Research Excellence Awards and Research Excellence Chairs Program 2025 Recipients
August 13, 2025
The Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation (VPRI) at Ontario Tech University established the Research Excellence Awards and the Research Excellence Chair Program to recognize and retain outstanding researchers at Ontario Tech. It is with great pleasure that Dr. Les Jacobs, Vice-President of Research and Innovation, announces the 2025 Award Recipients. Please join in congratulating the following individuals who were selected through a highly competitive peer review process to receive awards through either the Research Excellence Award or the Research Excellence Chair Programs.
The event will take place on Tuesday, November 11, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. (location to be announced). For those unable to attend in person, a live-streaming option will be available so you can still join in and show your support for your colleague or professor.
2025 Award Recipients
The Research Excellence Awards (REA) are prestigious awards granted annually to recognize up to three tenured and/or tenure-track faculty members for their outstanding contributions and achievements in research while at Ontario Tech University.
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- Emerging Researcher: Faculty within the first six (6) years of their first independent academic appointment and are pre-tenured. This award recognizes both early excellence in research and future promise.
- Award Recipient: Nisha Rani Agarwal, Associate Professor, Faculty of Science
- Emerging Researcher: Faculty within the first six (6) years of their first independent academic appointment and are pre-tenured. This award recognizes both early excellence in research and future promise.
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- Mid-career Researcher: Faculty who are between the seventh and twelfth (7-12) years of their first independent academic appointment. This award recognizes recently established research programs that are opening up new fields or insights of inquiry.
- Award Recipient: Dr. Peter Lewis, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business and Information Technology
- Established Researcher: Faculty who are beyond the twelfth (12) year of their first independent academic appointment (i.e. 13th year and beyond). These awards recognize recent national and/or international leadership in research in the last 6 years.
- Award Recipient: Dr. Atef Mohany, Professor, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
- Mid-career Researcher: Faculty who are between the seventh and twelfth (7-12) years of their first independent academic appointment. This award recognizes recently established research programs that are opening up new fields or insights of inquiry.
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The Research Excellence Chairs Program was established by Ontario Tech University to recognize and retain outstanding researchers at Ontario Tech University. The program has two streams and is designed to enable researchers to complete a major research program or project. Further, the program is meant to emphasize the importance of research at Ontario Tech in strategic areas, while highlighting and promoting the outstanding achievements of our scholars and the university’s commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
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- Stream 1 (Transform): Open to previous Chairholders, including, Canada Research Chairs, Industrial Research Chairs and those who have been awarded and completed an Ontario Tech University Research Excellence Chair.
- Award Recipients:
- Dr. Sheldon Williamson, Professor, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
- Award Recipients:
- Stream 1 (Transform): Open to previous Chairholders, including, Canada Research Chairs, Industrial Research Chairs and those who have been awarded and completed an Ontario Tech University Research Excellence Chair.
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- Stream 2 (Ignite): Open to all Tenured and Tenure-Track (TTT) faculty members at Ontario Tech University.
- Award Recipients:
- Dr. Min Dong, Professor, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
- Award Recipients:
- Stream 2 (Ignite): Open to all Tenured and Tenure-Track (TTT) faculty members at Ontario Tech University.
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- Stream 3 (Social Innovation): Open to all Tenured and Tenure-Track (TTT) faculty members at Ontario Tech University (including previous Chairholders) whose research contributes to social innovation, defined as the process of developing and deploying effective solutions to challenging and often systemic social and environmental issues in support of social progress.
- Award Recipients:
- Dr. Robyn Ruttenberg-Rozen, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education
- Award Recipients:
- Stream 3 (Social Innovation): Open to all Tenured and Tenure-Track (TTT) faculty members at Ontario Tech University (including previous Chairholders) whose research contributes to social innovation, defined as the process of developing and deploying effective solutions to challenging and often systemic social and environmental issues in support of social progress.
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Congratulations to all the award recipients!
Contact information:
Amanda.Goddard@ontariotechu.ca
Have questions about this post? Feel free to reach out to the contact listed above — they’ll be happy to help!
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