Author: Kueneman, Karen

Staff, 2015 Fall

Human Research Ethics Updates

Reminder of new forms: new Research Ethics Board (REB) application forms (currently in .PDF format) will be available in WREM, effective January 2020. These include:

  1. Multi-jurisdictional Research application form -Used to help researchers determine if oversight by Western’s REB is required for research being conducted outside their home institution . See Multi-Jurisdictional guidance document for more information.
  2. Pedagogical Projects application form – All pedagogical projects considered to fall within Category 2, as per the Student Research and Pedagogical Activities guidance document, will be required to submit a pedagogical application form.
  3. Quality Assurance (QA) /Quality Improvement (QI) / Program Evaluation (PE) application form – If you are seeking clarification of your project being considered Quality Assurance (QA), Quality Improvement (QI) or Program Evaluation (PE), and therefore not requiring REB oversight, you will be required to fill out the QA/QI/PE application form. See QA/QI/PE guidance document for more information.

New Requirement for Health Sciences REB – all initial HSREB applications (delegated level 1 & 2 and full board) will be required to include a protocol/research plan. NOTE: this policy is not applicable to applications submitted to the Non-Medical REB. For help on how to develop a protocol/research plan, please see the relevant guidance document on our website.

Guidance Documents Updated – a number of guidance documents have been updated to support the research community and to ensure compliance with regulatory bodies. If you would like to review any previous memoranda or other communications, you can find them on our website, under Communications and Memos. To review all guidance and template documents, please visit our Guidance and Templates page, or go to WREM (under HELP-Templates).

If you have any questions, please contact the Office of Human Research Ethics at ethics@uwo.ca or 519-661-3036. You are also welcome to contact Erika Basile, Director directly (519-661-2111, ext. 86764 or ebasile@uwo.ca).

SSHRC Storytellers Contest

SSHRC recently launched its annual Storytellers contest, challenging postsecondary students to creatively show Canadians how social sciences and humanities research has an impact on our lives and our communities.

The contest is open to all students—graduate and undergraduate—enrolled at Canadian postsecondary institutions. Your challenge is to tell the story, in 3 minutes or 300 words, of a SSHRC-funded research project—your own or a professor’s—taking place at your institution. SSHRC will select 25 finalists to receive a $3000 cash prize and specialized training in research communications. For details on this year’s Storytellers contest, follow SSHRC on social media and visit the SSHRC website.

Deadline: January 28, 2020

Various promotional materials are available at the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gcv2cyu5i0vpxgg/AABu1y5GyhrK_2JXYlbLRpX7a?dl=0

Questions should be addressed to Storytellers@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca.

photo credit: UweBKK (α 77 on ) Small waterfall and sculptures depicting a story from the Ramayana in Muang Boran (Ancient City) in Samut Phrakan, Thailand via photopin (license)

Laura Bassi Scholarship – Editorial Assistance


The Laura Bassi Scholarship was established by Editing Press in 2018 with the aim of providing editorial assistance to postgraduates and junior academics whose research focuses on neglected topics of study, broadly construed. The scholarships are open to every discipline.

Winter 2019
Application deadline: 25 November 2019
Results: 15 December 2019

Spring 2020
Deadline: 25 March 2020
Results: 15 April 2020

Summer 2020
Deadline: 25 July 2020
Results: 15 August 2020

Amount:
Master’s candidates: $750
Doctoral candidates: $2,500

NOTE: Application fee of $10 USD.

Applicants are required to submit a completed application form along with their CV through the application portal by the relevant deadline. Further details, previous winners, and the application portal can be found at:  https://editing.press/bassi

photo credit: Fr@ηk  almost home via photopin (license)



Northern Scientific Training Program

The Western Northern Studies Committee invites you to apply for:

The Northern Scientific Training Program (NSTP)

The Northern Scientific Training Program (NSTP) provides funding for senior undergraduates and graduate students conducting research in the North. 

This is a supplementary grants program which was put in place to help defray the high costs of conducting fieldwork in the North and to encourage students to develop a commitment to northern research. The program funds projects on northern topics from all disciplines and in multi-disciplinary fields.

 Online application forms are available at: https://nstp-pfsn.fluidreview.com/

The deadline for applications is November 8, 2019. The application portal will close after the deadline.

Further information on the program is available at: http://www.canada.ca/en/polar-knowledge/fundingforresearchers/index.html#h2-2

Answers to frequently asked questions are here: http://www.canada.ca/en/polar-knowledge/fundingforresearchers/faq/index.html.

CRITERIA and ELIGIBILITY:The Program supports field research in any discipline – life, physical, human and health sciences – as long as the research has an essential orientation and impact on the North.

Funding is available for ALL complete and eligible applications that are submitted from Western.  Typical awards are between $2000 and $3000, with a recommended maximum request of $4500.  Awards are intended to provide travel expenses for students already receiving research funding from another source (for example, a supervisor’s research grant).

The student must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and enrolled in a graduate or senior undergraduate (currently in 3rd or 4th year) program at a Canadian university.  Part time students are eligible for NSTP funding.

A student who is employed or remunerated for their research in the field cannot receive NSTP.

Field schools are not eligible.

Geographic eligibility:  The research activity and travel must be north of the sporadic discontinuous permafrost line (approximately 50 deg N), ANYWHERE in the Northern Hemisphere.


SIMPLE APPLICATION PROCESS:
IT IS EASY!  The application and statement of research require significantly less content and effort than NSERC, SSHRC or OGS!

Students must go online, create a profile and complete the online application form.  New supervisors will have to create a profile as well.  The forms for students and supervisors are available at: https://nstp-pfsn.fluidreview.com/

Following the field season for which funding was provided, a brief report is required from the student through the online system. 

Please follow the instructions in the student manual (http://www.canada.ca/en/polar-knowledge/fundingforresearchers/). Incomplete or incorrectly formatted applications will be returned to the applicant for revision.  Applications received at the deadline that are incomplete or requiring changes may not be accepted.

DEADLINES AND CONTACT INFORMATION:
 The deadline for completing the online application is 11:59 pm, November 8, 2019. The application portal will close after the deadline.

Please direct any questions to: Northern Studies Committee at northern@uwo.ca.

photo credit: The Bone Collector II Ice Fog via photopin (license)

Open Access Week Events at Western Libraries

You are invited to participate in Open Access Week – a great opportunity to explore the benefits of open access and learn how to take advantage of open access publishing.

Workshop – Before You Sign: Know Your Academic Publishing Rights
Tuesday, Oct. 22, 10:30 a.m.- Noon
Thursday, Oct. 24, 1:30-3 p.m.
Room 121, Centre for Teaching & Learning, The D.B. Weldon Library

This hands-on workshop empowers participants to understand and exercise their rights as authors. Attendees will have an opportunity to compare publication agreements, learn about tools and best practices for self-archiving, and explore open access publishing options.
Register now

Workshop – Putting Together Your Data Management Plan (DMP)
Tuesday, Oct. 22, 1:30-3 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 24, 10:30 a.m. – Noon
Instruction Room (Ground Floor, Map and Data Centre), The D.B. Weldon Library 

In this workshop, you will learn the basics of RDM best practices and receive hands-on assistance drafting a Data Management Plan using Portage’s DMP Assistant. You’ll leave empowered with knowledge of RDM best practices and a working document to guide you in quality research data collection.
Register now

Academic Panel – What’s the Big Deal about Open Access?
Oct. 23, 1:30-3 p.m.
Room 258, The D.B. Weldon Library

Open access to academic research is rapidly becoming the norm, not the exception. Join members of the Provost’s Task Force on Open Access and Scholarly Communication to hear their experiences and perspectives on open access. Come with questions about open access and thoughts on how Western can best use open access to share knowledge for the benefit of society.

Panelists:

  • Joyla Furlano, Vice-President, Society of Graduate Students, and PhD candidate in Neuroscience
  • Kristin Hoffmann, Research and Scholarly Communication Librarian, Western Libraries
  • Katina Pollock, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education
  • Sam Trosow, Associate Professor, Faculty of Information & Media Studies, and Faculty of Law

Film Screening – Paywall the Business of Scholarship
Oct. 25, 1:30-3:00, McKellar Room, UCC

Paywall: The Business of Scholarship is a documentary which focuses on the need for open access to research and science. The film questions the rationale behind the $25.2 billion a year that flows into for-profit academic publishers, examines the 35-40% profit margin associated with the top academic publisher, Elsevier, and looks at how that profit margin is often greater than some of the most profitable tech companies such as Apple, Facebook,  and Google.
Free popcorn!



Mitacs – Japan Summer Program

Mitacs is now accepting applications for the Mitacs-JSPS Summer Program, which supports researchers in Canada to undertake 10-week research projects in Japan in Summer 2020.

The program is open to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in all disciplines at Canadian academic institutions. The deadline to apply for the Mitacs-JSPS Summer Program is November 27, 2019.

If you have any questions about the Mitacs-JSPS summer program, contact international@mitacs.ca.

  • Open to: graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at Canadian universities in all disciplines
  • Citizenship: Canadian citizens and permanent residents
  • Funding: JSPS arranges round-trip airfare and insurance. Mitacs and JSPS provide an allowance for the student or postdoctoral fellow (equivalent to 534,000 yen in total). Host supervisors are eligible for a research support allowance.
  • Destination: universities and research institutes in Japan 
  • Project length: 10 weeks; June 9 – August 19 2020 (10 weeks). Dates are tentative and subject to change.

Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to read more about the program on the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) website. 

photo credit: Trey Ratcliff The Chaos of Tokyo via photopin (license)

Western Libraries Research Skills Workshops This Fall

Western Libraries is offering several workshops this fall that can help you better understand the scholarly publishing process, how to build and promote your scholarly identity, conduct a comprehensive systematic review, and make the most of data and geographical information in your research.

Upcoming Workshops:

  • Tips & Tools for Building and Promoting your Scholarly Identity
  • Getting Started with ORCID
  • Preparing to Publish 
  • Continuum of Data Access
  • Who Pays for Open Access?
  • Open Monographs: Options for Authors
  • Before You Sign: Know Your Academic Publishing Rights
  • Putting Together Your Data Management Plan (DMP)
  • How to Make a Map in QGIS
  • Storytelling with Maps
  • GIS Day

Session dates, Registration and more information…

If you have questions or require further information please contact Courtney Waugh, cwaugh5@uwo.ca.

photo credit: designsbykari Watercolor Chair Paintings via photopin (license)



SSHRC-CIGI Post-Doctoral Fellowship Competition

The CIGI International Law Research Program announces the 2019 SSHRC-CIGI post-doctoral fellowship. This funding opportunity is open to citizens or permanent residents of Canada. Permanent resident status must be obtained, at the latest, by the application deadline. Candidates must apply through the SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowships competition website.

It is offered as a joint initiative administered collaboratively by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the International Law Research Program (ILRP) of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI).

Deadline: September 20, 2019

ValueUp to $80,500 per year plus up to $18,00 in research allowance
Duration    Between 12 to 24 months

Post-doctoral fellowships for research in one or more of the ILRP areas of focus:

  • Intellectual property law
  • Economic law
  • Environmental law
  • Indigenous law

The ILRP invites doctoral students who are completing their SJD/PhD in Law and those who have completed such a degree in the last two years to apply for these post-doctoral fellowships.

More info at: https://www.cigionline.org/jobs/sshrc-cigi-post-doctoral-fellowship-competition

photo credit: mrholle Not a Tree via photopin (license)

Western University Graduate Symposium on Music – 20th Anniversary

Please plan to attend this year’s

Western University Graduate Symposium on Music (WUGSOM)

August 16-17, 2019

Music Building, Von Kuster Hall

The Society of Graduate Students in Music (SOGSIM) organizes this event. Student speakers will be coming from a variety of locations in Canada (including Western students) and in the US.

The Symposium will culminate in a keynote address by Dr. Michael Klein (Temple University), who will give a paper entitled “Five Things (Plus or Minus 2) That Lacan Teaches Us About Musical Meaning.” More information about Michael Klein and his research at: http://www.temple.edu/boyer/about/people/michaelklein.asp.

The schedule of events is posted here:http://sogsim.com/conference-2019/.

photo credit: viscosita MUSIC via photopin (license)