Popular Research Matters speaker series returns with the question: What Matters Now?

TORONTO, Oct. 17, 2013 /CNW/ - Is there intelligent life out there? Can plant materials one day replace plastic? Can we ever eradicate infectious diseases? These questions and more will be explored by Ontario's top university researchers in the latest Research Matters free speaker series focused on the question 'What Matters Now?'

The 2014 series - spanning five Ontario cities over six months - launches in Hamilton on Nov. 4, and travels to London on Nov. 26, Thunder Bay on March 9, 2014, and Toronto in early April, before wrapping up in Kingston on April 23, 2014.

At each event, a handful of researchers focused on a wide range of topics, from home-grown terror to planet hunting and artificial brains, will present their research and ask audiences in the room and online to decide What Matters Now.

"University researchers dedicate their lives to solving the world's problems and have a huge societal imprint," says Mona Nemer, Chair of the Research Matters advisory panel and Vice-President, Research at the University of Ottawa. "Sometimes the final breakthrough takes generations, but along the way these researchers are improving the health, happiness and richness of life for millions of people around the globe, and they are training future generations of global citizens and leaders."

The Research Matters campaign, a collaborative effort of the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) now in its second year, brings together Ontario's 21 universities in an exciting showcase of the critical research taking place on campuses. These free events allow the public to discuss the future with the university researchers who are creating it.

"University research crosses all disciplines from medicine and technology to human resources, trade, law and social sciences," says COU President and CEO Bonnie M. Patterson. "It is changing lives, exposing students to a world of possibilities, and helping government, business and communities make the best possible decisions." The series will be moderated by well-known radio and television personality Piya Chattopadhyay, who is often a host on both CBC radio and TVO's flagship current affairs program, The Agenda.

Researchers will be made available to media to discuss why their research matters upon request.

For more details on Research Matters please check out www.yourontarioresearch.ca and follow us on Twitter @OntarioResearch.

COU is a membership organization of 21 publicly assisted universities in Ontario. It works closely with the provincial and federal governments to shape public policies that help universities deliver high-quality programs for students and advance the research and innovation that improves the social, cultural and economic well-being of Ontarians.

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SOURCE: Council of Ontario Universities

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