the quasar’s radio-light brightness. Five different observatories registered these oscillations, including Caltech’s Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO), the University of Michigan Radio Astronomy Observatory (UMRAO), MIT’s Haystack Observatory, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), Metsähovi Radio Observatory in Finland, and NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). The combination of the radio data yields a nearly perfect sinusoidal light curve unlike anything observed from quasars before.

“To say this course exceeded my expectation would be an understatement! I learned many useful techniques. This course is what I needed to re-ignite my passion for entrepreneurship and I’d like to sincerely thank the instructors for being so supportive, insightful, and encouraging,” explains Nikhat Lubna, a student in the Faculty of Science.

To inspire students, the course featured guest speakers who could identify with the students – Faculty of Science alumni who have become successful entrepreneurs themselves. “I was excited to hear a non-business faculty, and the one I graduated from was offering an entrepreneurship class,” says Chris Schmidt [BSc./16], Co-Founder/CEO at Pluto Ventures. “Therefore, I wanted to guest speak because I was in the students’ shoes not long ago and can relate to them.”

The course was piloted in May 2021 and developed in collaboration with the Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship at the Asper School of Business. It challenged students to generate ideas and address “Why” their ideas might succeed. It also covered the “How-to” with an introduction to business planning, market validation, and HR considerations, concluding in a group pitch event.

“The Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship is a university-wide center providing a variety of services in support of introducing and promoting an entrepreneurial and innovation mindset across the entire student population. The competencies embodied by the entrepreneurial mindset are highly desirable and necessary whether a student is starting a business of their own, working within a small or medium-sized organization, or working within a large corporate structure. These skills include critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, and innovation. These are the skills of the future and students who demonstrate these competencies will definitely be more attractive to future employers!”, explains Debra Jonasson-Young [MBA/99], Executive Director for the Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship.

According to a report in April 2019, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Education at Canadian Universities by the University of Toronto, the majority of tech founders in Canada are science students, yet science students are radically underserved by entrepreneurship and business training given the rate at which they start companies.

“While science students may not traditionally see entrepreneurship as a career path, they are already developing some of the necessary skills to succeed in this area” explains course instructor Christa Kruck [BSc. (Hons)/11, MBA/16]. Based on his own experience, Schmidt notes that “critical thinking and problem-solving are crucial skills needed to excel in science, and they translate exceptionally well to entrepreneurship.”

“Working together with the Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship, our aim is to foster this mindset early on at the Faculty of Science at the undergraduate level and grow the pipeline of new talent and innovation here in our province and beyond”, says Dr. Brian Mark [MSc./98], Dean, Faculty of Science.

“SCI 4000 was a perfect opportunity to work together, and the Stu Clark Centre was excited to collaborate with Teresa de Kievit and Christa Kruck as they developed this amazing course and brought it successfully through to fruition. Teresa and Christa, themselves creative and innovative, were wonderful partners to work with and we look forward to other ways of collaborating in the future,” adds Jonasson-Young.

“The world needs entrepreneurs now more than ever”, says course instructor, Joshua Zaporzan [B.Comm.(Hons)/17], Owner & President of Audax Ventures. “The introductory skill sets learned in this course are those that will help build creative thinkers, innovative leaders, and change-makers in our community. The Stu Clark Centre is excited to continue to help support our entrepreneurial ecosystem and further spark entrepreneurial spirit across the University of Manitoba”, adds Zaporzan.

SCI 4000 The Science Entrepreneurial Mindset will be offered to Faculty of Science students again in May 2022. The Asper School of Business also offers ENTR 2020 Starting a New Business, which is open to students in faculties outside of the Asper School of Business.

Are you a Faculty of Science Alumni Entrepreneur?

If so, we want to hear from you! Please contact Christa Kruck, Alumni Relations, and Graduate Programs Coordinator, Faculty of Science, to learn more about opportunities to connect at the UM Faculty of Science.

Are you an aspiring Student Entrepreneur? 

Check out our new Science Entrepreneurship and Professional Development & Science Communication websites.