UVic Research Partnerships
Dear colleagues,
It is our pleasure to announce that UVic will be enhancing its suite of services in support of research partnerships and knowledge mobilization. Recognizing that a strong tradition of research partnerships already exists at UVic, our goal is to provide even better services to support them in the future.
The research support currently provided by UVic Industry Partnerships (UVic IP), the Office of Community-Based Research (OCBR) and the Knowledge Mobilization unit in the Office of Research Services (ORS), will be amalgamated into a new service unit in the ORS called UVic Research Partnerships. By bringing the services together we are building on the significant successes to date in UVicIP and OCBR and will be providing a coordinated approach to fostering partnerships across the institution. UVic Research Partnerships will function as a tangible example of UVic’s commitment to supporting civic engagement through research.
This organizational change redeploys existing resources and is the result of an extensive consultation process, including the UVic Board of Governors, VPR Research Advisory Committee, Dean’s Council, the Council of Centre Directors and community stakeholders. It marks a proactive response to the ever increasing importance and number of research programs that require complex partnerships to succeed. More specifically, it will allow UVic to better coordinate support services for our researchers collaborating with external partners, including colleagues within other institutions, industry, community-based and government organizations, and other public and private sector partners.
These services will include assisting potential partners to find one another (brokering), preparing research funding agreements and proposals, creating formal partnership contracts and agreements, meeting regulatory requirements and maximizing the impact of research through knowledge mobilization. Whether the intent of a partnership is to stretch UVic’s interdisciplinary knowledge base, create research-informed public policies, improve public services, build more sustainable communities or create new products and businesses, UVic Research Partnerships will support this evolving relationship.
Our goal is to have UVic Research Partnerships established (including an advisory committee of internal and external stakeholders) by April 2013. While other universities have elements of this type of service, UVic Research Partnerships is an innovative and unique approach towards meeting our commitment to being one of Canada’s most civically-engaged research universities—a place dedicated to helping to improve society through our research, scholarship and creative activities.
With best wishes,
Howard Brunt, Vice-President Research
Michael Miller, Assoc. Vice-President Research
Rachael Scarth, Assoc. Vice-President Research Operations