Mathieu Albert

Biography

Dr. Mathieu Albert obtained his Ph.D. in sociology of science at Université de Montréal in 1999 and is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Scientist at the Wilson Centre for Research in Education, University of Toronto. From July 2011 to January 2013, he was the Interim Director of the Wilson Centre. He also been an elected council member the Sociology of Knowledge and Technology section of the American Sociological Association (ASA) for a three-year mandate from 2012 to 2015. Dr. Albert received several scientific and teaching awards including The Best Paper Award in 2011 from the Sociology of Knowledge and Technology section of the ASA for his paper entitled: “Boundary-Work in the Health Research Field: Biomedical and Clinician Scientists’ Perceptions of Social Science Research” (Minerva, 2009); the Sheffield Prize, in 2001, awarded by the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education for his paper entitled: “Funding Agencies’ Coping Strategies to the Canadian and Quebec Governments’ Budget Cuts” (Canadian Journal of Higher Education); the Wilson Centre’s Mentorship Award in 2008 for the quality of his mentorship; and the Helen P. Batty Development Award – Innovation in Program Development and Design in 2013. Dr. Mathieu Albert obtained his Ph.D. in sociology of science at Université de Montréal in 1999 and is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Scientist at the Wilson Centre for Research in Education, University of Toronto. From July 2011 to January 2013, he was the Interim Director of the Wilson Centre. He also been an elected council member the Sociology of Knowledge and Technology section of the American Sociological Association (ASA) for a three-year mandate from 2012 to 2015. Dr. Albert received several scientific and teaching awards including The Best Paper Award in 2011 from the Sociology of Knowledge and Technology section of the ASA for his paper entitled: “Boundary-Work in the Health Research Field: Biomedical and Clinician Scientists’ Perceptions of Social Science Research” (Minerva, 2009); the Sheffield Prize, in 2001, awarded by the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education for his paper entitled: “Funding Agencies’ Coping Strategies to the Canadian and Quebec Governments’ Budget Cuts” (Canadian Journal of Higher Education); the Wilson Centre’s Mentorship Award in 2008 for the quality of his mentorship; and the Helen P. Batty Development Award – Innovation in Program Development and Design in 2013.

Research Interest

Dr. Albert's research projects (funded by SSHRC and CIHR) are located at the intersection of sociology of the health professions, sociology of knowledge and interdisciplinary studies.His main current project focuses on how top-down interdisciplinary research policies in health are creating new boundaries between research areas instead of removing them by marginalizing basic social and laboratory research. He has published in a wide range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary journals in social science and in medicine, including articles on symbolic boundaries between scientific groups (in Minerva and Social Science and Medicine), science policy-making process (Science, Technology & Human Values), academic assessment criteria (Higher Education) and funding agencies (Canadian Journal of Higher Education).