McGill University in Montreal has announced a C$29 million ($22 million) gift from Giving Pledger Sylvan Adams in support of creating an institute dedicated to research and discovery in sports science.

The largest gift ever to a faculty of education in Canada will establish the Sylvan Adams Sports Science Institute (SASSI). Approximately C$24.4 million ($19 million) will be used to build the facility and purchase equipment, and the remaining C$4.6 million ($3.58 million) will develop the institute’s sports science research program through grants, scientific conferences, student fellowships, and international exchanges. The institute will include testing labs, training suites, research offices, and meeting rooms.

The institute will focus on studying elite athletes, using evidence-based approaches and best practices, knowledge transfer, and scientific innovations. SASSI researchers will partner with those at other leading institutions, including the Sylvan Adams Sports Institute at Tel Aviv University (TAU), established in 2017. Together, McGill and TAU sports scientists will focus on human performance during intense training, leveraging their respective and complementary research strengths in physiology, biomechanics, motor control, psychology, nutrition, and molecular biology.

“Sylvan Adams’s extraordinary gift is a testament to his passion for sport and innovation,” said McGill University chancellor John McCall MacBain. “Thanks to his vision and support, the Sylvan Adams Sports Science Institute will position McGill as a leader in academic sports science research in Canada and internationally, with the resources to optimize performance, recovery, and health, not just in the world’s elite athletes, but in all of us.”

(Photo credit: Ziv Koren, courtesy of McGill University)