The University of Lethbridge launched a new experts database today that will link the U of L's world-class expertise with journalists, academia, government, industry, students and members of the general public from around the world.

"The U of L is an institution with a global reach," says Chris Horbachewski, Vice-President (Advancement), whose department sponsored the project. "The new database will serve many purposes by making expertise publicly accessible to communities near and far."

The U of L Experts Database allows users to find researchers through a number of search criteria including research expertise, name, faculty, department and spoken language. Further, it allows users to browse for experts by specific topics. The database provides contact information for the expert and in many cases provides a link to the researcher's website.

Vice-President (Research) Dr. Dan Weeks says the University of Lethbridge, as a comprehensive research institution and leader in many research disciplines, is now better able to share its expertise. He says the database will be an important tool to connect researchers with industry, policy makers and community members.

"Ensuring that new knowledge and university expertise is available for public benefit is important for our society," says Weeks. "Our office has focused on ensuring that our community is aware of the research that is taking place at the U of L. This new database will make important connections between our researchers and many other stakeholders."

In addition to its mandate from the Government of Alberta to conduct pure and applied research in a wide range of disciplines, the U of L has a comprehensive teaching mandate that offers a full range of graduate programs.

Dr. Robert Wood, Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, says the new experts database will be a valuable tool for matching potential graduate students with faculty supervisors.

"Our graduate programs emphasize faculty mentorship, and for many of our programs it is necessary for prospective students to identify a supervisor at the time of application," says Wood. "This product will certainly help prospective graduate students to gain a better understanding of our faculty members' research and creative activity."

The University of Lethbridge Experts Database can be found at http://www.uleth.ca/experts-database.