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Two new research facilities at ���ϳԹ���Դ are nearing completion. Together with a third now under construction, they will expand the university’s research capacity and strengthen its impact across civil engineering, environmental science, and biomedical research.

The projects are part of ���ϳԹ���Դ broader financial investments in the spaces, laboratories, equipment, and technology, and are needed to help the university attract leading talent from around the world to address society's most complex research challenges.

“Excellence in research and teaching requires sustained investment in modern facilities, and what is exciting is what those facilities make possible over the long term,” says Donna Janiec, Vice-Principal (Finance and Administration). “They give researchers space to pursue new challenges, create opportunities for students to learn alongside them, and help ���ϳԹ���Դ move toward realizing our Bicentennial Vision.”

Here is a closer look at the three projects:
 

A new lab to expand civil engineering research

Construction is nearly complete on the Climate Adaptive infraStructure Testing and Longevity Evaluation (CASTLE) Laboratory, a new civil engineering facility on West Campus.  

The facility expands civil engineering research at ���ϳԹ���Դ with a soil-testing system found nowhere else in the world and a large centrifuge that can simulate decades of environmental stress. The equipment will allow researchers to study how soil and rock respond to changing forces and how structures interact with surrounding soils, supporting work to develop more resilient roads, bridges, dams, and other critical infrastructure. This state-of-the-art lab is also expected to create opportunities for partnerships in mining, dam engineering, and water management.

Among the researchers expected to use the facility is internationally recognized slope geohazard expert Gabriel Walton, recruited from the Colorado School of Mines as one of Canada’s 64 inaugural Eddie Goldenberg Research Chairs, a federal program created to attract leading researchers from around the world.

Construction began in August 2024. In addition to ���ϳԹ���Դ investment, the project has received funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and the Ontario Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence, and Security (MCURES). 
 

A new facility for ecology, conservation, and aquatic sciences

The Environmental Science Research Centre at the is nearly complete.

Located on Lake Opinicon, about an hour northeast of Kingston, the two-storey, 4,500-square-foot facility will expand research and teaching at QUBS, a leading Canadian field station that has operated for nearly 80 years. The centre includes three modern labs, a Geographic Information System (GIS) facility, and learning spaces supporting work in ecology, conservation, aquatic sciences, and related fields.

Construction began in December 2024, and the centre is expected to open this fall.
 

More space for biomedical research and training

���ϳԹ���Դ is adding biomedical research space to support growing work in cancer biology, cell therapy, infectious diseases and other fields focused on human health. Many of these researchers use rodents to study how diseases develop and to test potential treatments before they can be studied in humans.  

The ���ϳԹ���Դ Biomedical Research Facility will be expanded to support the work of more than 25 researchers funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and in accordance with the university’s commitment to animal ethics and care in science. The expansion will also support the training of approximately 400 postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduate researchers.  

Construction of the new facility began in April 2026, and it is expected to open in Fall 2027.

More details on these and other capital projects underway or planned that support research and teaching will be shared as they progress.

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While the three projects serve distinct fields, each responds to a shared need for specialized spaces and equipment.

“Research infrastructure shapes the questions we can ask, the people we can bring together, and the training we can offer,” says Nancy Ross, Vice-Principal (Research). “These facilities will give researchers and students the tools to work at greater scale, deepen collaboration across disciplines and sectors, and translate new knowledge into benefits for people and communities.”