University of Saskatchewan - Distinguished Research

Distinguished Research

Over the years, some of the most prominent projects at the University have been associated with the Department of Physics. In 1948, the university built the first betatron facility in Canada. Three years later, the world's first non-commercial cobalt-60 therapy unit was constructed. (The first female Chancellor of the University, Sylvia Fedoruk, was a member of the Cobalt-60 research team. She also served as Saskatchewan's Lieutenant-Governor from 1988–1994.) The success of these facilities led to the construction of a linear accelerator as part of the Saskatchewan Accelerator Laboratory in 1964 and placed university scientists at the forefront of nuclear physics in Canada. Experience gained from years of research and collaboration with global researchers led to the University of Saskatchewan being selected as the site of Canada's national facility for synchrotron light research, the Canadian Light Source. This facility opened October 22, 2004 and is the size of a football field. The Plasma Physics Laboratory operates a tokamak on campus. The University used the SCR-270 radar in 1949 to image the Aurora for the first time.

The university owns the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization. Innovation Place Research Park is an industrial science and technology park that hosts private industry working with the university.