University of Toronto News (U of T News)

Alan Jacob, a Pearson Scholar from India, was among the 37 scholarship recipients invited to a reception on the St. George campus (photo by Johnny Guatto) Afghanistan. India. Nigeria. Thailand. Venezuela. Hands shot up around the room as 28 countries were called out during a recent reception for this year’s recipients of the University of Toronto’s prestigious Lester B. Pearson International Student Scholarships.

An international collaboration of astronomers, including from the University of Toronto, have detected the brightest Fast Radio Burst (FRB) to date – and have been able to pinpoint its location in a nearby galaxy by using a network of radio telescopes. FRBs are extremely energetic flashes from distant sources from across the universe that are caused by extreme astrophysical phenomena. Yet, they remain poorly understood by scientists and are among astronomy’s most mysterious phenomena.

Researchers may have found a way to harness beneficial bacteria such as probiotics to help prevent cavities in children. Céline Lévesque, a professor in the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Dentistry, and her team are using synbiotics – a mixture of probiotics and prebiotics that work together in the body’s digestive tract – to address one of the main challenges in applying the health-promoting effects of beneficial bacteria on teeth: they don’t remain in the mouth long enough to be effective.

In September 2025, economist and Munk School faculty member, Jonathan Ostry, presented Trade Restrictions, Trade Policy Uncertainty and Foreign Direct Investment at the G20 Global Financial Stability Conference in Seoul, Korea, with opening remarks by Hyoung Il Lee, the 1st Vice Minister of Economy and Finance, and over 300 leading academics, policymakers, and experts in attendance.

Researchers at the University of Toronto have discovered that bacteria can drive stem cell regeneration to repair the intestinal lining after injury – uncovering an unexpected way in which the gut microbiome contributes to human health. Previous research has shown that the community of gut microbes does not influence intestinal stem cell function during normal healthy conditions.

Fraser Allan Best and his partner Kathryn Pierce walk around the hospital post surgery. Pierce helped Best capture some of the documentary’s most emotional moments (image courtesy of Fraser Allan Best) Faculty of Arts & Science University of Toronto students enjoy many benefits after they graduate: mentorship, career opportunities and lifelong friendships. For Fraser Allan Best, one of those friendships became a literal life-saver.

New images from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), an international collaboration involving several University of Toronto astronomers and astrophysicists, have shown a reversal in the magnetic fields of the supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy M87.

The University of Toronto has been named one of the top five universities in the world – and the No. 1 university in Canada – for research impact, according to the 2025 edition of the NTU World University Rankings. In this year’s ranking, U of T placed fourth globally behind Harvard University, Stanford University and University College London. Among public universities, U of T ranked second worldwide and was the top public university in North America.

A drug called riluzole, commonly used to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other motor neuron diseases, could also assist in recovery from spinal cord injuries, according to research from the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine. The new study, published in eBioMedicine, showed that riluzole may offer benefits if taken within 12 hours of the injury occurring. “This is a very valid and safe treatment option for clinicians and patients to consider.

(photo by Alyssa K. Faoro) University of Toronto students eager to turn a cool business idea into a viable company – including those dreaming of launching things into space – will want to check out U of T Acceleratorfest 2025. Among the main attractions at the free annual event on Sept. 17 at the Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus is Rahul Goel, CEO of rocket startup NordSpace, which is trying to launch Canada’s first commercial rocket.