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Research Impact Canada Engaged Scholarship Award for Graduate Students
2024 Competition

Research Impact Canada (RIC) is committed to maximizing the impact of research for the public good in communities. RIC aims to develop the capacity for knowledge mobilization and support activities related to the impacts of research in Canada and beyond. The network is dedicated to developing institutional capacity to support creating and assessing the impacts of research, scholarship, and creative activities by developing and sharing best practices, services, and tools.

Overview of the RIC Engaged Scholarship Award for Graduate Students
Prize
  • A cash prize of $3000 CAD for doctoral students and recent doctoral graduates or $2000 for Masters’ students and recent Masters’ graduates
  • Invitation(s) to present on their engaged research project
  • A post on the RIC website featuring their engaged research project
  • A social media post on LinkedIn and Twitter directing people to the post on the RIC website featuring their engaged research project
Application Deadline February 25, 2024, at 11:59pm Pacific Time (Vancouver)
How to Apply To apply, please submit the following through the online application system:
  • A completed online application form
  • An application letter (2 pages maximum)
  • A CV (3 pages maximum)
  • 2 letters of support (2 pages maximum per letter of support)
  1. A letter from project knowledge users, participants, collaborators, or partners describing the importance of your contribution to changes or impact in their actions, practices, guidelines or policies, etc.
  2. A letter from an academic supervisor describing your journey, evolution, lessons learned from this engaged scholarship experience.

Objective

The RIC Engaged Scholarship Award for graduate students recognizes engaged scholarship (making research with the people who benefit from it), co-creation of knowledge or integrated knowledge translation efforts among graduate students of RIC's Canadian member institutions, regardless of their discipline.

A successful project meaningfully incorporates:

1. The principles of engaged scholarship

The principles of engaged scholarship focus on high-quality scholarship, reciprocity, identified community needs, democratization of knowledge, and boundary crossing. Engaged scholarship leads to increased awareness of research by diverse audiences beyond academia or changes in actions, practices, guidelines, or policies. Engaged scholarship consists of doing research in deep collaboration with the people who can benefit from it.

2. Knowledge mobilization

Knowledge mobilization refers to the multidirectional flow and uptake of research knowledge between researchers and knowledge users in order to accelerate and increase the impact of research. Knowledge mobilization activities support engagement, collaboration, and knowledge exchange throughout and beyond the research process.

Please note that engaged scholarship refers to the process of conducting research in deep collaboration with the people who benefit from it. It is not:

  • Presenting your research at an academic conference
  • Publishing your research findings in an academic journal
  • Writing an op-ed

For examples of engaged scholarship activities, please see the projects of our 2023 RIC Engaged Scholarship Award winners:

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply, the applicant must:

  • Be a graduate student registered at one of RIC’s Canadian academic member institutions, at any stage of their program (Masters or Doctorate candidate), in any discipline, or be a recent graduate (up to 1 year after graduation date) from one of RIC’s Canadian academic member institutions. Click here for the list of eligible institutions.
  • Be leading or have led a significant research project (e.g. research for a thesis or dissertation) following engaged scholarship principles (high quality scholarship, reciprocity, identified community needs, democratization of knowledge, and boundary-crossing) that resulted in increased awareness of targeted audiences or changes in actions, practices, guidelines or policies.

Application Procedures

To apply, please submit the following through the application online system:

  • A completed online application form
  • An application letter (2 pages maximum)
  • A CV (3 pages maximum)
  • 2 letters of support (2 pages maximum per letter of support)
  1. A letter from project knowledge users, participants, collaborators, or partners describing the importance of your contribution to changes or impact in their actions, practices, guidelines or policies, etc.
  2. A letter from an academic supervisor describing your journey, evolution, lessons

Application Deadline

Completed applications should be submitted by February 25, 2024, at 11:59pm Pacific Time (Vancouver)

Selection Process

Review

All eligible applications will be reviewed by a committee comprised of members of the Research Impact Canada Network.

Selection Criteria

RIC is seeking projects that can demonstrate evidence of integrated knowledge mobilization and/or knowledge user or stakeholder engagement, or public outreach either at the local, regional, national, or international level. The project should provide evidence of increased awareness of targeted audiences beyond academia or changes in actions, practices, guidelines, or policies.

Each application will be assessed based on the following criteria:

Selection Criteria Description Weight
Relevance, importance, and clarity of the application Indicators include:
  • The research project is relevant and important.
  • The engaged scholarship activities are relevant and important.
  • The application is well written, clear, and easy to understand.
 3/12
Engaged Scholarship Indicators include:
  • The applicant provides relevant evidence of the engaged scholarship or knowledge mobilization activities implemented in the project.
  • The applicant demonstrates how principles of engaged scholarship were considered and implemented throughout the project.
  • The applicant demonstrates meaningful involvement of knowledge users, relevant parties and/or partners throughout and beyond the research process.
  • The applicant demonstrates the benefits or potential benefits of engaged scholarship for all relevant parties and partners.
 4/12
Desired/Potential/Promise of impact and outcomes Indicators include:
  • The applicant demonstrates leadership for creating impact or potential impact with the project.
  • The impact or potential impact of the project is clear and relevant.
  • The applicant demonstrates the value of collaboration and engagement with partners to create impact or potential impact in this project.
 3/12
Relevance of lessons learned Indicator includes:
  • The applicant provides a reflection on lessons learned.
 1/12
Contributions to equity, diversity, and inclusion Indicator includes:
  • The applicant thoughtfully reflects upon how their projects might relate or contribute to equity, diversity, and inclusion, including reconciliation and decolonization.
 1/12

Official Languages

Applicants may submit their application in the official language of their choice – English or French.

Contact

For questions or further information, contact Sandy Chan at sdychan@yorku.ca. Thank you.

Peter Levesque Award for Leadership in Knowledge Mobilization

Presented by Research Impact Canada

This award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to advancing knowledge mobilization (KMb) as a profession, and is named in honor of Peter Levesque, a pioneer in the field. Among many achievements in his career, Peter founded the Institute for Knowledge Mobilization and launched The Canadian Knowledge Mobilization Forum. His work in the field has set the stage for much of the subsequent knowledge mobilization work across Canada.

While there are awards for KMb scholarship and graduate student research, there are no awards recognizing contributions of professional staff to diverse aspects of knowledge mobilization. We're excited to fill this gap and celebrate those who have dedicated their careers to advancing the field.

Overview of the Award

Deadline: February 25 at 11:59pm Pacific Time

Prize: This is an award of recognition. There is no cash value associated with the award.

How to Apply: To apply, please submit the following through the application system.

  • A completed application form
  • An application letter
  • A CV (narrative and non-traditional CVs are encouraged!) ->
  • 2 letters of support

Objective

The goal of this award is to recognize the achievements of an individual or a team that has helped establish and/or support professional knowledge mobilizers. This award specifically recognizes those whose efforts have built the capacity of others to do knowledge mobilization work, whether through training, mentorship, program development, tool creation, and other methods.

We define 'professional knowledge mobilizers' as those who have a job dedicated to one or more aspects of knowledge mobilization, including but not limited to: engaging with interested/affected groups, planning, collaborating, disseminating and/or evaluating knowledge mobilization activities.

We welcome nominations that reflect the diversity of knowledge mobilization and research impact practices among RIC members institutions.

Eligibility

  • Eligibility for this award is limited to staff at a Research Impact Canada member institution. For a list of members, see our website.
  • Nominations should be submitted via an online application form, which includes details about the nominee's work and contributions to capacity building in the field of knowledge mobilization.
  • Individual or team nominations are welcome.
  • This is an award of recognition; there is no cash value to the award.
  • This award is specifically for non-commercial knowledge mobilization activities (ie: not tech transfer or entrepreneurship)

Application Process

To apply, please submit the following through the online nomination system:

  1. A completed online nomination form
  2. A nomination letter (2 pages maximum)
    • The letter should provide a description of the activities or initiatives, evidence of their quality, and evidence of the impact/meaningful change
    • The letter should include a case study demonstrating evidence/capacity building/evaluation
  3. A CV Or Resume (3 pages maximum)
    • Traditional CVs, Narrative-Based CVs, and Professional Resumes are welcome
  4. 2 letters of support (2 pages maximum per letter of support)

Application Deadline

February 25 at 11:59pm Pacific Time

Selection Process

Review

All eligible applications will be reviewed by a committee comprised of members of the RIC Network.

Selection Criteria

Each application will be assessed based on the following criteria:

Selection Criteria Description Weight
Relevance, importance, and clarity of the application Indicators include:
  • The applicant’s capacity-building initiatives are relevant and important – effectively addressing critical gaps in the knowledge mobilization field.
  • The applicant showcases a remarkable degree of innovation in addressing challenges related to capacity building, highlighting creative and effective solutions that push the boundaries of knowledge mobilization practice.
  • The application is well written, clear, and easy to understand.
 1/11
Capacity Building Indicators include:
  • The applicant provides relevant evidence of the capacity building initiatives that were considered and implemented throughout the project. These may include development of training programs, mentorship and coaching, creation of tools and resources that enhance capacity, or the growth of knowledge mobilization networks and communities.
  • The applicant demonstrates meaningful involvement of knowledge users, relevant parties and/or partners throughout the process.
 3/11
Demonstrated impact and outcomes Indicators include:
    • The applicant demonstrates evidence of strong outcomes and/or potential of long-term impact with the project (I.e., outcomes show realistic potential for KMb activities to facilitate long-term change)
    • The applicant showcases evidence of strong outcomes through a documented case study that illustrates how the project has led to changes in policies, practices, or attitudes.
    • The applicant demonstrates evidence of evaluation and assessment of the project. A mixture of qualitative and quantitative data is used as evidence of impact.
    • The applicant provides testimonials and endorsements that offer specific examples of how the project directly influenced positive outcomes.

Note: we don’t want to be prescriptive about what ‘counts’ as evidence, we leave it up to the applicants to demonstrate how they have measured or evaluated impact.

 4/11
Relevance of lessons learned Indicators include:
  • The applicant provides a reflection on lessons learned throughout the process and how these lessons have been or can be integrated into ongoing initiatives.
  • The applicant reflects on dissemination of best practices in knowledge mobilization.
 2/11
Contributions to equity, diversity, and inclusion Indicators include:
  • The applicant thoughtfully reflects upon how their projects might relate or contribute to equity, diversity, and inclusion, including reconciliation and decolonization.
  • The applicant reflects on the degree to which they have contributed to fostering an inclusive and equitable knowledge mobilization environment, and specific actions taken to promote inclusivity, such as the development of guidelines or policies.
 1/11

Official Languages

Applicants may submit their application in the official language of their choice – English or French.

Contact

For questions or further information, contact Sylvia Urbanik (urbanik@yorku.ca).

Process

1. Register

Click on the "Register" button to complete and submit the registration form.

2. Login

Login with your email and password.

3. Create

Create your online application.

4. Save

During the call for applications period, your application can be saved as draft by clicking the 'Save work in progress' button. As each section is complete, you will see a appear in the category tab when the application is saved. At any time, you can download and print your application by clicking on the icon in the Application Summary section.

5. Submit

Upon completion, click on 'Submit final application'. Download and print a copy of your application for your records by clicking on the icon in the Application Summary section in the right column. Note: If an update is required prior to the application deadline, you can make update(s) and resave it as a final application.

If you require assistance or additional information, please email urbanik@yorku.ca

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Contact Information

Research Impact Canada
Kaneff Tower, York University
4700 Keele St, Room 625
Toronto ON
M3J 1P3

Contact Email:
Sylvia Urbanik: urbanik@yorku.ca