Tag: VP Research and Innovation

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The countdown to Congress 2023 is on

Featured image VARI Hall drone image of the commons and Ross Building

By Elaine Smith

A celebration featuring speeches, performances and community connections on Jan. 25 marked the official launch of York University’s Countdown to Congress 2023.

The event drew the community together ahead of York hosting the largest academic gathering in Canada, in partnership with the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences this spring.

The launch previewed how scholarship, art and community will come together at Congress 2023 to create impact. The event is being sponsored at York by Lisa Philipps, provost and vice-president academic, and Amir Asif, vice-president research & innovation.

Andrea Davis, professor of humanities and the convenor of Congress 2023, opened the launch by reminding attendees that the Congress 2023 theme, Reckonings & Re-Imaginings, includes both acknowledging “that these Americas are built on violence and erasure” and “inviting dialogue across our disciplinary, cultural, historical and geographic boundaries about which actions we might take together … to produce a different set of relationships and a different kind of world.”

According to Rhonda Lenton, York’s president and vice-chancellor, “Congress 2023 provides a crucial opportunity for us to reflect on how Canada can continue to strengthen our impact on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) including understanding the intersection of race, gender, Indigenous and geopolitical issues.”

Iris Moon
Iris Moon, a jazz vocalist, performed “I’m Gonna Lock My Heart and Throw Away the Key” and “Misty” at the event

The audience was treated to samples of art and community engagement. Fourth-year students in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD), Iris Moon, a jazz vocalist, and Tricia Bent, a pianist, offered two musical selections: “I’m Gonna Lock My Heart and Throw Away the Key” and “Misty.” Members of Culture Philippines of Ontario – dancers Justine del Rosario and Alvin Gadong and musicians Carlo Lopez and Francis Tortola – also performed Paunjalay, a pre-nuptial dance from the Indigenous Yakan community in the southern Philippines. York professor Patrick Alcedo, Chair of the Department of Dance, is a cultural consultant and research collaborator for their Mississauga-based dance company.

Joel Ong, associate professor of computational arts in AMPD, presented a video offering a brief glimpse into the living virtual archive of the Firgrove neighbourhood that borders the Keele campus – an area that has been subject to ongoing urban redevelopment upheaval. During Congress 2023, the Gales Gallery will showcase this mixed-media oral narrative project about Firgrove, as “part of our assiduous relationships and partnership building with our friends in the Jane-Finch community,” said Ong.

Lenton expressed her appreciation for everyone planning Congress 2023 and its related events, noting, “We are incredibly grateful for your vision and support in making this significant opportunity a reality as we look forward to welcoming the world to York University.”

York University and the Federation for Humanities and Social Sciences will host Congress 2023 from May 27 to June 2. Register here to attend or volunteer in a variety of roles to support Congress.

Declaration offers important consensus for reparations for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence

two people with their hands overlapping each other

York researchers release the “Kinshasa Declaration,” a collaboratively developed, survivor-centred document on the right to reparation and co-creation for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in conflict situations.

Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) Professors Anna M. Agathangelou and Annie Bunting co-led and co-organized an international conference in November 2021 that led to the recently completed survivor-centred Kinshasa Declaration.

Anna M. Agathangelou
Anna M. Agathangelou

The Kinshasa Declaration is an urgent call for survivor-centred participation in the articulation, co-creation and evaluation of sexual and gendered-based conflict-related transformative reparations, and toward peace and justice for women, men and children. The document outlines the right to reparation for survivors of conflict-related gender and sexual violence. The Declaration comes out of many years of collaboration with partners and the culminating meeting, It’s Time: Survivors’ Hearing on Transformative Reparations held in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

“Survivors place emphasis in the declaration on the key issues of their dignity; their capacity and leadership and need to be involved as equal partners in creating programs; a broad definition of conflict-related sexual violence and victimization; children born of sexual violence and male survivors of sexual and gender-based violence; and intergenerational harm,” said Bunting, a professor in the Law & Society program.

Annie Bunting
Annie Bunting

As part of the Conjugal Slavery in War Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Partnership Grant (2015-22), housed at the Harriet Tubman Institute, the partnership grant project led by Bunting with Agathangelou and other researchers, partners in Africa worked with the research team and the Global Survivors Fund to identify key themes for the survivors’ hearing in Kinshasa. 

Researchers, experts, civil society organizations and survivor activists from 12 African countries contributed to the development of the Key Principles on reparations at the survivors’ hearing over several years with the support of SSHRC Partnership Grant at York University. Partner organizations, survivors, graduate students and the drafting committee worked together to articulate the most important issues for meaningful transformative reparations, developing a consensus document on reparations for conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence. The document was finalized through workshops in Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Chad, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Uganda.

“The Kinshasa Declaration is a tremendous achievement among partners across more than a dozen countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and many other international actors to make concrete change for survivors of sexual violence. York researchers’ leadership on this document and on the partnership that underpins it is remarkable,” said York Vice-President Research and Innovation Amir Asif.

The survivors’ hearing and the process was funded through SSHRC, the Global Survivors Fund, the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies and the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation at York University, the Ford Foundation, the Global Fund for Women and the Government of Canada.

Chemists at York University create more sensitive rapid antigen test

YFile Featured image shows rapid antigen tests by renato-marques-iUc8U9otEbs-unsplash

New research by a team at York University addresses limitations of current rapid antigen tests, reducing the potential for false-negative results.

Sergey Krylov
Sergey Krylov

Rapid antigen tests, like the COVID-19 home test, use a technology called lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA), where a biological sample is placed on a strip of paper-like membrane and flows along this membrane to display a positive or negative result, generally within a few minutes. This kind of test has many advantages, namely simplicity and low cost, and it’s used for a variety of other infectious diseases; but a major limitation of LFIA is its low sensitivity, giving too many false-negative results.

New research by a team of chemists at York University comprised of Banting Fellow Vasily Panferov and postdoctoral Fellow Nikita Ivanov and led by Distinguished Research Professor Sergey Krylov in the Department of Chemistry, has now addressed that limitation by inventing an enhancement step for LFIA, whereby the sensitivity is increased by 25 to near 100 per cent. This step could be performed by an untrained person, in a matter of two minutes.

“Increasing diagnostic sensitivity of LFIA is an urgent and very important task in containing the spread of infections,” said Krylov. “If we think about COVID-19 for instance, about 40 per cent of those who are infected with the virus and have symptoms would test negative the first time. In a day or two, when the virus has multiplied to a very high level, they will get positive results, but it may be too late for preventing disease spread as the person may have not self-isolated.”

Krylov’s team developed their enhanced test and proof of concept for the hepatitis B virus; they were able to increase the diagnostic sensitivity of LFIA from 73 to 98 per cent while not affecting its 95 per cent specificity. The test requires a tiny drop of finger-prick capillary blood, making it practical for use on babies born from infectious mothers, for example.

The team’s enhancement step involves a simple procedure with low-cost accessory equipment that could be done in a primary care setting or lab to generate quick and reliable results. It involves adding a standard nanoparticle mixture and applying voltage to the strip ends (a process called electrophoresis). The electric field moves the immunocomplexes through the test strip so that they pile up on each other, enhancing the signal on the test (a darker positive line if the person is infected).

“The test would be done in two stages: the patient does the test as they normally would, and then if it’s negative or faintly positive, the enhancement step is performed,” said Krylov. “This could significantly reduce the workload of hospital testing facilities and facilitate more affordable diagnostics in resource-limited settings.”

Krylov noted that the same concept could be applied for sensitive testing in the food and beverage industry for contamination by toxins produced by bacteria.

York University funds $4.05M to support interdisciplinary research for the UN SDGs

Featured image for stories related to sustainability

The research projects advance knowledge in areas ranging from water remediation, management of infectious disease through technological innovation, the effects of climate change on ecosystems and human populations, visual neuroscience, and understanding the pathway from colonial genocide to building just relationships.

York University will fund ground-breaking research through the Catalyzing Interdisciplinary Research Clusters (CIRC) program, which aims to foster interdisciplinary collaboration, global research excellence and world-class training opportunities.  Now in its second year, the program supports critical research that can advance York’s contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

“As the world continues to address urgent global challenges such as climate change, global health crises and political polarization, and their impact on people and the planet, it is critical now more than ever for York to support novel interdisciplinary research collaborations that drive innovative solutions to these grand challenges,” says York President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda Lenton. “York University is home to some of the brightest researchers in the world, and I am inspired by the talent, drive, and commitment of our researchers to making the world a better place. I offer you my congratulations in these exemplary research endeavours.”

“York is pleased to invest in interdisciplinary research clusters that will continue to amplify York’s world class research excellence,” says Vice-President Research & Innovation (VPRI) Amir Asif. “The CIRC program brings together talented researchers from across disciplines and faculties, supporting research that will help address complex global issues identified in the UN SDGs, and driving positive change in our local and global communities.”

Seven projects will receive $150,000 per year over three years:

Catalyzing Interdisciplinary Research Cluster for Detection and Remediation of Water Contaminants (CIRC-DRWC), led by Satinder Brar, Lassonde School of Engineering, with co-Principal Investigators (PIs) Pouya Rezai, Lassonde School of Engineering, James Orbinski, Faculty of Health, Sylvie Morin, Faculty of Science, and Ali Asgary, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS)
UN SDG 6: Clean Water & Sanitation

Catalyzing Collective Action at the Intersection of Global Health and the Arts, led by Caitlin Fisher, School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design (AMPD) with co-PI Steven Hoffman Faculty of Health, and Sharon Hayashi (AMPD)
UN SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being

From Colonial Genocide to Just Relationships, led by Luann Good Gingrich (LA&PS) with co-PI Heidi Matthews, Osgoode Hall Law School
UN SDG 16: Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions

Technologies for Identification and Control of Infectious Diseases (TICID), led by Sergey Krylov, Faculty of Science
UN SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being

Geomatics for Analyzing Climate Change Effects on Ecosystems and Human Populations, led by Tarmo Remmel, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change (EUC)
UN SDG 13: Climate Action

Translating Brain Signals Across Scales, Species, Sex and Lifespan, led by Jeff Schall, Faculty of Science with co-PI Shayna Rosenbaum, Faculty of Health
UN SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being

Designing Sound Futures: Inclusive Design and Transdisciplinary STEAM Learning, led by Kurt Thumlert, Faculty of Education with Co-PI Andreas Kitzmann (LA&PS)
UN SDG 10: Reduced Inequality

In addition, six other proposals that were highly ranked by external reviewers will each be awarded two-year funding of $100,000 per year for two years for a total of $200,000 each. These proposals include:

Biomedical Engineering Cluster (BEC), led by Alex Czekanski, Lassonde School of Engineering with co-PI Peter Backx, Faculty of Science
UN SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being

Towards Inclusive and Accessible Data Visualizations and Analytics, led by Enamul Prince (LA&PS)
UN SDG 10: Reduced Inequality

Overcoming Epidemics: Transnational Black Communities’ Response, Recovery and Resilience, led by Mohamed Sesay (LA&PS) with co-PIs Sylvia Bawa (LA&PS) and Oghenowede Eyawo, Faculty of Health
UN SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being

Research Cluster on Data Economy, aligned with UN SDG: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure, led by Xiaohui Yu (LA&PS) with co-PIs Giuseppina D’Agostino, Osgoode Hall Law School, and Jennifer Pybus (LA&PS)
UN SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure

*Social and Business Implications of Introducing Micro-mobility Vehicles (at York) Implications for Disruptive Technologies and Experiential Education, led by Andrew Maxwell, Lassonde School of Engineering with co-PIs Marina Freire-Gormaly, Lassonde School of Engineering, Pilar F Carbonell (LA&PS), Manos Papangelis, Lassonde School of Engineering and Jose Etcheverry, (EUC)
UN SDG 10: Reduced Inequality

*Towards Sustainable Extraction in the North, aligned with UN SDG: Responsible Consumption and Production, led by Laura McKinnon, Glendon College with co-PIs Kamelia Atefi-Monfared, Lassonde School of Engineering, Gabrielle Slowey (LA&PS), Zachary Spicer, (LA&PS)
UN SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

*Conditionally approved, subject to additional review.

“We would like to acknowledge the members of the internal Adjudication Committee: Professors Rosemary Coombe, David Hood, Jane Heffernan and Dan Zhang, who have helped the Office of the VPRI support research excellence in ways that are equitable, diverse and inclusive,” adds Asif.

More about the Catalyzing Interdisciplinary Research Clusters Program

The Catalyzing Interdisciplinary Research Clusters (CIRC) program funds research excellence for interdisciplinary projects, crossing the mandates of at least two of the three federal granting councils, with the core team of at least five researchers for each project including members from at least two faculties and at least one early career researcher.

Modelled to replicate the success of interdisciplinary research clusters, the initiative empowers clusters to achieve research excellence and secure large-scale funding through highly competitive national programs, such as the Canada Excellence Research Chair, the Canada First Research Excellence Fund and the New Frontiers in Research Fund – Transformation stream. The CIRC program will scale the development of research teams and clusters to position the University as a key node in national and international networks in strategic areas of interest, while enabling impactful contributions towards the University’s Strategic Research Plan, the University Academic Plan and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

All proposals received were subjected to expert external peer review, with final decisions informed by an internal adjudication committee comprised of senior York researchers with additional representatives from the Office of the VPRI.

Welcome to the December issue of ‘ASPIRE’

Header banner for ASPIRE

“ASPIRE” is a special edition of YFile publishing on select Fridays during the academic year. It showcases research and innovation at York University. “ASPIRE” offers compelling and accessible stories about the world-leading and policy-relevant work of changemakers in all Faculties and professional schools across York and encompasses both discovery and applied research. “ASPIRE” replaces the previous special issue “Brainstorm.”

In this issue

The engine behind human gut microbiome analysis and data science
As his career unfolds, biostatistician Kevin McGregor is becoming very familiar with the human gut microbiome. His work is particularly relevant given the human biome is a community of microorganisms that inhabit our bodies and appears to be linked to numerous health concerns, both physical and mental.

Black scholars form new interdisciplinary research cluster
A group of professors affiliated in various ways with York University’s African Studies Program join forces to create a unique, interdisciplinary research cluster focusing on adaptive knowledge, response, recovery and resilience in transnational Black communities.

Career change bears fruit for artist/curator
If School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design Assistant Professor Marissa Largo needs confirmation that becoming an academic was a wise career move, she can simply look at the two awards she won in November at the 2022 Galeries Ontario/Ontario Galleries Awards gala.

Cinema studies professor practises what he preaches
School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design Assistant Professor Moussa Djigo believes that if he is going to teach production, he should understand the DNA of filmmaking.

Gairdner events inspire world of possibilities for York and GTA high school students   

By Elaine Smith

Gairdner awardees, chosen by two separate juries of experts, travel across Canada, presenting research seminars and doing outreach to inspire future generations of scientists. After participating in online events during the pandemic, the laureates were able to engage with students and researchers in person this fall.

When Brittney Remnant was invited to introduce two Canada Gairdner International laureates to an audience of high school students visiting York University to hear their lectures on Oct. 28, she was excited.

“I ran to the principal investigator in my lab and asked, ‘Is this real?’” said Remnant, a fourth-year honours biomedical science student at York. “The Gairdner Awards are kind of a big deal.”

Gairdner Laureates and students prepare to visit Dr. Mark Bayfield's biology lab: L to R: Undergraduates Taylor Cargill and Brittney Remnant; PhD student Farnaz Mansoori-Noori; 2022 Gairdner laureates, Drs. Katalin Karikó and John Dick; PhD students Jennifer Porat and Kyra Kerkhofs; Dr. Bayfield
Gairdner Laureates and students prepare to visit Dr. Mark Bayfield’s biology lab. Left to right: Undergraduates Taylor Cargill and Brittney Remnant; PhD student Farnaz Mansoori-Noori; 2022 Gairdner laureates, Drs. Katalin Karikó and John Dick; PhD students Jennifer Porat and Kyra Kerkhofs; Dr. Bayfield

The Canada Gairdner Awards are Canada’s only major international scientific prize. Twenty-four per cent of the 402 recipients have gone on to be awarded a Nobel Prize. Awards have been given out since 1957. Today, the Gairdner Foundation awards seven awards annually, which include five Canada Gairdner International Awards for biomedical research, the John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award and the Canada Gairdner Wightman Award.

“York University has been part of the official Gairdner celebrations for more than a decade,” noted Ronald Pearlman, York professor emeritus and former associate scientific director for the awards program. Pearlman was instrumental in expanding the high school program nationwide.

Dr. Katalin Karikó and Ronald Pearlman, York professor emeritus
Dr. Katalin Karikó and Ronald Pearlman, York professor emeritus

Gairdner awardees, chosen by two separate juries of experts, travel across Canada, presenting research seminars and doing outreach to inspire future generations of scientists. After participating in online events during the pandemic, the laureates were able to engage with students and researchers in person this fall.

The Gairdner Foundation organized a series of events, “Gairdner Week” in the GTA. The Gairdner Day at York, the University’s most prestigious science event, is co-organized by York and the Gairdner Foundation. York students, faculty and staff had the opportunity to participate in Gairdner Day events on campus, and other Gairdner Week events off campus. The University’s Gairdner participation in celebrating the success of the laureates reflects a commitment to Access to Success – one of six priorites laid out in York’s University Academic Plan – supporting students to reach their full potential, research-intensification and internationalization. 

“York hosts a two-pronged program,” said Pearlman. He worked with Jennifer Steeves, associate vice-president, research, and Barbara Edwards, senior policy advisor from the Office of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation, to arrange the Gairdner day events.

“The laureates talk to high school students in the morning, sharing the stories about why they got into science and how they chose their particular research topic. In the afternoon, there is the York Gairdner lecture, where the laureates talk to faculty and research trainees about their research. In between, we have a small luncheon hosted by the president where select students and faculty get a chance to meet the laureates.”

Dr. Stuart Orkin, 2022 Gairdner Laureate, addresses more than 300 GTA high school students at York's Gairdner Day
Dr. Stuart Orkin, 2022 Gairdner Laureate, addresses more than 300 GTA high school students at York’s Gairdner Day

This year, the high school students enjoyed talks by Dr. Stuart Orkin David G. Nathan Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, and Dr. Katalin Karikó, senior vice-president RNA Protein Replacement Therapies, BioNTech SE. The laureates have each made transformational contributions to improve human health. Karikó’s work, for example, formed the basis for the mRNA vaccines used to prevent COVID-19 infections.

“It was a spectacular experience,” said Remnant. “I arrived early, and Dr. Pearlman introduced me to the laureates; I also went to lunch with them afterward and to the afternoon lectures. When you are in a scientific field, you do science because you love it, and it was nice to see that reflected by scientists at such a high level. They are doing spectacular things to make a difference and are so down to Earth; they don’t do science for fancy awards.”

Kate Duncan, senior planner, on-campus recruitment and events, organizes the high school program. It brings approximately 300 Grade 11 and 12 students from seven schools across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) to campus along with their biology teachers.

“It’s great because it exposes the students to different science pathways beyond medicine,” Duncan said. “The scientists talk about their careers and the challenges they overcame; their general messages are really important for that age group.”

At the York Gairdner lecture, faculty and research trainees heard from Karikó and Dr. John Dick, the Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Biology at the University of Toronto and senior scientist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.

Yanan Shan, a York PhD student in women’s reproductive health, attended the afternoon program and said, “The two professors gave brilliant talks, and the talk by Katalin Karikó inspired me a lot. … The idea to use modified mRNA for carrying information in vaccines to induce an immune response in the body was very advanced 30 years ago, but she must face a lot of questions and challenges in her study.

“I think it is a great honour and precious opportunity for me to attend this lecture on campus.”

Nilanjuli Ganguli, a York PhD student in environmental studies, was selected to attend another of the Gairdner Week events, a luncheon with the laureates off-campus. She sat with Zulfiqar Bhutta, PhD, winner of the John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award for his work on improving maternal and child health and nutrition among marginalized and rural populations in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

“To meet someone doing work that is having a global impact is quite meaningful and inspiring,” said Ganguli. “You often think that one person can’t make a change, but if you are smart and strategic about your means and goals, you can make it happen.”

Bhutta gave her his card, and Ganguli, whose research is also based in rural Africa, plans to reach out to him for mentorship.

York Gairdner Day, along with Gairdner Week events, were designed to inspire future laureates at York and GTA high schools.

Call for nominations for President’s Research Awards

research graphic

The Senate Committee on Awards invites current or emeritus tenure-stream faculty members to nominate colleagues for the President’s Research Excellence Awards.

As introduced in 2018-19, there are two disciplinary clusters for the President’s Emerging Research Leadership Award and the President’s Research Excellence Award: 1) Engineering, Science, Technology, Health and Biomedicine, and 2) Social Sciences, Art & Design, Humanities, Business, Law and Education.

The deadline for receipt of nominations is Friday, Dec. 16, by 4:30 p.m.

The President’s Emerging Research Leadership Award (PERLA) recognizes full-time faculty members within 10 years of their first academic appointment, who have had a notable impact on their field(s) and made a significant contribution to advancing the University’s international reputation for research excellence while significantly and positively contributing to one or more aspects of the York community’s intellectual life. The PERLA will be conferred to two researchers, one from each disciplinary cluster.

The President’s Research Impact Award recognizes full-time, active faculty members whose body of research or scholarship has translated into a notable impact on communities, individuals, public policies or practice, or translated successfully into impactful commercial or other applications, while significantly and positively contributing to the University’s research culture and reputation.

The President’s Research Excellence Award (PREA) recognizes senior full-time faculty at the rank of professor, with distinguished scholarly achievements who have had a notable impact on their field(s) and made a significant contribution to advancing the University’s international reputation for research excellence while significantly and positively contributing to one or more aspects of the York community’s intellectual life. The PREA will be conferred in alternating years between the two disciplinary clusters. This year, the PREA is open to researchers in Cluster 2, Social Sciences, Arts & Design, Humanities, Business, Law and Education.

The criteria and nominations forms can be found on the Senate Committee on Awards webpage. 

Buzzing with excitement: researchers return in person for 11th annual BeeCon 

American Bumblebee

After two years of virtual conferences, BeeCon returned to York University in a hybrid format. More than 400 attendees participated in the two-day conference hosted by the Centre for Bee Ecology, Evolution and Conservation (BEEc).  

BeeCon is a free, annual conference that brings together bee biologists on a global scale to discuss bees, collection methods, pollination, genomics, conservation and behaviour. This year’s BeeCon welcomed bee researchers and community members from 47 countries spanning six continents. BeeCon took place Oct. 13 and 14.  

Bee researchers and professionals reconvened in-person at BeeCon 2022 after two years of COVID-restrictions. They were also joined by more than 300 attendees online. Photo by Victoria MacPhail
Bee researchers and professionals reconvened in-person at BeeCon 2022 after two years of COVID-restrictions. They were also joined by more than 300 attendees online. Photo by Victoria MacPhail

This year’s conference featured keynote speaker, Professor Hollis Woodard of the Department of Entomology at the University of California. Woodard presented a talk titled, “The Ontogeny of Sociality in Bumble Bee Queens.” A YouTube recording of the Woodward’s presentation can be viewed here.

With bee populations being threatened by a host of factors, the collaborative efforts of bee researchers and academics are vital in preserving pollinator populations worldwide. BEEc fosters collaborative and innovative research to advance policy changes to sustain bee evolution and conservation. Through BeeCon’s free attendance, researchers can share cutting-edge findings on a global scale, creating positive change for the future. 

The 2022 BeeCon was sponsored by the Office of the Vice President of Research and Innovation, the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change and the Faculty of Science. 

Recordings of select BeeCon presentations are available and can be viewed on the BEEc YouTube channel, subscribers to the channel can receive a notification when new videos are uploaded.

Vice-President Research & Innovation launches community consultations about new strategic research plan

FEATURED image Research theses

Vice-President Research & Innovation Amir Asif officially launched a series of community consultations regarding a new Strategic Research Plan for the University at an open forum held Sept. 28 in the Dr. Robert Everett Senate Chambers at the Keele Campus.

Amir Asif
Amir Asif

Members of the York community attended the open forum, both in person and virtually to discuss the plan that will articulate the priorities and vision for the future of York research over the next five years. The open forum provided an opportunity for community members to learn more about consultation process and the goals for the plan.

“These community consultations are a vital part of a process to develop the plan. The goals of the consultation process are to engage the York community in an open, collaborative and ongoing discussion about the University’s research vision and values in developing an aspirational plan that is meaningful to the entire community,” explains Asif.

Participants shared their thoughts and advice via a lively and engaging discussion in two breakout sessions. Among the comments offered by those present at the open forum:

  • An emphasis on reinforcing leadership on partnered and community-based research into the overall research aspirations of the University.
  • The desire to integrate the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals (UN SDGs) within the plan.
  • A greater focus on sustainability and climate crisis, as a separate or enhanced opportunity area within the plan.
  • An emphasis on continuing work in advancing pathways for Indigenous and other racialized scholars and enabling their research success.
  • The importance of highlighting advancements in scientific discovery including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), social sciences, humanities, and arts through collaborative, large-scale initiatives and international partnerships.

Additional comments included areas around healthy aging, racial justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, enhanced research services, and increased support for research infrastructure in enabling strategic research success.

As part of the ongoing nature of the consultation process, York students, staff and faculty are invited to continue the discussion with Asif through three upcoming community chats. The community chats are intended to be unstructured feedback sessions across the university to discuss the strategic research plan development with the VPRI. 

The community chats will be held on.

DateTimeLocation
Friday, Oct. 219 to 10 a.m.402 HNES
Tuesday, Nov. 11 to 2 p.m.283 Winters College
Tuesday, Nov. 2911 a.m. to noon305B Lumbers

For more information on the community chats and the Strategic Research Plan, click here.

York announces inaugural recipients of new research fund backing Black scholars

Two Black women talk together

In February, York University announced the establishment of the York Black Research Seed Fund to provide mentorship and $150,000 in total funding in support of the research activities of Black academics, with preference given to emerging and early-career researchers.

Supported by the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation (VPRI) in collaboration with the Office of the Vice-President Equity, People and Culture (EP&C), the fund was created as part of the University’s commitment to addressing the systemic anti-Black racism and white supremacy that pervades academia.

“York University is committed to excellence and inclusiveness in research, scholarship and knowledge creation,” says Amir Asif, vice-president research and innovation. “Black scholars face significant barriers in academic research. This new fund strengthens the University’s ongoing commitment and long-term support in advancing equity and inclusion and removing systemic barriers that have hindered the success of Black scholars for so long.”

The fund consists of two streams: the Open Research Stream with three awards of $25,000 each for a duration of 24 months; and the Collective Research Stream, with three awards of $25,000 each aimed at Black early-career researchers who plan to collaborate with a Black scholar on a 24-month research project.

Applications were accepted through March, and the six recipients are:

Oyemolad Osibodu, Faculty of Education (Open Research Stream)
Research project: “Envisioning Diasporic Mathematics Literacies with Black Youth”

Gerald Bareebe, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (Open Research Stream)
Research project: “Why Peace Fails to Endure: Explaining the Recurrence of Civil Wars in East Africa”

Ruth Murambadoro, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (Open Research Stream)
Research project: “Women’s Politics in Zimbabwe: Aftermath of the 2013 Constitution”

Celia Romulus, International Studies, Glendon (Collective Research Stream)
Research project: “Decolonizing knowledge and promoting Afrofeminist narratives”

Jude Kong, Faculty of Science (Collective Research Stream)
Research project: “Modelling resilience: Post-pandemic Recovery, participatory governance, data gaps, equitable institutions, and human interdependence”

Solomon Boakye-Yiadom, Lassonde School of Engineering (Collective Research Stream)
Research project: “Machine Learning and Laser Powder Bed Fusion Technologies for Materials Discovery”

“Black scholarship is vital to advancing knowledge creation that will have a positive impact on the communities we serve,” says Sheila Cote-Meek, vice-president equity, people and culture. “The York Black Research Seed Fund is one step forward in addressing the challenges that Black scholars face in advancing their careers and will set in motion a future that promotes excellence and inclusiveness in research.”

In addition to the York Black Research Seed Fund, the University has committed $100,000 to back the research activities at the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC) and the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on Africa and its Diasporas – two organized research units (ORUs) based at York.