Resources for Researchers
Research and innovation are valuable. The University of Winnipeg, like the Government of Canada, recognizes that open and collaborative research is indispensable to pushing the boundaries of innovation and addressing complex economic and societal challenges and Open Science is a driver of greater innovation and inclusion in research and development.
This also means research and innovation must be protected from theft, interference, or unwanted transfer of knowledge and results in ways that individuals and teams do not intend.
All researchers have new responsibilities related to safeguarding their research in the newly launched federal policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC).
This new federal policy comes into effect in early 2024 and will be a part of all SSHRC, NSERC, CIHR, and CFI grant applications from May 2024 onward.
For any grant application from a university that aims to advance a sensitive technology research area, research team members involved in the activities supported by the grant must not be affiliated with, or in receipt of funding or in-kind support, from a university, research institution, or laboratory connected to military, national defense, or state security entities that could pose a risk to Canada’s national security. For such applications, applicants will be required to attest to their compliance with the policy.
STRAC Policy Resources:
- Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern
- Sensitive Technology Research Areas
- Named Research Organizations
- Frequently Asked Questions
What’s a sensitive technology research area? The federal government has listed sensitive research areas: Sensitive Technology Research Areas (STRA). Please note: the numbered list are broad categories. The italicized subheadings are the sensitive technology research areas. Also note that this list will be updated periodically.
What are the universities, research institutions or labs? The federal government has listed the universities, research institutions, and laboratories connected to military, national defense, or state security entities that could pose a risk to Canada’s national security. These are called Named Research Organizations (NROs). Please note that this list will be updated periodically.
What does this mean for researchers? This means that when any university researcher is applying to CFI, SSHRC, NSERC, or CIHR, they will be asked to provide signed attestation forms for any named applicants, coapplicants, collaborators, etc that they are and for the duration of the project will remain compliant with the STRAC policy (essentially, that if they’re advancing a sensitive technology research area, they’re not and will not be affiliated or receiving any support from a named research organization). These signed attestations need to be attached to the application.
What does the attestation form look like? The attestation form has not been released yet, but it will be the same across the tri-agencies. The tri-agencies will release it in early March.
How will the tri-agencies verify that an attestation is truthful? For most, attestation verification will happen after the peer review and award process. Awarded applications will be randomly selected for verification. Most of the verification will be done by tri-agency staff using open source tools; however, if needed, other federal agencies may assist.
What if an attestation is found to be untruthful? An untruthful attestation will be investigated and, if appropriate, be treated as a breach of the Responsible Conduct of Research. The Responsible Conduct of Research framework doesn’t apply to CFI, so specific guidance will be released in the coming months.
I have questions; who do I talk to? Connect with Rachel Keijzer in the Research Office.
Next Steps for Researchers:
- Learn more about the STRAC Policy at our upcoming webinar on March 4 2024.
- Assess yourself. Does your research advance a sensitive technology research area? If yes, connect with Rachel Keijzer in the Research Office to discuss how to be policy-compliant.
- Safeguard your research: Even if you’re not advancing a sensitive technology research area, establish practices to safeguard your research. Here are some resources:
The Research Starts Here initiative aims to enhance how research supports and services are provided to Faculty at the University of Winnipeg.
The Research Starts Here Form (RSH) is the first step and is active on WebGrants.
The RSH form will help manage research applications from start to finish and allow the Research Office to identify and anticipate supports and services to assist Faculty throughout the grant cycle including: pre-award, proposal development, submission, and post-award management.
The RSH form will also capture essential information needed to manage the provision of internal supports such as: matching funds, space requirements, release requests and grant review support.
Remember, all Faculty applying for new projects will be expected to complete the RSH form at the outset of any proposed research application. For tips on completing your application please see Before You Submit.
Faculty feedback will be important to ensure the form is efficient and captures helpful information. Read More
How to Submit a Research Starts Here (RSH) Form?
To submit a Research Starts Here (RSH) form, please see the instructions and view the video link for step-by-step directions on how to complete the form.
The Research Manual and Policies features an overview of all internal research grants, information on grant eligibility and adjudication, external grant application procedures, an overview of how to use your research grants, and support offered through the Office of Research and Innovation.
- Responsible Conduct of Research and Scholarship Policy
- Field Work / Trip Policy
- University Survey Policy
- Respectful Working and Learning Environment Policy
- Research Data Management Strategy
- Contract Administration Policy / Contract Administration Procedures
- Information Security Policy / Information Security Procedures
Visit The University of Winnipeg policy page for a complete listing of University of Winnipeg policies.
The Research Mentorship Program supports the professional development of early career researchers and assists new faculty in their transition to UWinnipeg by fostering a sense of belonging at UWinnipeg that builds a cohort for collegial and trustworthy peer-mentoring relationships, formal learning opportunities, and community-building through social events. The program offers flexibility, leaving scheduling entirely up to the mentor and mentee.
Duration:
- The Research Mentorship Program runs annually from September to May.
For the duration of the program, mentors and mentees will be expected to co-develop their own plan for engagement.
Eligibility:
- Mentors: Have completed 6 or more years as a researcher.
- Mentees: Have completed fewer than 6 years as a researcher.
Applicants who wish to join the program as a mentor but have completed fewer than 6 years as researcher must demonstrate that they have applied successfully, as principal investigator project director, for a grant offered through SSHRC, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, or the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Roles and Responsibilities:
- Mentors: complete mentor intake form and mentor-mentee expectations form, attend the Research Mentorship Program orientation session, meet with mentee regularly from September to May, attend and possibly speak at networking events and professional development sessions, and complete program evaluation survey.
- Mentees: complete mentee intake form and mentor-mentee expectations form, attend the Research Mentorship Program orientation session, meet with mentor regularly from September to May, attend professional development sessions and networking events, and complete program evaluation survey.
Please note that attendance is not mandatory for the networking and professional development sessions.
Matching Process:
Mentors and mentees are asked to complete intake forms and submit them to the Research Office by the respective due date. These forms are used when the Research Office pairs mentors with mentees. The Research Office contacts mentors and mentees via email informing them of their mentorship pairing for the program. Mentees and mentors have the option of requesting another pairing and do not need to disclose the reason.
BIPoC Mentorship Group:
The purpose of this group is to foster respectful connections across campus, facilitate a network of resources, and support the professional and personal development needs unique to BIPoC faculty (advice given to early-career scholars that may create positive outcomes for some people is often counter productive for BIPoC faculty members).
If you would like to join the BIPoC mentorship group, please check the appropriate box on the application.
Research Mentorship Resources
To access a number of articles covering research mentorship best practices, please click here.
Applications:
Mentor Intake Form - Due July 12, 2023
Mentee Intake Form - Due August 7, 2023
Program Contacts:
If you have any questions regarding the program, please contact:
Dylan Jones, Program Officer, Canada Research Program Coordinator, Special Initiatives
Office: 3RC080
Phone:204.258-3065
Email: d.jones@uwinnipeg.ca
For questions about the BIPoC Mentorship Network:
Larissa Wodtke, Program Officer, EDI/AR/D and Research
Office: 3RC076B
Phone:204.258.2983
Email: l.wodtke@uwinnipeg.ca
WebGrants is where you will find internal grant application forms, the Research Starts Here form for external grants, and final report forms for internal research grants, animal care and human ethics. You will be able to find out details of all your active research grants in this portal, including information on external grant/contract details.
The Managing Your Research Finances: Best Practices guide has been created to assist researchers with managing their research finances. From opening and accessing your account, spending and transferring your funds, and to closing your account, you will find the best practices to manage your research finances efficiently and correctly in the guide.
Receiving an Award or Grant:
If you've received an award or grant, you can access your award accounting information, including the account number, expenses and revenues, and current balance in WebClient/Nav.
Sign In Instructions:
Below you will find the link to the WebClient website. To access WebClient, please sign in to this website using your UWinnipeg Windows user name and password (i.e. what you use to sign-in to your UWinnipeg workstation).
https://nav.uwinnipeg.ca/dynamicsnav71/WebClient/default.aspx?company=UWOP
For more information on WebClient visit research accounting.
When applying for research grants, it is always important to consider how to integrate equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonization considerations into the research practices and overall design. Many granting agencies require EDID to be formally named and described in applications. In addition, the University of Winnipeg Canada Research Chairs Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Plan has been in place as of December 2017. Here are some additional resources to help guide your EDID work:
Tri-Agency Statement on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)
EDID Resources for Tri-Agency Funding
Due to overwhelming demand, registration for the UWinnipeg Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Research Certificate in Winter 2023 is now closed. More EDI in Research training opportunities will be announced in Fall 2023.
Indigenous Peoples include persons who self-identify as being of First Nation, Inuit, or Métis descent. The University of Winnipeg recognizes the distinctiveness of all Indigenous communities across Canada and is committed to partnering with Indigenous Peoples, and expanding knowledge related to the rights and responsibilities of the peoples in Indigenous matters.
Indigenous Guidance Document
For information on conducting research in a good way with Indigenous communities and participants see our guidance document.
TCPS 2 (2018) Chapter 9: Research Involving the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples of Canada
View the TCPS 2 policy guide on conducting research with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities
Ethics
All faculty applying for new projects involving Indigenous Peoples and/or communities are expected to complete the RSH form at the outset of any proposed research application. Find out more about the RSH process and visit the Indigenous Research Ethics section on the human ethics resources page for more information on Indigenous ethics policies and procedures.
Additional Resources
Negotiating Research Relationships With Inuit Communities. A Guide for Researchers
Principles of Ethical Métis Research
Setting new directions to support Indigenous research and research training in Canada 2019-2022
See "Research Data Management" below for Indigenous Data Management resources.
Contact
For general inquiries on conducting research with Indigenous communities and partners, please contact researchoffice@uwinnipeg.ca.
The University of Winnipeg is committed to ensuring employment opportunities are accessible for all current and future research trainees. For more information on hiring research assistance, research associates and other research support, please visit Human Resources.
The Human Resources page will also be the place where you can view UWinnipeg's collective agreements and wage scales for those you intend to hire; this information is key when developing a grant application budget.
The University library offers a number of services to support researchers in making their research open access and available to the public for free. For more support, please visit the library or view the workshop we recently held on OA requirements below.
Research Data Management, or RDM, is the responsible stewardship of the data created or generated as part of a research project. It involves the responsible storage, description, and protection of research data, and should be an integral early part of any research project. You may already be practicing many of these principles.
Please see UWinnipeg’s Institutional Research Data Management Strategy. To learn more about this Strategy and RDM at UWinnipeg, contact Jaime Orr, Research Data Management Librarian and visit the UW Library's RDM website.
For more information on Indigenous RDM, view the following recordings of online webinars, co-hosted by Kishaadigeh, the University of Winnipeg Library, and the University of Winnipeg Research Office. Videos are posted under a Creative Commons License BY-NC-ND:
What’s Yaffle-UW? Yaffle-UW is an online engagement tool geared toward helping communities and institutions connect with each other, paving the way for collaboration and co-creation of knowledge. This platform will be populated with content from UW researchers from 2023-24, and launched in mid-2024.
Where’s Yaffle come from? Yaffle originated at Memorial University in 2009 (Yaffle-MUN) and is now being implemented as a knowledge-sharing tool at other post-secondary institutions across Canada.
Who decides what’s on my Yaffle profile? It is entirely up to you what information is provided on UW Yaffle profiles. You will have full access to updating any/all information using your UW-login credentials once the platform is up and running.
How did the Research Office collect the information for our Yaffle-UW profile pages? The information collected was found on publicly available websites such as the Experts Guide, departmental webpages, the UW Directory, etc. While everything gathered and shared with you is based on currently publicly available information, we will be following the guidance and keeping up to date with UW security reviews. No information will be posted on Yaffle-UW without your consent.
How is Yaffle being used at UW? Yaffle will be replacing our Experts Guide and will be a way for researchers to connect with students, peers, potential partners, and the public. Yaffle-UW will include:
- A list of past and current research projects for all researchers who wish to feature their work, which will allow researchers to also link to other UW faculty profiles connected to a given project to demonstrate intra-institutional connections. This will also become a space for those researchers who wish to have a public facing space for their research projects but don’t have the desire to have their own project website to share the info online (or to link to other research-based websites they are affiliated with and wish to feature).
- An opportunity to link research projects to institutional strategic research themes so as to also demonstrate the breadth of research happening within the inter-connected theme.
- A profile for each researcher at UW, outlining their research areas, thematic work, and linking to current and past projects.
- A “networks” page to list research centres, institutes, and networks that are active at UW
- An “opportunities” page where external community groups, organizations, and potential partners can post requests for researcher-to-community collaborations and facilitate new connections.
For more information, please reach out to the Research Office's Knowledge Mobilization Coordinator, Drake Hechter, d.hechter@uwinnipeg.ca or Lead Program Officer, Lauren Bosc, l.bosc@uwinnipeg.ca.
Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) is a term used to define the connection between academic research or creative works and organizations, people, and government to improve programming and inform policy change. It is a process of relationship building and can be initiated either by the researcher or the agency for whom the research will make a difference. Traditionally, researchers have produced valuable knowledge and creative works that have been narrowly shared among other academics in similar disciplines, either through peer-reviewed journals or at conferences specific to an academic area of study. Translating that knowledge into a format that is more accessible to a range of sectors is critical to informing policy change and advancing social innovation through engaged scholarship. Knowledge mobilization is a process and research impact beyond the academy is the desired outcome.
To learn more about knowledge mobilization at the University of Winnipeg visit our Knowledge Mobilization and Research Impact Hub.
For general inquiries on our Research Resources please contact Lauren Bosc, Program Officer – Research Partnerships: l.bosc@uwinnipeg.ca.