2021 Western Research Virtual Conference

In August 2021, Western Research offered a virtual conference for staff and faculty members. The conference's goal was to share important information about services provided at Western to support our scholars' work.

Post-Session Resources

See below for our schedule and sessions.

August 16, 2021

Complexity Theory in Research: Why and how to adopt a systems perspective

10–11:30 a.m.
James Shelley, Knowledge Mobilization Officer, Faculty of Health Sciences
Katherine Lawless, Assistant Professor, Centre for Global Studies, Huron University College
Jonathan De Souza, Associate Professor, Music Research & Composition, Faculty of Music

Complexity theory intersects with virtually every domain of research. Join Dr. Katherine Lawless, Dr. Jonathan De Souza, and James Shelley from the Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) Lab as they discuss the nature of complex systems and the application of complex systems theory in research. The presenters will provide an introductory overview of the theory and illustrate how it informs research across various disciplines. Subsequently, attendees will be invited to “workshop” ideas to explore how complexity theory might open up new avenues or perspectives in their programs of research. In closing, we will discuss further collaboration and networking opportunities supported by Western’s Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) Lab.

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An Introduction to NEST, Western’s Network for Economic and Social Trends

11:30 a.m.–12 p.m.
Zack Taylor, Director, Centre for Urban Policy and Local Governance

Established by the Faculty of Social Science, NEST is Western’s Network for Economic and Social Trends. NEST is an umbrella organization for seven interdisciplinary research centres led by faculty members from across Western’s Social Science departments. The goals of NEST are to use advanced data creation, management, and analytic techniques to provide theoretically driven and evidenced-based research to inform social and economic policy and practice. Our research focuses on issues related to poverty and inequality, human capital and economic productivity, migration and ethnic relations, urban policy and local governance, political behaviour, and transitional justice in post-conflict societies. NEST also aims to train the next generation of policy and practice researchers through mentorships, fellowships, and the MA program in Research for Policy and Evaluation program. The presentation will discuss NEST’s current research and training activities.

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Research Contracts & Partnership Agreements 101

12–1 p.m.
Goretti Fordyce, Contracts Officer, Western Research
Marta van Horik, Contracts Officer, Western Research
Heather Martin, Senior Contracts Officer, Western Research
Caroline Calmettes, Director, Contracts & Agreements, Western Research

Join us for an introduction to research contracts and partnership agreements where we will take you through the process of planning your research contract and working with the Research Contracts Team. We will provide you with tips on how to plan your intellectual property strategy, know your publications rights, and learn about liability. We will showcase our new information in-take tool that will assist you to provide Research Contracts with the necessary information to plan your research contract and start the ROLA process. Learn about International Research Collaboration Agreements with Western International and Western Research.

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August 17, 2021

Keynote

10–11:30 a.m.
Lesley Rigg, Vice-President (Research)

Join Dr. Lesley Rigg, Vice President (Research), to hear about the report completed by Ontario Council of University Research on the topic of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion implications of COVID-19 on university research. Lesley will speak to, and share her own feelings for research, university activity and how our community has demonstrated an extraordinary capacity to lead, show compassion and persevere over the past year. To delve deeper into this, Lesley will be joined by panelists Chantelle Richmond, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Health and Environment, Kate Choi, Director at Centre for Research on Social Inequality, Melody Viczko, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, Joanna Quinn, Director and Graduate Chair, Centre for Transitional Justice and Post-Conflict Reconstruction and David Sandomierski, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law.

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Centre for School Mental Health: Mental Health Promotion and Services

1:30–2:30 p.m.
Dr. Claire Crooks, Director, Centre for School Mental Health

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated mental health challenges for many children and youth. It also amplified existing inequities and led to disproportionate outcomes for marginalized groups. In this session Dr. Crooks will talk about the impact of stress on child and youth development and show how strengths-based relationship-focussed approaches to mental health promotion can benefit youth. She will use examples of projects from the Centre for School Mental Health, which she directs, to show how Western researchers are partnering with educators and community members to undertake applied research and support child and youth.

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CIHR Project Grant 2021 Panel Discussion about Peer Review

2:30–4 p.m.

Lina Dagnino, Department of Physiology & Pharmacology
David Hess, Department of Physiology & Pharmacology
Maria Mathews, Centre for Studies in Family Medicine

Western Research and Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry will be hosting a panel discussion about CIHR Project Grant competition and peer review. The panel members will consist of faculty who served as reviewers in the Spring 2021 Project Grant Competition. Some of the topics to be covered include changes to the Fall 2021 Project Grant Competition, tips and advice from recent reviewers, and an outline of Western supports available.

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August 18, 2021

What You Should Know BEFORE You Start a Systematic/Scoping Review

10–11 a.m.
Marisa Tippett, Research & Scholarly Communication Librarian, Western Libraries

This session will cover the basics about conducting a systematic/scoping review and will identify tools and resources that can support the review process. Attendees will learn how a systematic and scoping review is defined and characterized, steps of the systematic/scoping review process, and strategies for managing the complex process of conducting a systematic/scoping review.

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Research Activities at Western Water Centre

11:30 a.m.–12 p.m.
Dr. Mita Ray, Director, Western Water Centre

Passionate about water? Join Dr. Ray to learn about the current challenges in the local and national water landscape, how the Western Water Centre is working to overcome them, and potential opportunities to collaborate.

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(1/2) Make R&D Funds Go Further with NSERC and Mitacs

12–1p.m.
Joseph Santarelli, Business Development Specialist, Mitacs
Wilson Luo, Business Development Director, Mitacs

Join us for an informative session with program representatives from Mitacs. Part 1 of this 2 part series will cover Mitacs’ suite of grant offerings and services to support research partnerships with industry, not-for-profit organizations, municipalities, hospitals, etc. Expanded partnership and HQP eligibilities will be presented. Newly appointed scholars are encouraged to attend.

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(2/2) Make R&D Funds Go Further with NSERC and Mitacs

1–2 p.m.
Sarah O'Neill, Manager, NSERC
Katie Facecchia, Business Development Director, Mitacs

Join us for an informative session with program representatives from NSERC and Mitacs. Part 2 of this 2-part series will include NSERC’s Alliance grant and the new NSERC Alliance - Mitacs Accelerate joint initiative. Find out about partnership eligibility, and new funding structures. Industry and researchers are both invited to attend, with time for questions at the end of the session.

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NSERC Discovery Grant 2021: Everything You Need to Know

2:30–3 p.m.
Félix Moore, NSERC

Join this informative session with Félix Moore, Program Officer at NSERC, to learn about the Discovery Grant. The session will provide an introduction to the Discovery Grant, share 2021 competition results and program specific updates. NSERC program updates will also be provided. The presenter will invite questions from attendees at the end of the session.

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Western Heads East: Research Collaborations and Opportunities

3–4 p.m.
Robert (Bob) Gough, Program Director, Management Committee, Western Heads East

Celebrating 20 years in 2022, Western Heads East (WHE) is a collaboration between Western staff, students, faculty and African partners using probiotic foods and social enterprise to contribute to health and sustainable development. Virtually all faculties at Western have engaged in research and work integrated learning experiences for students with mutual and reciprocal benefits for community partners in Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda. Research areas have included health benefits, impact on women’s lives, social enterprise, knowledge translation, nutrition, supply chain, sustainability, and more. The recent collaboration with Fanshawe College and Youth Opportunities Unlimited to provide probiotic foods to vulnerable populations in London and to produce the Fiti sachets in London has also brought about a host of research opportunities and community collaborations. Join Bob Gough, Director International Internships and Development and Co-Founder of the WHE program to hear more about this multi-faceted collaboration, interdisciplinary research opportunities, and traditional and non-traditional scholarly impact reporting.

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August 19, 2021

Student Research and Pedagogical Projects: Demystifying the Research Ethics Obligations

10–11:30 a.m.
Katelyn Harris, Ethics Officer, Western Research
Jhananiee Subendran, Ethics Coordinator, Western Research

Are you a course instructor planning a research assignment in the context of your course? Are you aware that you may require ethical oversight on your assignment through the Office of Human Research Ethics? This session will outline different types of student research projects, explain when ethical oversight is required and when it is not, and offer some guidelines for preparing the Pedagogical Application in WREM. Take a look at our Student Research and Pedagogical Projects Guidance Document in advance of the session and come with any questions!

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Multi-Jurisdictional Ethical Oversight and Ask an Ethics Officer

11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.
Office of human research ethics, Western Research

This session will start with a 30min overview of approaches to multijurisdictional ethical review and oversight including details on local requirements. Take a look at our Multi-Jurisdictional Research Guidance Document in advance of the session and come with any questions. For the last 45 minutes we will open the floor to answer researcher questions on ALL aspects of the ethics review process. Participants are encouraged (but not required) to submit questions in advance to this.

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Examining BrainsCAN’s Research Cores

1–2:30 p.m.
BrainsCAN

In 2016, Western was awarded a seven-year, $66 million investment from the Government of Canada through the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF). This investment developed Western’s BrainsCAN, a cognitive neuroscience research initiative. Now five years in, BrainsCAN has invested $35 million in its five Research Innovation Cores (RiCs), and supported more than 400 research projects that have engaged with 160+ researchers from 80 institutes worldwide. In this session, you will learn about the research happening within the BrainsCAN RiCs, along with its evidence-based governance approach, and innovative equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) action plan.

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Path to Research Commercialization, Technology Transfer and Commercialization Funding

3–4 p.m.
Souzan Armstrong, Acting Executive Director, WORLDiscoveries
Saqib Sachani, Business Development Officer, WORLDiscoveries

Join Dr. Armstrong and Dr. Sachani from WORLDiscoveries to learn about the paths to research commercialization. This session will provide an introduction to the concept of technology transfer, the technology transfer process at Western, and provide an overview of the research commercialization funding opportunities which exist.

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August 20, 2021

Overview of ICES Data & Service

10–10:30 a.m.
Salimah Shariff, Staff Scientist, ICES Western
Lucie Richard, Program Coordinator - ICES Faculty Scholars Program, ICES Western

This session will provide an introduction to the various health and health-related data available at ICES, the requirements for data access, and services offered at ICES Western (located at Victoria Hospital).

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Transdisciplinary Research Collaboration: A Challenge Worth Tackling!

10:30–11 a.m.
Jann Paquette-Warren, Manager, Research & Innovation, Bone and Joint Institute

David Holdsworth, Scientific Director, Bone and Joint Institute

Every day experts push the boundaries of their own areas to achieve important advances in knowledge, teaching and innovation. Western’s Bone and Joint Institute brings together the strength of experts across different disciplines in academia and the community-at-large to gain fresh perspectives on grand challenges. Bridging silos is not easy, but the power of the collective is key to achieving accelerated and meaningful social impact through research.

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A Proposed Open Access Policy for Western

11 a.m.–12 p.m.
Bobby Glushko, Associate Chief Librarian, Research & Scholarly Communication, Western Libraries

Over the past few years, the Provost's Task Force on Open Access and Scholarly Communication has evaluated the potential and feasibility of an open access policy at Western.  Please join Bobby Glushko, Associate Chief Librarian, and member of the Task Force, as he explains the potential benefits of such a policy to Western scholars. 

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Writing a Pitch for the Conversation Canada

12–2 p.m.
Will Kinchlea, Communications Coordinator, Western Research

The Conversation Canada is a daily independent news and online publication delivering expertise from the academic and research community directly to the public attracting 4.8 million users per month and over 22,000 media outlets. This session will introduce you the benefits of writing for the Conversation and walk you through how to write an effective pitch for your research in a group setting.

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Technology Risk Management within Research Contexts

2–2:30 p.m.
Colin Couchman, Director, Cyber Security and Business Services, Western Technology Services

This presentation will discuss the various risks that are confronting the sector as it relates to information security and the ways researchers at Western might consider data management approaches to best protect their projects. This session will provide information about the Western Technology Risk Assessment Committee (TRAC), the various solutions already in place at the institution, and will touch on the complications that are faced with respect to working with teams from other institutions and those in other sectors (private or public).

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Climate Change and Canada’s Forests: A Biotron Perspective

2:30–3 p.m.
Danielle Way, Scientific Director, Biotron

Join Dr. Danielle Way to learn about the exciting research happening at Biotron! She will highlight how the growth and carbon sequestration capacity of northern forests will respond to climate change. She’ll also share information on resources and services offered by Biotron to Western’s scholars.

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Pre-recorded Sessions

Award Certifications

Dana Lowry, Research Administration Coordinator, Western Research

Watch a pre-recorded session delivered by Dana Lowry from Western Research to learn about award certifications and what it means to ensure your awarded research funding is compliant with government and institutional regulations. This webinar will provide answers to the most frequent questions scholars have: What is award certifications? Why do you need it? What do you have to do?

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Contact

For more information, or questions relating to the Western Research Conference, please contact Natalie Wu, Director, Research Services (519-661-2111 ext. 81572).