2.0 Research
Expand opportunities for research, scholarly and artistic work
Expanding the opportunities for research, scholarly and artistic work requires focus on priority research areas supported by the necessary infrastructure to undertake the research. It involves the development of stronger support structures for researchers at all levels: providing opportunities for promising undergraduates to engage in research, and enhancing funding for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in order to attract and retain outstanding academics.
2.1 Direct and attract resources to priority research areas, with local, national, and international importance
EXECUTIVE SPONSOR: VP Research
PROJECT LEAD: Associate Vice-President, Research (Graham Gagnon)
STATUS (June 2019):
- In 2018/2019, Dalhousie had research grants/awards totaling approximately $168M compared to $156M in 2017/2018
- Number of applications for Tri-Agency funding competitions for 2017/2018 to 2018/2019: applications decreased from 85 to 72 for NSERC Discovery Grants; decreased from 86 to 72 for CIHR Project Grants; and decreased from 20 to 16 for SSHRC Insight Grants
- Impact Together: Dalhousie’s Research and Innovation Strategic Direction, 2018-2023 finalized and launched; grounded in UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
- Dal Innovates suite of programming launched and operational (dalinnovates.ca) under oversight of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Steering Committee
- Academic Minors in Innovation and Entrepreneurship successfully approved, will start September 2019
- Internal awards created and inaugural competitions launched: VPRI International Seed Fund, Belong Research Fellowships, President’s Excellence Research Awards
- Emera IDEAHub ready for launch in Spring 2019
- Creative Destruction Lab-Atlantic (CDL-Atlantic) started second round
- Sandboxes: 4th in Science opened (Surge), 5th in Health to open 2019
- Nova Scotia Integrated Health Research and Innovation Strategy (IHRIS) Network established governance structure, commenced startup activities and has project plan in place to ensure success
Major Research Project Awards
- CFREF-funded Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI) fully operational with second-round competition for large-scale project funding underway
- Ocean Tracking Network received additional $2.3M from Canada Foundation for Innovation for operations and maintenance support
- Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP) awarded funding as an NCE-Knowledge Mobilization project ($1.6M over 3 years)
- Mitacs activity has increased; Globalink Research Awards proposal development for Strategic Clusters program for 2019-2022; Dalhousie moved from 11th to 6th in the country for participation in Mitacs
- The university had great success with external applications and awards in this period. Highlights:
- Dr Sherry Stewart’s project “Univenture: A Partnership to Address Heavy Drinking and Other Substance Misuse on Canadian University Campuses” was awarded a $2.5M SSHRC partnership grant;
- A $1.62M collaboration led by Dr. Ian Hill at Dalhousie and Metamaterial Technologies Inc. (MTI), on light manipulation, was funded by the Mitacs Accelerate program, the largest-ever Mitacs award in Atlantic Canada;
- $2M in awards to 8 Dal early career researchers, from the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF)
Tracking of Research Performance
- Analysis of trend of research awards by major source reveals increase in total Tri-Agency funding; opportunities for growth in not-for-profit and business/industry funding; growth in government funding (primarily federal/provincial)
- Analysis of research publications (Scival) and research funding from previous year (CAUBO) shows: Dalhousie accounts for approximately 2.6% of U15 research funds but produces 3.8% of U15 publications; Dalhousie’s number of publications per $M research funding is above the U15 average and generally outpaces the U15 average over the past three years; success rate for Dalhousie researchers in peer-reviewed Tri-Agency funding competitions has varied: 64% for NSERC (compared to 62% in 2017/2018); 17% for CIHR (compared to 12.8% in 2017/2018); and 25% for SSHRC (compared to 55% in 2017/2018)
2.2 Attract and retain outstanding academics
EXECUTIVE SPONSOR: Provost & VP Academic (VP Finance & Admin)
PROJECT LEAD: Vice-Provost, Planning and Analytics (Susan Spence) and Assistant Vice-President, Human Resources (Jasmine Walsh)
STATUS (June 2019):
Canada Research Chairs (CRC) Program
- Dalhousie gained 11 new Canada Research Chairs (3 Tier 1, 8 Tier 2; 4 CIHR, 4 NSERC, 3 SSHRC), increasing the total available Canada Research Chairs at Dalhousie from 49 to 60
- 4 new Tier 1 CRCs and 3 new Tier 2 CRCs were awarded (six were awarded to new hires at Dalhousie)
- Dalhousie reconfirms its commitment to the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan set out for the Canada Research Chairs Program by the Federal Government and has implemented approaches to ensure all hiring competitions are attracting a diverse group of candidates; CRC Chairs have been allocated to support diversity candidates to ensure that Dalhousie meets or exceeds its equity targets for all four designated groups (women, visible minorities, people with a disability, Indigenous peoples)
NSERC Industrial Research Chairs
- Dalhousie currently holds 5 NSERC IRCs; program is being phased out by NSERC, and as of February 1, 2019 is no longer accepting new applications or renewals; NSERC has consolidated its Research Partnership grants into a single program, Alliance grants
2.3 Attract and support excellent graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to strengthen the impact of research
EXECUTIVE SPONSOR: VP Research (Provost & VP Academic)
PROJECT LEAD: Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies (Marty Leonard)
STATUS (June 2019):
- Graduate students were awarded $29.3M in scholarships and bursaries (including the NS Bursary Program) in 2018/2019 compared to $28.5M in 2017/2018
- Dalhousie has 141 post-doctoral fellows as of 2018/2019, compared to 132 in 2017/2018
- Fee structure for PhD students at Dal reviewed as part of initiative to support doubling number of PhDs; waiving of international differential fees for PhDs, normalizing tuition over 4 years of the degree approved by Board of Governors
- Proposal, in collaboration with Suzanne Sheffield at CLT, to create a Professional Development Certificate for Graduate Students and Post Doctoral Fellows approved; curriculum developer hired on a three-year contract
- FGS website undergoing redesign
2.4 Foster undergraduate research
EXECUTIVE SPONSOR: Provost & VP Academic
PROJECT LEAD: Associate Vice-President Academic (Pemberton Cyrus (Acting))
STATUS (June 2019):
- NSERC USRA awards: 63 in Science, 16 in Engineering, 4 in Computer Science, 3 in Agriculture
- ILA SSRS awards: 5 awarded (Science, Health, Engineering, Computer Science, Medicine)
2.5 Enhance research with state‐of‐the‐art facilities and resources in accordance with the Institutional Framework for the Support of Research (IFSR)
EXECUTIVE SPONSOR: VP Research
PROJECT LEAD: Associate Vice-President, Research (Graham Gagnon)
STATUS (June 2019):
Major Research Awards and Prizes
Royal Society of Canada: Fellows
- Janice Graham
- Sara Iverson
- Sherry Stewart
- Ian Meinertzhagen
- Marlon Lewis
- Michael Ungar
Royal Society of Canada College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists: Members
- Natalie Rosen
- Sean Myles
- Anna MacLeod
SSHRC Impact Awards: Connection
- Jennifer Llewellyn
Canadian Academy of Health Sciences: Fellows
- Sultan Darvesh
- Christopher McMaster
Discovery Awards
- Erin Bertrand — Emerging Professional
- Gerhard Stroink —Hall of Fame
- Michael Schmidt (DMF Medical) — Innovation
- Patrick McGrath — Professional of Distinction
- Kevin Hewitt — Science Champion
Engineers Canada: Support of Women in the Engineering Profession Award
- Mae Seto
The Martin Bergmann Medal for Excellence in Arctic Leadership or Science
- James Drummond
Research Facilities and Processes
- ROMEO Researcher Portal launched November 2018
- UNIWeb purchased and implemented as a tool for the research community to track CVs, annual reports, CommonCV etc.
- Centres and Institutes policy revised: VPRI now managing on behalf of Senate, goal to make Centres and Institutes the hubs of collaborative research at Dal
- Reorganization of Office of Research Services with Director/Finance Manager and an additional facilitator hired for grants