Spring convocation season has arrived at #UofT – a time for graduating students to celebrate a major life milestone and the lasting friendships they’ve made along the way.
Thousands of students from our three campuses will cross the stage at Convocation Hall this June, and we can’t wait to celebrate their big moment.
Don’t forget to tag your grad photos, videos and shout-outs with #UofTGrad26! 💙
Read the story via our link in bio or at uoft.me/sc26
Innovation starts with a stubborn problem—cancer that resists treatment, patients who slip through the cracks, systems that fail when they’re needed most.
In the U of T Magazine Innovation Issue, meet #UofT researchers and alumni turning those challenges into real-world impact. 💡
Check it out at the link in bio or at magazine.utoronto.ca
Ever wondered what it’s like to study at a university in the heart of downtown Toronto? 🤔
Take a quick tour of five must-see spots on the U of T St. George campus – historic buildings, student hubs, study spaces, & athletic facilities that make the #UofT experience unique. 📌
Students and alumni, what’s your favourite spot on St. George campus?
Watch the full tour on our YouTube at the link in bio
#UofT will be closed for Presidential Day on Friday, May 15 and Victoria Day on Monday, May 18. To find resources for the U of T community, please visit our link in bio or utoronto.ca/utogether.
Enjoy the long weekend!
📷 Photo Credit: Alice Xue
As a teenager growing up in Toronto, #UofT researcher Dick Bond read widely in his search for meaning and purpose – exploring everything from mathematics to human prehistory and ancient history.
That’s when he came across One Two Three… Infinity by the physicist George Gamow, a book first published in 1947 that explored fundamental scientific concepts that included math, space-time, galaxies and the building blocks of life at the atomic scale.
It sparked his imagination.
“The title almost says it all, which is that you can understand the universe by mathematics,” says Bond. “That’s a concept that’s really hard to believe, but it turns out to be essentially true.”
We know it’s true because he proved it. Bond spent the next five decades using math to essentially flesh out Gamow’s cosmic story.
Learn more about his work in our link in bio or uoft.me/bond-d
What if the brain had a filing system for memories of people in our lives — and understanding it could change how we approach complex neurological conditions? 🧠
Sofiya Zbaranska, a PhD candidate in the physiology program in the Temerty Faculty of @uoftmedicine , studies social memory, the brain’s system for storing memories of our social interactions. It’s an essential part of our daily lives that “helps us recognize people and guide how we interact with them,” explains Zbaranska. Yet, with conditions like Alzheimer’s, autism and social anxiety disorder, certain aspects of social memory can be impaired.
To uncover why, Zbaranska is taking a deeper look at how the brain processes social familiarity and the emotions tied to it. She hopes her findings will shed greater light on the role that oxytocin–commonly known as the “love hormone”–plays in functional memory storage and its use in treatments.
That curiosity has also inspired Zbaranska to explore how the brain’s mechanisms could influence the future of AI, creating artificial neural networks that prioritize memory the way humans do. “My hope is that implementing ‘emotional learning’ in artificial neural networks will provide a new, useful framework for memory prioritization and flexibility in AI agents.”
Shaping how Zbaranska approaches this research is her supervisor, Dr. Sheena Josselyn, Senior Scientist @sickkidstoronto and #UofT University Professor. “Dr. Josselyn is my north star for women’s leadership and excellence in science. I find so much inspiration in her approach to experimental design; she always reminds me that science is also about having fun and enjoying the process.”
📷 Photographs were taken at the Josselyn Lab, SickKids Research Institute.
Imagine walking into your class and finding an 18th-century ship. That’s exactly what associate professor Elise Burton & PhD student Oubai Elkerdi built at #UofT – a fully immersive escape room where students in their science, technology & empire class solve puzzles from course material. 🏴☠️
What if memories could be rewritten? 🧠
Senior Scientist @sickkidstoronto and #UofT researcher Sheena Josselyn explores how memories are encoded, stored and recalled – or in the realm of sci-fi, how they might be reprogrammed, implanted or erased.
Her work is deepening our understanding of conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder and Alzheimer’s disease, which can rob people of their memories, their sense of self and, ultimately, their lives.
Learn more about her research in our link in bio or uoft.me/josselyn-s
You can tell a lot about someone by what’s in their backpack 🎒 Laptops, hair oil, archery gear, teeth. These are just some of the random, yet essential items a group of #UofT students keep on hand to get through the day.
What’s the most random thing you carry in your bag? � �For more, check out the U of T Magazine Student Issue at the link in bio
What’s in your backpack? 🎒 From everyday essentials to unexpected must-haves, four #UofT students show what they carry to get through the day and what they can’t leave home without.
What’s one thing you always carry in your bag? 🤔
To dive deeper into these students’ bags, check out the U of T Magazine Student Issue at the link in bio or at magazine.utoronto.ca
Leaders in research, government & industry gathered to celebrate the official opening of BioLabs University of Toronto, the largest shared lab incubator in the city & the first Canadian site of BioLabs’ global network.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony, held April 20, marked the launch of the 40,000-square-foot shared lab and co-working space in the MaRS Discovery District, already home to dozens of early-stage life-science startups.
#UofT President Melanie Woodin welcomed BioLabs – now with 19 locations worldwide – as an important partner who will help Canadian discoveries take root at home.
Learn more about the official opening of BioLabs University of Toronto at our link in bio or at uoft.me/biolabs
📸: Polina Teif
