Keep Your Research Out of Questionable Journals

“Predatory publishers present themselves as legitimate journals, claiming to provide peer review and editorial services. In truth, they will publish nearly anything that is sent to them (and paid for) with little to no quality control, as evidenced by the numerous examples of deliberately false papers submitted—and successfully published—by journalists and academics hoping to prove a point.” Read this blog post by Erin Zimmerman at Canadian Science Publishing for more information on identifying fake journals.

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Western Libraries Provides Access to Research Software Tools

See http://guides.lib.uwo.ca/dataandstatistics/software for information on how and where to access several different types of research software across campus. Included are links to a variety of tutorials and guides for each product.

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Richard J. Schmeelk Fellowship for French-Speaking Graduate Students

If French is your first language “you may be eligible to apply for the 2017 Richard J. Schmeelk Canada Fellowships.



Worth a total of C$10,000 per academic term for up to four terms in total, the Fellowship is awarded to Canadian citizens for graduate-level studies at Western.”  More information at The Wire.

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Mitacs Programs

Mitacs is a national, not-for-profit organization that has designed and delivered research and training programs in Canada for 15 years. Working with universities, companies, NGOs and both federal and provincial governments, they build partnerships that support industrial and social innovation in Canada. Their programs support research students.


Accelerate Program:
Build research partnerships while funding grad students. You and your supervisor apply any time for funding that starts at $15,000. Accelerate is open to both for-profit businesses and not-for-profit (NFP) organizations, such as industry associations, charitable organizations, and economic development organizations.

Description: Through Mitacs Accelerate, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows apply their specialized expertise to business-related research challenges. Armed with the very latest tools, techniques, and innovations, the intern (a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow) brings a new perspective to the problem faced by the partner.

  • Interns spend approximately half of the time on-site with the partner; the remainder is spent at the university advancing the research under the guidance of a faculty supervisor.
  • Open to all disciplines and all industry sectors, projects can span a wide range of areas, including: manufacturing, technical innovation, business processes, IT, social sciences, design, and more.

Funding: Each 4-month internship project receives $15,000 in direct funding, with the partner organization and Mitacs each providing $7,500

Applications: Applications are accepted throughout the year and projects may begin at any time.

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Scholars to Leaders Speaker Series

The Scholars to Leaders Speaker Series is an initiative of the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (SGPS) that is open to all students and scholars across all careers at Western – undergraduate, graduate, professional, and postdoctoral. The Series brings students together with university leaders who are uniquely skilled in mentoring candidates as they prepare for next stages of academic competition and global careers. The next talk:

The Random Walk to Excellence

Dr. Fred Longstaffe
Department of Earth Sciences
Western University

Wednesday, March 29, 2017
12:30 p.m.
IGAB Atrium

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MITACS: Globalink Research Award

The objective of the Globalink Research Award  is to support research collaborations between Canada and select partner countries. The award is open to graduate students. Students in Canada may conduct research in Brazil, China, France (at French universities or Inria Research Centres), India, Korea, Mexico, and Tunisia. Project duration is 12-24 weeks.

Deadline: March 31, 2017

Amount: generally $5000, however varies by destination

Note that letters of support are required from host and home supervising profs.

More information – Mitacs….

More information – SGPS…

Graduate students in Canada may also apply for the Globalink Partnership Award, which supports research projects abroad with industry partners in any country except the United States.  Applicants are encouraged to apply by June 9, 2017, for travel in Fall (2017).

More information…

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Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism Security & Society (TSAS) Summer Academy

The Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism Security and Society (TSAS) is holding it bi-annual Summer Academy, July 17-21 in Ottawa.

TSAS engages in policy-relevant research and dissemination in terrorism, security and society.  The TSAS Network is designed to foster: communication and collaboration between academic researchers working on these topics in Canada; communication and collaboration between academic researchers and policy officials in these subject fields.

The Summer Academy is designed to foster a comprehensive understanding of radicalization, terrorism, and security and how all of these intersect with the rapidly changing nature of Canadian society.  The Summer Academy brings together graduate students,  post-doctoral students and junior policy makers and analysts from across Canada to participate in a highly focused learning experience.

Brochure for summer academy 2017

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Advice for “Getting You Through Graduate School”

Karen Kelsky posts weekly to her blog, The Professor is In, on “topics related to the academic job market, academic life and politics, general professionalization skills related to writing, publishing, conferencing, networking, and scholarly comportment, and the tenure process”.

Kelsky’s advice to grad students comes highly recommended by at least one Western prof.

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Western Journal Day

Are you interested in establishing an open access journal, but aren’t sure where to start?

Western Libraries invites you to attend:

Western Journal Day

Friday, March 31,
11:30-2:30
Teaching Support Centre
1st Floor, Weldon Library.

This event will be an opportunity for new, experienced, and prospective editors of Western journals to come together to share experiences and learn more about the benefits of hosting journals on Western’s institutional repository, Scholarship@Western.

The platform is currently home to 30 open access journals, and all content is indexed through Google as well as Google Scholar, making it easy to find. Additionally, the platform helps to streamline the editorial process and provides editors with monthly download reports, which demonstrate the global impact of open access publications.

The registration form is available at: http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/journalday/register.html. Although the event is free to attend, please note that space is limited.

Western Journal Day will begin with a keynote address by Dr. Jerry White, Professor of Sociology and Editor-in-Chief of The International Indigenous Policy Journal. A panel discussion on open access publishing will follow, featuring Dr. Ken Meadows (Managing Editor of The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning), Sean Lewis (Editor-in-Chief of The Western Journal of Legal Studies), and Kelly Hatch (Research & Instructional Services Librarian, Allyn & Betty Taylor Library).

The full schedule is available on Scholarship@Western. Please note that lunch will not be provided; however, attendees are encouraged to bring their lunch and connect with each other during the break.

Western Journal Day is open to all members of the Western community.

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