University of Calgary

The University of Calgary is Canada’s leading next-generation university – a living, growing and youthful institution that embraces change and opportunity with a can-do attitude.

The University of Calgary is a leading Canadian university located in the nation’s most enterprising city. The university has a clear strategic direction to become one of Canada’s top five research universities by 2016, where innovative teaching and groundbreaking research go hand in hand. The strategy is called Eyes High, inspired by the university’s Gaelic motto, Mo Shuile Togam Suas, which translates to ‘I will lift up my eyes.’

The university’s academic and research plans serve as the roadmap to achieving Eyes High and are highly inclusive of students – undergraduate and graduate – with the goal of enhancing their learning and research experiences at a research-intensive university. The research themes are: brain and mental health; human dynamics in a changing world; new earth-space technologies; engineering solutions for health; infections, inflammation and chronic diseases in the changing environment; and energy innovations for today and tomorrow.

The university has 14 faculties, 53 departments and more than 100 academic programs. Supporting industry and businesses locally, nationally and internationally, the university strives to serve the community and reflect its values, while working to find solutions to some of the most challenging problems facing society today. The university houses 73 Canada Research Chairs and more than 80 research institutes and centres, and has more than 110 active student exchange agreements with institutions around the world.

The university is committed to providing leadership opportunities for its students in all areas — the arts, athletics, science, engineering, philanthropy and business. More than 10,000 students have signed up for the Co-Curricular Record that recognizes their community, leadership and volunteer activities outside the classroom.

The university has more than 400 Dinos student-athletes competing in 15 different varsity sports, and was the 2011 Canadian Interuniversity Sport champions in men’s and women’s swimming and the 2012 women’s hockey champions. The Olympic Oval is home to Canada’s National Long Track Speed Skating Team and is part of a high-performance sport hub that includes the Human Performance Lab and the Sport Medicine Centre.

Complementing the university’s main campus in northwest Calgary are the West Campus, Foothills Campus, the Downtown Campus, the Spy Hill Campus, the University Innovation Park, and University of Calgary—Qatar in Doha. The university is aiming to be a net zero waste campus and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent by 2015 and 80 percent by 2050.

Among the university’s alumni are Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Calgary Mayor Nahed Nenshi, Mozilla Corporation CEO Gary Kovacs and Dr. Jeffrey Veale, leading kidney transplant researcher.