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by Ben Rogers, Seneca Innovation
in the September 2019 issue
With the start of a new academic year, perhaps you are thinking about other ways to engage with students and the community. Applied research provides a unique experiential learning opportunity to students and provides faculty with an opportunity to apply research skills and expertise to solve technical and business challenges for Seneca’s industry and community partners, while transferring knowledge back to the classroom.
As always, Seneca ARIE provides applied research services and support to liaise between Seneca, its faculty, and regional enterprises. ARIE staff develop grant applications, manage projects, and generally handle all the administrative tasks connected with applied research so that faculty and students can focus on the project itself. This year, look out for five initiatives that can help you as faculty get involved in applied research:
1. Seneca Applied Research Database and Organization on My.Seneca
ARIE has, in partnership with the Teaching & Learning Centre, developed an Applied Research Organization in My.Seneca featuring:
To join the T-L Applied Research Organization, go to bit.ly/SenecaARDB (case sensitive) and register with your name, email address, and research interests. The Organization will appear on your My.Seneca Home page.
2. Seneca Applied Research Fund (ARF)
This Seneca-wide, internally funded and administered program supports emerging applied research activities at Seneca. ARF aligns with Seneca's strategic priorities and academic plan, and is designed to strengthen networks among students, faculty, staff, and external partners. Through the ARF, up to $12,000 is available to Seneca faculty researchers, through an annual call for proposals, to explore applied research initiatives, in partnership with an industry and/or community partner, which address a business challenge brought forward by the partner and that provide experiential learning opportunities for student researchers.
This year, we have modified the application process to include a Notice of Intent (NOI) and a Grant Development Workshop. The NOI is a very short description of the research goal and the intended partner – the objective of this additional step is to review projects as early as possible and provide a workshop to assist eligible ARF applicants with writing their full applications.
Key dates: Seneca ARF NOIs are due Monday, September 16 at 4:00 p.m. The grant development workshop will be held on Monday, September 30 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Newnham Campus (K2001, CITE) and will be made available for viewing at different locations and times. Please check www.senecacollege.ca/research for more details.
3. College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF)
This year, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) has re-launched the CCSIF program. This unique grant supports well-defined and focused social innovation projects undertaken by college researchers with their partners from the public, private, or not-for-profit sectors. Social innovation refers to the development of new ideas or the use of existing ideas to find solutions to social challenges. Social innovation involves an initiative, product, process, or program that creates positive social outcomes for societies. It can result in more effective, fairer, and more durable solutions to complex social problems. It aims to produce benefits for the entire society, not only for some individuals. It increases the ability of communities to act collectively. It also promotes innovative solutions to accelerate technological innovation.
Unlike most NSERC grants, cash contributions are not required and not-for-profit community partners are eligible.
Key dates: applications are due December 2. Please speak with ARIE staff before September 30 if you have an idea for a CCSIF application. Please check www.senecacollege.ca/research for more details.
4. Information Sessions
Each semester, ARIE provides Applied Research Information Sessions: “Applied Research – Fundamentals and Experiences.” The sessions involve a 20 minute presentation for faculty about how to get involved in applied research and the processes ARIE has in place, followed by a 10 minute presentation by a faculty researcher about their experiences leading an applied research project at Seneca.
Fall information session date: Tuesday, October 29 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Newnham Campus (K2001, CITE). Register to attend in MyPD.
5. Internal Showcases
After last year’s successful ARIE Internal Showcases at the Seneca@York and King Campuses, ARIE will be running these showcases again in the second half of the fall semester and winter semester, respectively (dates to be confirmed).
Each year, ARIE hosts an Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Showcase at Newnham campus where students and faculty from across Seneca who have worked on grant-funded, industry partnered research have an opportunity to present posters about their work to an audience of Seneca faculty, students, and staff as well as external groups like government, funders, and industry. In addition to this annual showcase, ARIE hosts two internal showcases throughout the year where students who have worked on in-class/capstone applied research projects have an opportunity to present their work to other students, faculty, and staff.
ARIE will be working with Chairs and faculty early in the fall semester to encourage student groups to present at these showcases.
View the September 2019 issue of the Academic Newsletter.
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