Research Excellence, Knowledge Mobilization and Impact
On June 16, 2016, Senate approved the
Support for Research
One of our fundamental strengths is that we are a university with exceptional scholars and researchers. Their roles and successes must be acknowledged, supported, and broadly shared. We recognize the value of growing our research capacity and must do more to support our faculty in pursuing research funding and in the successful completion of their research activities. Strategic investments must be made in order to improve our competitiveness in securing tri-council and other external research funding.
Particular attention must be paid to supporting researchers early in their careers at UÂ鶹´«Ã½; we need to understand what this support entails and implement a plan to provide it. The role of the research office needs to be acknowledged and supported via more resources. We must also be mindful that teaching excellence and research should not be viewed as a dichotomy. Research, scholarly, and creative activities strengthen our capacity to provide high quality teaching to our students.
Collaboration
We have a history of strong interdisciplinary research based on partnerships between departments, post-secondary institutions, and external organizations. Increasingly, this type of research is eligible for support from funding agencies. We must identify best practices in the execution of interdisciplinary research to increase our funding successes. We must also support and facilitate opportunities for dialogue internally between UÂ鶹´«Ã½ faculty members.
Student Opportunities
Teaching and research are complementary. Opportunities to connect teaching and research will continue to be explored and developed UÂ鶹´«Ã½ is known as an institution of excellence in providing research experience, and we strengthen this and link research with experiential learning opportunities.
Knowledge Mobilization and Impact
The knowledge produced by UÂ鶹´«Ã½ faculty is used to influence policy, advance research, support communities, and strengthen the workforce of tomorrow. We need to explore opportunities and resources that will move UÂ鶹´«Ã½ research even further into the public domain. We must continue to communicate the results of our research, scholarly, and creative activities, both internally and to the general public.
In order to increase our impact, we need to partner and collaborate with community researchers and build capacity. As we seek out partnerships and collaborations, we must ensure that the work we do has a direct connection with teaching and research and aligns with our academic priorities. Partnerships need to be mutually beneficial, with clearly defined expectations and outcomes. We need to gain a deeper institutional understanding of partnerships with success defined as those projects that enchance UÂ鶹´«Ã½’s priorities.