Vice-President Research

It is an honour to serve as the Vice President Research and I cannot think of a better place to be as we enter the second decade of the twenty-first century. There is nothing more enjoyable than helping bright and passionate people achieve their goals and dreams through the application of “disciplined curiosity.”

The University of Victoria is one of Canada’s premier research-intensive institutions and, not surprisingly, it is consistently ranked as a “Research University of the Year” by Research Infosource. Our well-deserved reputation is due to the excellence of our faculty, students, and staff and their dedication to mobilizing their research for the benefit of society and to create a research-inspired learning environment.

Having excellent researchers and talented artists is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for our success. The university has done extraordinarily well through various competitive federal and provincial programs to increase the quality of our research and training facilities. For example, in 2009 UVic had the second highest per capita funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the BC Knowledge Development Fund, attracting $67M in new infrastructure funding.

Our facilities were given a further boost from Canada’s Knowledge Infrastructure Program in 2009 to the tune of $42.5M. We provide our researchers excellent support through the Office of Research Services for everything from grant and contract writing to funding administration, to regulatory oversight that meets the highest standards.

Our libraries, Media Services, Office of Community Based Research, Innovation Development Corporation, Vancouver Island Technology Park, co-op program and so many other programs at UVic all make this an wonderful place to conduct research and educational activities.

I have proposed that UVic’s research success results from a combination of its great people, infrastructure, and support services; however, there is one final ingredient that is truly unique to the University of Victoria -- our extraordinary environment. We are inspired by the beautiful ocean, rivers, mountains, wetlands, and forests that are literally part of our campus. The natural beauty that surrounds us makes our commitment to preserving and improving the health of the environment all that much more tangible. We are also inspired by the cultural diversity of the people who live in our region, especially the Indigenous peoples of Vancouver Island.

I hope you enjoy surfing our website and learning more about the research programs at the University of Victoria. I would also like to extend to all of you an invitation to visit our campus and experience for yourselves the excitement that makes this such a special place.

Dr. J. Howard Brunt, PhD
Vice President Research

The research mission of the University of Victoria is to benefit society through the advancement and application of knowledge, creative and artistic expression, and the creation of a research- inspired learning environment.

Dr. Howard Brunt holds a PhD in community health science and epidemiology from the University of Calgary (1990), a master’s in cardiovascular nursing from Yale University (1983) and a BA in sociology from the University of Florida (1974).

Dr. Brunt first joined UVic in 1990 as a professor in the nursing program. He’s especially attracted to UVic’s strong emphasis on the integration of teaching, learning and research. “The opportunities for increasing the proportion of graduate students at UVic bode well for the university’s culture of research.”

He served as UVic’s associate vice-president research from 1999 to 2004 and his five-year term as VPR began in September 2007.

Dr. Brunt's areas of research specialization are cardiovascular epidemiology and human research ethics, with a strong emphasis on community-based research. He has received awards for his cardiovascular research and has served on many national and provincial research review panels and policy boards. In 2002 he was appointed by the presidents of the three federal granting councils to chair an inter-agency panel on research ethics.

Dr. Brunt is UVic's second vice-president research since the position was created in 1997.

Howard Brunt's C.V.

Download the current Research organization chart.