Saint Mary’s, NSCAD to collaborate on commercialization of research
A water-quality monitoring toolkit. A shelter for victims of natural disaster. An advanced film camera.
All of the projects listed above were developed through the ingenuity of NSCAD University professors and students. And now that research will go even further thanks to an agreement with the Saint Mary’s Industry Liaison Office which will allow NSCAD’s research initiatives to be advanced where commercialization is an objective.
“We believe there is a tremendous advantage to our partnership with the Saint Mary’s Industry Liaison Office,” says James Moy, Provost and Vice-President of Academic Affairs at NSCAD University. “Their experience will help us advance projects with commercial potential and develop new opportunities with industry partners.”
Saint Mary’s ILO, a member of Springboard Atlantic, inked a similar partnership with Mount Saint Vincent University in 2005. Springboard Atlantic is a network with the mandate to support the commercialization of research in Atlantic Canada—transferring knowledge and technology developed at the region’s universities to the private sector.
“Very complementary expertise and talent exist among smaller institutions and it seems fitting that we should pool our resources and work together,” says Gina Funicelli, director of Saint Mary’s ILO.
Prior to the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between Saint Mary’s and NSCAD University last month, the two universities collaborated on a pilot project—the commercialization of the WET-Pro water quality monitoring toolkit. It was developed by a NSCAD design team including Glen Hougan, Gord Morrison and students in association with Cathy Conrad, professor of geography at Saint Mary’s. The WET-Pro toolkit aids community groups across Nova Scotia in generating credible, consistent data on local water bodies. A training program has also been developed to assist volunteers in conducting reliable environmental monitoring.
Jason Blackburn, Coordinator, Research Services & Industry Liaison at NSCAD, says he expects even more inter-university collaborations to emerge.
Other projects that could benefit by the agreement include the “e-Home”—e standing for environment—a simple, low-cost shelter for families in the wake of natural disaster that has been designed by Gene Daniels, associate professor at NSCAD and chair of the Foundation program; and a next-generation film camera developed by Sam Fisher, associate professor with NSCAD’s film program.
Kim Morgan and Soloman Nagler Awarded SSHRC Research Creation Grant
NSCAD faculty members Solomon Nagler (Media Arts) and Kim Morgan (Fine Arts), along with Martha Radice (Dalhousie University, Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology) have received a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Research Creation grant for their project Tracing the City: Interventions of Art in Public Space.
This three-year project explores an innovative combination of creative processes in the visual and media arts, principally in film (expanded cinema), public art (site-specific installations), and empirical qualitative research in the social sciences and humanities (urban social anthropology).
Collaborators include Christopher Kaltenbach (NSCAD Division of Design), Ellen Moffat (artist) and Erin E. Wunker (Dalhousie Department of English). The principle researchers will be presenting their research framework during the Cineflux Symposium at NSCAD University in May and at the 17th International Symposium on Electronic Art in Istanbul, Turkey in September.
SSHRC Launches Two New Partnership Funding Opportunities as First Stage of Renewed Program Architecture
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) has launched the first stage of its renewed program architecture. Funding opportunities within the renewed architecture will fall under three umbrella programs: Talent, Insight and Connection.
The two funding opportunities kicking off the new program structure at SSHRC offer support of formal partnerships and span the insight and connection umbrella programs:
• Partnership Development Grants (application deadline Nov 25, 2010)
• Partnership Grants (application deadline January 31, 2011)
Please see the Program Updates section of SSHRC’s website for an overview of program architecture renewal and the timeline for implementation.
Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN)
The Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) is a partnership of Canadian universities, dedicated to expanding digital content for the academic research enterprise in Canada. Through the coordinated leadership of librarians, researchers, and administrators, CRKN undertakes large-scale content acquisition and licensing initiatives in order to build knowledge infrastructure and research capacity in Canada's universities.
CRKN is currently undertaking a major content expansion in the social sciences and humanities, and was recently awarded federal grant funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), with matching funding for NSCAD’s participation provided by the Nova Scotia Research and Innovation Trust (NSRIT). Through the provision of access to numerous digital libraries for images and academic periodical indexes, this project will build new capacity for research in the social sciences and humanities, and enhance multi- and inter- disciplinary research in Canada.
Please refer to the NSCAD Library webpage to access these valuable research resources.
Detailed program descriptions and complete listings of all funding programs offered through each agency or department can be obtained through the Office of Research Services or by accessing the links below.
www.sshrc.ca
Insight Development Grants: February 1, 2012
Partnership Grants (LOI): February 15, 2012
www.canadacouncil.ca
Project Grants (Visual Arts): December 1, 2011
Major International Exhibitions: December 15, 2012
International Residencies Program: April 1, 2012
Project Grants for Organizations: April 15, 2012
Visiting Foreign Artists Program: June 1, 2012
www.gov.ns.ca/dtc/funding.asp
Industry Growth Program: January 15, 2012
Organizations and Small Groups: March 15, 2012
Grants to Individuals: December 15, 2011