Collaborative Specializations

The Collaborative Specialization in Artificial Intelligence (CSAI) is jointly offered by the Computer Science and the Electrical and Computer Engineering Graduate Programs. CSAI enhances the education and research of a graduate student by adding a module to their program of study. This interdisciplinary field is designed so that graduate students develop a solid foundation in artificial intelligence methodologies, enabling technologies including big data computational platforms, data management systems, and GPU programming, as well as the social and ethical challenges, limitations, and advantages of AI.

For more information, including participating programs: grad.uwo.ca/admissions/programs/program.cfm?p=275.

The purpose of the Collaborative Graduate Specialization in Developmental Biology is to create a community of graduate students with an interest in Developmental Biology and to provide specific courses to support and teach that community. Our aim is to train Developmental Biologists who will go on to make significant contributions to the field.

For more information including participating programs: grad.uwo.ca/prospective_students/programs/program_NEW.cfm?p=236.

Modern advances in engineering science and technology have enabled the rapid development of miniaturized medical devices, customized implants, sophisticated diagnostic instrumentation, precision surgical robotics, and information technology for e-Health. The health care industry has become one of the world’s largest industrial sectors, providing a wide range of job opportunities in research, product development, and patient care.

For more information, including participating programs: grad.uwo.ca/admissions/programs/program.cfm?p=237.

The Collaborative Specialization in Environment and Sustainability is an interdisciplinary field designed for current graduate students who wish to become specialists in specific aspects of environment and sustainability, and who also wish to gain an appreciation of the interdisciplinary nature of environmental problems and solutions. The student earns a degree in the home department plus credit for participation in the collaborative specialization.

For more information, including participating programs: grad.uwo.ca/admissions/programs/program.cfm?p=238.

The Collaborative Specialization in Hazards, Risks, and Resilience is an interdisciplinary field designed for current graduate students (Master’s and PhD) who wish to become specialists in the field of natural hazards and risks, and who wish to gain an appreciation of the interdisciplinary nature of disaster risk reduction problems and solutions. Students earn a degree in their home departments plus credit for participation in the collaborative specialization.

For more information, including participating programs: grad.uwo.ca/admissions/programs/program.cfm?p=287.

The Collaborative Specialization in Machine Learning in Health and Biomedical Science is an interdisciplinary training field that is designed to enable students apply modern machine learning approaches to improve human health and well-being. Innovations in health and biomedical science are increasingly driven by large sets of genetic, physiological, imaging, and behavioural data, and the algorithms necessary to analyze them.

The specialization provides a solid foundation in machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques, and its application to problems in health and biomedical sciences. Special training is provided in project development, end-user engagement, and a reflected practice that considers the ethical implication of the developed techniques.

For more information including participating programs: grad.uwo.ca/admissions/programs/program.cfm?p=315.

The Collaborative Graduate Specialization in Migration and Ethnic Relations at Western University brings together graduate students and faculty to study questions of migration, ethnic relations, cultural diversity, conflict, acculturation, and the integration of migrants from the perspective of various social science disciplines.

The collaborative experience for students is an add-on to existing well-established graduate programs in Anthropology, Geography, Hispanic Studies, History, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, and Women's Studies and Feminist Research.

Students register in and meet the requirements of one of the collaborating discipline-specific graduate programs, while also having the opportunity to participate in the program in Migration and Ethnic Relations. The combination of solid disciplinary training with advanced interdisciplinary training provides students with the tools necessary to better understand and conduct research in the area of Migration and Ethnic Relations.

For more information, including participating programs: grad.uwo.ca/admissions/programs/program.cfm?p=239.

Molecular imaging is a new and rapidly emerging biomedical research discipline that involves the non-invasive detection of changes in the expression of genes, molecules, and cells in vivo over time. It may be defined as the visual representation, characterization, and quantification of biological processes at the cellular and molecular levels within intact living organisms.

For more information, including participating programs: grad.uwo.ca/admissions/programs/program.cfm?p=240.

The Collaborative Graduate Specialization in Musculoskeletal Health Research will develop scientists with the research and leadership skills necessary to build transdisciplinary research teams focusing on integrated therapeutic, surgical, and rehabilitative approaches for the management of bone and joint diseases.

For more information, including participating programs: grad.uwo.ca/prospective_students/programs/program_NEW.cfm?p=241.

The Collaborative Graduate Specialization in Music Cognition at Western University offers opportunities for interdisciplinary coursework, lab-based research training, and rigorous musical engagement. This specialization can be added to graduate degrees in Music, Neuroscience, Psychology, and Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (Hearing Science and Speech-Language Science fields). Students are mentored by faculty members from the Don Wright Faculty of Music, the Brain and Mind Institute, and the National Centre for Audiology.

For more information, including participating programs: grad.uwo.ca/admissions/programs/program.cfm?p=288.

The Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration hosts the only planetary science graduate specialization in Canada. Students are usually registered in either the Department of Physics & Astronomy or the Department of Earth Sciences. This interdisciplinary field emphasizes original student research, small group discussion of literature and current developments, an interdisciplinary approach, and hands-on experience gained through laboratory and/or fieldwork. Graduates of this program have gone on to careers in industry, government, and academia.

For more information, including participating programs: grad.uwo.ca/prospective_students/programs/program_NEW.cfm?p=242 .

Scientific Computing aims to provide students from different disciplines with solid hands-on knowledge of how different computational techniques can be used in, for example, physical, biological, and social sciences. The specialization consists of coursework and research on the fundamental principles and techniques in computation in order for students to carry out computationally intensive work in their own field. The emphasis of the specialization is on the development of state-of-the-art methods and the application of these methods to real-world scientific problems. Examples include the development of algorithms, application of symbolic methods, high-performance computing, parallelization, data analysis, and visualization.

For more information, including participating programs: grad.uwo.ca/prospective_students/programs/program_NEW.cfm?p=246.

The Centre for Transitional Justice and Post-Conflict Reconstruction offers two academic programs which provide students with interdisciplinary instruction in Transitional Justice and Post-Conflict Reconstruction. Students explore aspects of transitional justice and post-conflict reconstruction, including societal and state transition relating to development, democracy, the environment, the economy, human rights, politics, peace agreements, peacebuilding, justice after atrocity, and social rebuilding.

For more information, including participating programs: grad.uwo.ca/prospective_students/programs/program_NEW.cfm?p=244.