MaRS stands for "Medical and Related Sciences." It's a large complex of buildings kitty-corner from where I work, also known as the MaRS Discovery District. Work has now re-started on Phase II—the tallest building in the image below. That image is the view from my building. The Ontario legislature (Parliament Buildings) is just off to the left.
The new building will house dozens of tenants including some research labs associated with my department and our sister departments. The idea is to bring together various researchers in the university community with private companies who might benefit from their research.
When completed, the extra space will make Toronto one of the largest focused centers of medical research in the world. We have MaRS, the University of Toronto, and four major research hospitals within two blocks of one another. In my particular field of biochemistry and molecular biology there are over 200 active research labs with about 500 graduate students in four departments.
I just hope they have a nice cafeteria.
