An International Doctoral Cluster (IDC) is a research and training agreement between the University of Toronto and international academic partners. It connects talent from around the world with the aim of facilitating transformational innovation and ideas. IDCs create opportunities to recruit talented graduate students to U of T and partners institutions and provide recruited students with extraordinary access to mentoring by a global network of leading researchers. U of T doctoral candidates are trained through non-degree seeking training opportunities at partner institutions and or cotutelle PhD/PhD through Joint Education Placement with partner universities.
The following IDCs have been launched to date by the University of Toronto and partner institutions and are currently active:
Precision Medicine
Academic Partner: Zhejiang University
Coordinating U of T Principal Investigator: Leah Cowen, Chair, MolGen, Medicine. 13 other U of T Principal Investigators.
This IDC focused on Precision Medicine has been developed with Zhejiang University. This alliance aims to advance our understanding of the genetic basis for human disease in order to promote innovations in personalized and precision medicine. The partnership will leverage complementary strengths and resources (e.g. diverse patient populations) with the goal of developing a greater understanding of the genetic basis for human disease.
IDC Approved: December 1, 2017
Global Urban Biological Invasions Consortium
Academic Partners: Stellenbosch University (co-lead w/ U of T on an emerging global consortium of 35 member institutions in 19 countries)
Coordinating U of T Principal Investigator: Marc W Cadotte, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough. 4 other U of T Principal Investigators.
This IDC focuses on research into global urban biological invasions. The partnership, in the context of global urban environments, aims to advance our understanding of maintaining native biodiversity and protecting the benefits humans gain from balanced ecosystems.
IDC Approved: February 1, 2018
Global Radio Astrophysics
Academic Partners: Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Max Planck, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, University of Bonn
Coordinating U of T Principal Investigator: Ue-Li Pen, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics & Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics. 4 other U of T Principal Investigators.
The University of Toronto has partnered with Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Max Planck, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, and the University of Bonn on a Global Radio Astrophysics IDC, with the goal of advancing our understanding on the origin of our universe.
IDC Approved: February 1, 2018
Queer Youth Resilience
Academic Partners: 24 internationally networked academic institutions in Canada, USA, UK and Mexico, working in close partnership with community organizations.
Coordinating U of T Principle Investigator: Professor Shelley Craig, Faculty of Social Work. 6 other U of T Principal Investigators.
This IDC leverages a SSHRC partnership grant to develop a network of researchers focused on Gender & Sexual Minority Youth, and will look at how to close critical gaps in knowledge regarding the impact of information and communication technologies use on Gender & Sexual Minority Youth wellbeing and on risk mitigation. This IDC will enable global training opportunities for doctoral students within this network by supporting their mobility.
IDC Approved: September 1, 2018
The Atlantic Study of Islam and Muslims
Academic Partners: School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London (SOAS), Northwestern University, Sciences Po, Le Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) and various partners in Europe and the Middle East.
Coordinating U of T Principle Investigator: Professor Anver Emon, Canada Research Chair in Religion, Pluralism and the Rule of Law and Director, Institute of Islamic Studies (IIS). 2 other U of T Principal Investigators are engaged in this IDC.
This IDC focuses on the comparative global study of:
The two strands of research reflect ongoing debates across the Atlantic in both the academic and public policy sectors. The two strands of research complement each other given that both concern the academic study of Islam and Muslims in relation to systemic matters of state and governance.
IDC Approved: February 1, 2019
Urban Water, Waste and Energy Solutions
Academic Partners: National University of Singapore
Coordinating U of T Principle Investigator: Ramin Farnood, Department of Chemical Engineering
This IDC between the University of Toronto (U of T) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) focuses on research and training in urban engineering specifically around water, waste, and energy. More people live in cities than ever before. As densely populated areas, Singapore and Toronto share a common concern for the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of the urban environment, yet their infrastructure and demographics are very different, providing varied perspectives on the same issues.
IDC Approved: August 2019
Leukemia Consortium
Academic Partners: University of Cambridge and University of York
Coordinating U of T Principle Investigator: Professor John Dick from Department of Molecular Genetics. There are 3 U of T Principle Investigators involved in this.
This IDC aims to generate the most comprehensive dataset pertaining to human blood stem cells and the leukemia that originates from them. Having access to combined data will accelerate the research program in Toronto and Cambridge, enable shared collaborations between both groups. The cluster envisions making this resource available to the public, thereby greatly enhancing this field world-wide.
IDC Approved: September 2020
Cities and Infrastructure
Academic Partners: University of Manchester
Coordinating U of T Principle Investigator: Matti Siemiatycki, Geography & Planning and Interim Director of the School of Cities (SoC). 10 U of T Principle Investigators are involved in this application.
This IDC explores the different ways in which infrastructure comes to be present in cities, the nature of its relationship with urbanization and how this might involve, perhaps even necessitate, a rethinking of infrastructure itself.
IDC Approved: September 2020
Mediterranean Archaeology
Academic Partners: University College London
Coordinating U of T Principle Investigator: Professor Carl Knappett, Director of Mediterranean Archaeology Collaborative Specialization (MACS), and includes at least 4 other MACS faculty.
This is primarily a graduate training initiative anchored around the PhD program in Mediterranean Archaeology Collaborative Specialization (MACS). Apart from U of T, University College London (UCL) is the only institution that offers advanced degrees or areas of focus that are specifically conceptualized as Mediterranean. The goal is to use the 3-year pilot period to develop longer-term plans for research, training and external funding.
IDC Approved: September 2020
Advanced Manufacturing
Academic Partners: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Coordinating U of T Principle Investigator: Professor Chi-Guhn Lee, the past President of Association of Korean Canadian Scientists & Engineers and Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.
By bringing together Mechanical & Industrial engineers from KAIST and U of T on advanced manufacturing, this IDC aims to create a broader institutional partnership between two of the world’s leading universities.
IDC Approved: September 2020
The Max Planck – University of Toronto Centre for Neural Science & Technology (MPUTC)
Academic Partners: Max Planck Institute
Coordinating U of T Principle Investigator: Professor Taufik Valiante, Institute of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine is the lead Principle Investigator, and this involves 4 other Principle Investigators (1 from Institute of Medical Science and 3 from Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering).
The Max Planck – University of Toronto Centre for Neural Science & Technology (MPUTC) aims to create advanced physical technologies and use them to study brain circuits for the purpose of improving human health and defining the future of computing. The MPC unifies the strengths in fundamental research in devices, neuroscience, and neurobiology in the Max Planck Germany-MPG (through its various institutes, MPIs), with the leadership in technology, clinical research, and training programs at U of T.
IDC Approved: September 2020
Multidisciplinary Approaches for Sustainable Rural Development in India
Academic Partners: IIT-Bombay, IIT-Delhi, Tata Research Development and Design Centre, Vasantdada Sugar Institute, Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology & University College Cork
Coordinating U of T Principle Investigator: Professor Amy Bilton, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering is the lead Principle Investigator, and this involves 8 other Principle Investigators (6 from Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering and 2 from U of T Scarborough).
This IDC aims to expand joint efforts to address the emerging issue of sustainable rural development in India; specifically, it will catalyze multidisciplinary research to develop evidence-based, research-driven solutions to address some of the most pressing challenges facing farmers and other rural-dwellers in the Indian countryside, including access to sanitation, improved nutrition, value recovery from waste, and sustainable agriculture.
IDC Approved: April 2021
Environmental Humanities and Climate Justice
Academic Partners: University of Oxford and University of Pennsylvania
Coordinating U of T Principle Investigator: Professor Sherry Lee, Faculty of Music is the lead Principle Investigator, and this involves 19 other Principle Investigators from the Faculty of Arts and Science
This IDC brings together graduate students, emerging scholars, and established faculty researchers working in the rapidly-growing area of the Environmental Humanities (EH). A core focus will be understanding the relationships between centuries-long global colonialism and injustice, environmental racism, and the unequal experience of climate change, requires insights across international borders and institutional-disciplinary divides
IDC Approved: July 2022
Concluded IDCs:
Tripartite Collaboration in Public Health and Cities
Academic Partners:Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and Utrecht University(UU)
Coordinating U of T Principle Investigator: Professor Greg Evans, Department of Chemical Engineering. At least, 9 other faculty members from Public Health, Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Earth Sciences, Geography, Political Science and Mechanical & Industrial Engineering.
The IDC focuses on modifiable factors related to urban living to promote the development of sustainable healthy cities that can bring out the full potential of their residents. The research outcomes address emerging global public health challenges arising from how we live, work and interact in urban centers. There are two major sub-themes within this IDC, one related to public health and the other to urban design.
IDC Approved: February 1, 2019
Practices in Commentary
Academic Partner: Goethe University
Coordinating U of T Principle Investigator: Markus Stock, German Languages & Literatures, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. 5 other U of T Principal Investigators.
This IDC is focused on the study of practices in commentary in the historical perspective of the pre-modern and early modern world. The goal is to understand the religious, literary, and scientific uses of commentary coupled with the methods of how commentary is produced.
One-year seed funding for IDC Approved: February 1, 2018
Chemistry
Academic Partners: University of Muenster, RWTH Aachen, Technical University of Munich, Ludwig Maximillian University, Technical University of Berlin, University of Heidelberg
Coordinating U of T Principal Investigators: Robert Batey and Mark Lautens, Chemistry, Faculty of Arts and Science. 6 other U of T Principal Investigators.
U of T is partnering with multiple German Universities in the fields of organic and materials chemistry. Partner universities have complementary strengths to the University of Toronto’s Chemistry department and together can provide graduate students with opportunities for global engagement and exposure to innovations in the field.
IDC Approved: December 1, 2017
