Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada with campuses in Burnaby, Surrey, and Vancouver. The 1st Canadian university to be founded west of the Rocky Mountains, SFU was established in 1965 and is named for Simon Fraser, an early explorer of the area. The school enrolls more than 35,000 students annually and offers over 100 undergraduate programs and 200 graduate programs. Notable alumni include Nobel Prize-winning physicist Carlo Rubbia and former Canadian prime minister Joe Clark.
Research at SFU is organized into eight faculties: Arts and Social Sciences; Business Administration; Education; Applied Sciences; Environment; Health Sciences; Science; and Communication, Art, and Technology. The school also houses several world-renowned research institutes, including the Centre for Drug Research and Development and the Institute for Quantum Computing Science. In total, SFU boasts over $200 million in annual research funding from sources like the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
SFU has produced numerous groundbreaking scientific discoveries throughout its history. In 2018 alone, researchers at the school made headlines with their discovery of a new way to produce clean water using graphene nanofilters, as well as their development of a new artificial intelligence system that can diagnose skin cancer more accurately than dermatologists. Other recent achievements include developing a “super sponge” that can absorb oil spills up to 10 times better than existing products on the market, as well as creating a 3D-printed “living bandage” that speeds up healing time for wounds by delivering medication directly to the site of injury.
With such a long history of excellence in research and teaching, it’s no wonder that SFU consistently ranks among the top universities in Canada. In 2019/20 alone, SFU was ranked 4th overall among comprehensive universities by Maclean’s Magazine – making it one of only two schools west of Ontario to crack the top 5!