Atkinson experiences boom in funding and research output

The Atkinson Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies hosted its annual Research Celebration on Feb. 1, celebrating Atkinson researchers’ accomplishments during the past year.



Left: Atkinson researchers’ publications on view at the Faculty’s annual research celebration


Addressing the attendees, Dean Rhonda Lenton noted the tremendous growth of Atkinson’s research activity in recent years. “Since 2003, Atkinson has seen a 350-per-cent increase in the number of applications submitted for external funding. This has translated into a 65-per-cent increase in the number of tri-council grants held by Atkinson researchers and a 50-per-cent increase in the total research funding held. This funding is expected to increase further as we see subsequent installments of these multi-year grants,” Lenton said.


Atkinson researchers hold funding from all three tri-council agencies (Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada, Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research) and have had significant success securing funding from sources other than the tri-council in the past year. Notably, Atkinson researchers have recently secured funding from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the Canadian International Development Agency, the Change Foundation, the Canadian Patient Safety Institute, the Harris Family Foundation and the Ford Foundation.


This year marked the inaugural competition for the Atkinson Dean’s Award for Outstanding Research. This award was established to recognize Atkinson researchers for research published within the preceding three academic years, the academic significance of the work and its impact on the field.


This year’s Dean’s Awards recipients are Professors Sung Kwon and Parbudyal Singh, both from the School of Administrative Studies.


Sung Kwon


Left: Sung Kwon


Kwon has published five articles in highly regarded academic accounting journals over the past three years. His innovative work on comparing accounting practices of high- and low-technology firms is making important contributions in the accounting field. His achievements to date signal that he is one of the country’s leading accounting scholars and will surely continue on this path of significant scholarly contributions to the field.


Parbudyal Singh


Right: Parbudyal Singh


Singh publishes in the human resource management area and his research record is outstanding. Over the past three years, Singh has published 25 refereed articles in an array of highly respected journals in the fields of industrial relations, sports management and human resources. In addition, he has given more than 25 presentations at national and regional conferences. Singh has produced a phenomenal amount of high-quality work focused on a diverse range of topics indicating strengths in a number of areas.


Both Dean’s Awards recipients will be invited to do a public lecture on their research in the coming year.


Further information on research activities at Atkinson can be found on the Atkinson Research Web site.