$4M in NSERC grants supports scientific innovation at York

More than 20 faculty members from York University’s Faculty of Science were collectively awarded over $4 million in Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grants to continue advancing scientific innovation. Faculty from chemistry, physics, math, biology and other departments were represented among the recipients of grants with either one- or five-year […]

Professor receives patent to improve AI machine learning

Steven Xiaogang Wang, a professor in York University’s Department of Mathematics & Statistics at the Faculty of Science, and a member of the Laboratory of Mathematical Parallel Systems, has had a U.S. patent approved for an algorithm that will reduce the training time of artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning (ML). The patent, titled “Parallel Residual […]

Professor Peter Backx named to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences

Congratulations to Professor Peter Backx for being elected as a Fellow to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS), considered one of the highest honours for individuals in the Canadian health sciences community. Backx, a professor in the Department of Biology, holds the Canada Research Chair in Cardiovascular Biology. He has been at the forefront […]

Does an antimatter apple fall up or down? Scientists solve longstanding mystery

Media Release from September 27, 2023 York University is part of an international collaboration that has resolved the enigma of whether antimatter follows the rules of gravity As Newton observed, an apple falls from the tree and hits the ground. But what would an antimatter apple do? That was the question an international collaboration with […]

Scientist receives Brain Canada grant to combine neuroscience and artificial intelligence in autism research

Professor Kohitij Kar in the Department of Biology is among 28 early-career researchers who received grants valued at $100,000 from Brain Canada’s Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research program. His project will combine neuroscience and artificial intelligence (AI) studies of vision into autism research. Kar, a Canada Research Chair in Visual Neuroscience, combines machine learning […]

Researchers verify Einstein’s theory of general relativity

Research, led by York University PhD student Nelson Nunes and supervised by Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar Nobert Bartel, verified Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity and the Einstein equivalence principle (EEP) by measuring gravitational redshift – a change in the frequency of a lightwave – and the slowing of time over distances […]

Study finds COVID cases underreported in most African countries during initial stage

Media Release from September 20, 2023 Those countries with the highest rates of severe infections also had the highest rates of reported cases A new analysis of COVID-19 cases in Africa shows that for most of the continent’s countries the rate of infection was likely much higher than reported in the initial stages, found York […]

New Faculty of Science members to further York’s scientific innovation, impact

This story is published in YFile’s New Faces feature issue 2023. Every September, YFile introduces and welcomes those joining the York University community, and those with new appointments. The York University Faculty of Science welcomes 14 new faculty members this fall. “We are thrilled to welcome our newest cohort of high-calibre researchers and instructors to […]

Lack of maternal care effects development, microbiome and health of wild bees

Media Release from September 14, 2023 York University researchers examined the early and late life stages of small developing carpenter bees in the presence and absence of maternal care and were surprised by the results. Most wild bees are solitary, but one tiny species of carpenter bees fastidiously cares for and raises their offspring, an […]

York U program helps fund 16 Global South health-care hubs to combat infectious diseases

Media Release from September 12, 2023 A York University-led program is helping bolster health care in the Global South by providing more than $5.8 million in funding for 16 projects in as many countries, including polio surveillance in Ethiopia and helping Indigenous communities in the Philippines. “We have led the call to strengthen the health-care […]