Vice-President (Research): Consultation Session Invitation


An international search for Western University’s next Vice-President (Research) is underway, and the Selection Committee would value hearing from you.

You are invited to attend a Campus Community Consultation Session hosted by the Vice-President (Research) Selection Committee. The following three sessions are offered:

Consultation Session #1

Date: November 25, 2019
Time: 1:00-2:30 pm
Location: International and Graduate Affairs Building (IGAB) Atrium

Consultation Session #2

Date: November 27, 2019
Time: 12:00-1:30 pm
Location: Great Hall, Somerville House

Consultation Session #3

Date: January 7, 2020
Time: 12:00-1:30 pm
Location: Great Hall, Somerville House

Refreshments will be provided at all sessions.

As space is limited, please register by emailing VPR.search@uwo.ca. Please provide the following information for registration: name, contact email, relationship to Western (e.g., staff, faculty, student) and the date of the session you wish to register for (Nov. 25, Nov. 27 or Jan. 7).

At this forum you will have the opportunity to tell us what you feel the key challenges and opportunities facing the next Vice-President (Research) will be, and also discuss the qualifications, experience, skills, and leadership attributes that the Committee should be seeking in the successful candidate.

If you are unable to attend a session, you will be able to provide written comments. The details for how these comments can be provided will be described on the Secretariat website.

photo credit: UweBKK (α 77 on ) Tree in lake Hechtsee under an overcast sky in Tyrol, Austria via photopin (license)



Beta Phi Mu Scholarship (LIS)

The Beta Phi Mu International Library and Information Studies Honor Society (Beta Phi Mu) announced the opening of the 2020 Scholarship Season. Applications are now being accepted for the following awards:

  • The Sarah Rebecca Reed Scholarship $2,250 for a student beginning library/information studies in an ALA-accredited school or other approved program.
  • The Blanche E. Woolls Scholarship for School Library Media Service $2,250 for a student beginning Library and Information Studies at an ALA-accredited school or an AASL-recognized school with the intention of pursuing a career in school library media service.
  • The Harold Lancour Foreign Research Fellowship of $1,750 for a professional librarian pursuing a robust LIS-related research project to be conducted in a country outside of Canada/USA.
  • The Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships $3000 for doctoral students who are working on their dissertations in Library and Information Science, Information Studies, Informatics, or a related field.

Applicants do not need to be members of Beta Phi Mu to apply for these awards. Links to applications are now available on the Beta Phi Mu website.

Deadline: All application materials must be submitted online by the March 15, 2020 deadline.

Award announcement will be made at the Beta Phi Mu program at the ALA Annual Conference in June, 2020. 

For more information:
Beta Phi Mu Membership Scholarship Information: 
https://www.betaphimu.org/scholarships.html

Contact:Alison Lewis
Executive Director, Beta Phi Mu
267-361-5018
executivedirector@betaphimu.org

photo credit: JLS Photography – Alaska Fireweed in Autumn via photopin (license)

The Brian King Fabulous Researcher Fund

The ArQuives (formerly the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives) has grown to become the largest independent LGBTQ2+ archives in the world. By collecting and caring for important historical records, personal papers, unpublished documents, publications, audiovisual material, works of art, photographs, posters, and other artifacts, The ArQuives is a trusted guardian of LGBTQ2+ histories. The Brian King Fabulous Researcher Fund honours the memory of former volunteer Brian King. The funding is to assist applicants to access the collection.

Amount: $1000

Deadline: January 31, 2020

More information and applications… Only one researcher will be funded each year. Research must take place within the calendar year of 2020.The funds can be used for travel and accommodations.

Eligibility: Applications are open to Canadian and international scholars, graduate students, artists, cultural producers, and other independent researchers with an established research agenda who wish to conduct research at The ArQuives.

photo credit: enneafive Water Mill via photopin (license)

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)