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Research Institutes, Centres, Core Research Platforms, and Labs

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Research with Impact

DeGroote is tackling complex issues facing society today through discovery and the advancement of knowledge across a broad spectrum of areas. It is through innovative and interdisciplinary research happening at our various centres and institutes that DeGroote researchers are helping to transform the world we live in.

Research Institute

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Michael Lee-Chin & Family Institute for Strategic Business Studies

The Michael Lee-Chin & Family Institute for Strategic Business Studies research, education, and outreach endeavors aim to equip aspiring business professionals with the necessary tools and knowledge to enhance understanding and proficiency in strategic business valuation for investment purposes. Furthermore, it strives to share these advancements with academic and professional circles, as well as with students, thereby contributing to the broader dissemination of knowledge.

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Research Centres

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McMaster Digital Transformation Research Centre (MDTRC)

McMaster Digital Transformation Research Centre (MDTRC) is designed as a knowledge hub to engage in three primary mandates focused on digital transformation: collaborative multidisciplinary research, outreach to academic and non-academic partners, training and education, as well as the development of custom training and educational content.

The centre operates at the nexus of business, neuroscience, psychology, computer science, communications/media/social media fields, engineering, and economics.

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Centre for Research on Community Oriented Entrepreneurship (CRCE)

The Centre for Research on Community-oriented Entrepreneurship (CRCE) seeks to develop future generations of diverse entrepreneurs through innovative scholarship and educational services supporting environmentally responsible and socially inclusive entrepreneurship.

Their mission is to foster research that builds prosperous and resilient communities, emphasizing environmental sustainability and community focus. By supporting diverse individuals CRCE aims to spur innovative solutions to current and future challenges. CRCE’s goal is to promote economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, and social inclusion.

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McMaster Centre for Research on Employment and Work (MCREW)

The McMaster Centre for Research on Employment and Work (MCREW) fosters innovative interdisciplinary research on changing work, workers and workplaces. The Centre unites leading McMaster researchers who study how employees navigate, adapt to, and at times resist changing workplace demands, and how worker behaviors and expectations affect organizations. Their goal is to address systemic barriers and generate innovations to help employers and governments ensure access to inclusive and equitable workplaces.

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CPA Ontario Centre for Accounting Research in Regulatory Reporting

The CPA Ontario Centre for Accounting Research in Regulatory Reporting at DeGroote School of Business, established by CPA Ontario and McMaster University, advances the accounting profession through research and innovation. Funded by CPA Ontario, this program supports post-secondary institutions in creating thought leadership and student training opportunities. By collaborating with academia, industry, government, and public accounting, we promote timely and relevant research on regulatory reporting for public release.

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Core Research Platforms

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McMaster Organizational Behaviour Laboratory (MOBL)

The McMaster Organizational Behaviour Laboratory (MOBL) is dedicated to studying the evolving nature of workplaces. The researchers specifically focus on demographics that are frequently marginalized, such as part-time workers, independent contractors, temporary employees, mobile workers, temporary foreign workers, and workers with disabilities.

MOBL addresses a crucial gap in the understanding of organizational behavior by providing a specialized research environment. Despite the profound impact of workplace dynamics on individuals, they often remain poorly comprehended. Through the formulation and testing of hypotheses via experiments and data analysis from real-world workplace settings, the lab seeks to advance knowledge in this area.

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Mobile User Experience Lab truck parked outside the Ron Joyce Centre

Mobile User Experience Lab (MUXL)

This one-of-a-kind mobile lab allows us to take our full research infrastructure to wherever digital transformation phenomena may be. It allow us to study participants in the field, in natural settings, as well as in personal, social, and professional contexts. The vehicle houses a User–Experience (UX) lab that is uniquely designed to remove inclusion and accessibility barriers for segments of the population that are typically underrepresented in research, difficult to recruit, or would otherwise be discouraged to participate in studies due to various barriers (e.g., mobility).  

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Neuroscience Team and Leadership Lab (NeuroLead)

The NeuroLead lab applies advanced neurophysiological methods to enable the direct assessment of the effects of leaders on individuals and teams, focusing on their synchronizing role. We aim to uncover the behavioural and neural mechanisms underlying social interactions, including leadership development activities in this unique neurophysiology lab designed to mimic natural business environments.

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Equity Based Co-Creation logo

Equity-Based Co-Creation Hub

Addressing the complex inequities faced by equity-deserving populations can be challenging and requires innovative research methodologies to mobilize change. There is a movement towards co-producing change in collaboration with service users and a ‘design thinking’ approach as a new imperative for system transformation in Canada as well as in other countries around the world.

This Core Research Platform supports Equity-Based Co-Creation (EqCC) capacity development across the academic and broader community. Offerings include micro-credentials in EqCC, research consultations and grant-writing coaching for researchers and community partners, and research and knowledge exchange opportunities to build capacity among post-doctoral fellows, and graduate and undergraduate students.

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Research Labs

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Marketing and Supply Chain Analytics Laboratory (MiSCAN)

The Marketing and Supply Chain Analytics (MiSCAN) lab explores the application of big data in marketing and supply chain. It focuses on understanding consumer behavior, creating marketing campaigns and optimizing supply chains by harnessing the power of information. The team of researchers is dedicated to improving efficiency and productivity through innovative use of big data analytics. By combining customer and supply chain information, the lab generates actionable business intelligence aimed at informing strategic decisions across various business processes, including sourcing, operations management, marketing and customer relationship management.

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Foresight Lab

The Foresight Lab at the DeGroote School of Business was established to help Canadian executive and policy leaders, both current and future, scale their strategic foresight and leadership capabilities. It provides tools, skill development opportunities, and insights that can support leaders in identifying and strategically responding to the global forces and emerging trends disrupting businesses, governments, and societies. Through webinars and events with globally recognized experts and professional development programs, the Foresight Lab helps leaders position themselves as adaptive and resilient in the face of exponential and constant change.

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Work and Equality Lab

Members of the Work and Equality Lab are studying how to improve the workplace for everyone. We are researching the reasons for career inequality. We seek to discover interventions to reduce persistent disadvantages some workers face. We study people working in a variety of fields, including scientists, journalists, graphic designers, consultants, educators and nurses.

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Nuclear reactors

Nuclear Systems Design and Analytics

At Nuclear Systems Design and Analytics (NSDA) Lab we combine artificial intelligence, big data, and formal economic modelling to improve regulatory compliance and reduce cost and time overruns of nuclear technology.

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Research on Artificial Persons Lab (RAP)

The Research on Artificial Persons (RAP) lab investigates the impact of humanlike technologies on individuals, organizations, and societies. These technologies, referred to as artificial persons, include anthropomorphic robots, chatbots, digital avatars, and other social AI agents. As entities that are neither fully inanimate nor truly alive, artificial persons introduce a new ontological reality with unknown societal implications. Our interdisciplinary research group employs both qualitative and quantitative methods to explore how humans perceive and interact with artificial persons. On the cusp of a new social era, research on humanlike technologies is crucial for proactively defining the kind of person machines should be to ensure optimal psychological, organizational, and social outcomes.

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Data-Driven Optimization & Operations Research (D-DOOR)

Our research focuses on advancing data-driven decision-making and optimization techniques for large-scale, complex systems. We apply cutting-edge methods, including reinforcement learning, and develop innovative models and algorithms to tackle challenges in areas such as supply chain management, urban mobility, smart city services, and healthcare systems. Our work is committed to driving efficiency, sustainability, and innovation across diverse industries and urban environments.

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D^4 (Digital, Data, Design, Development) for Sustainable Futures 

D^4 Sustainable Futures harness the power of Digital, Data, Design, Development to build resilient and equitable futures. At D^4 Sustainable Futures, we investigate the intersections between human-centred computing, sustainability, and the public good. Our research seeks to identify how technology and digitally mediated service infrastructures can improve, protect, or potentially hinder the delivery of sustainable, inclusive, and non-rivalrous public goods and services. These include, but are not limited to, migration and settlement services,  disaster response, access to sustainable employment and education opportunities, and defence and security. We welcome partnerships with government agencies, international organizations, non-profits, social service providers, and community groups eager to leverage technology in building equitable and resilient futures. 

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Digital Marketing Lab

The Digital Marketing Lab in the DeGroote School of Business works alongside local businesses to advance their digital marketing strategies. In the lab, students gain hands-on experience in expert-led, business-driven marketing projects and engage with real-world data. For our business partners, projects yield practical and innovative solutions to their most pressing marketing challenges and questions. At the same time, these projects advance cutting-edge scholarly research on digital marketing grounded in tangible business needs.

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Vaid Lab for Dual-Use Technologies

The Vaid Lab for Dual‑Use Technologies studies how technologies originally developed for defence—and increasingly repurposed for civilian markets—reshape industries, regulations, and society. Our work supports parliamentarians, researchers, policymakers, and companies by translating complex dual-use technology issues into actionable insights.

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Inter-Faculty Research Institutes and Centres

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McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA)

The McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA) seeks to optimize the health and longevity of Canada’s aging population through cutting-edge research, education, and stakeholder collaboration. We amplify, cultivate, and mobilize aging research across all McMaster faculties. MIRA envisions a future where interdisciplinary research helps people of all ages live longer, healthier lives.

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Planetary Health

Planetary Health is a systems approach that recognizes a simple reality: human well-being depends on the stability of Earth’s natural systems. When climate, ecosystems, and resources are destabilized, the consequences show up in public health, economic resilience, and social equity. Planetary Health is a central pillar of McMaster’s Brighter World Campaign, bringing together expertise from diverse fields to develop solutions that protect ecological integrity while strengthening human well-being and social outcomes.

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MacData Institute

MacData promotes the engagement of researchers and students within McMaster as well as externally with industry, government and community to strengthen McMaster’s position as an international leader on all matters related to data.

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Inter-Institutional Research Institutes and Centres

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Smart Freight Centre

The Smart Freight Centre (SFC) is a collaborative research network established by the Region of Peel, McMaster University, University of Toronto, and York University to address the movement of goods in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). Contemporary transportation and logistics issues cannot be solved in isolation. SFC thereby conducts evidence-based research and advocates for coordinated transportation infrastructure, land development, and technology. SFC engages with shippers, logistics providers, and government bodies to develop solutions that ensure efficient, sustainable, and resilient supply chains.

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