Pillar 2: Partnering for transformational research, scholarship, and creativity

Key objectives:

Transform research through collaboration and innovation

• Empower faculty and students to lead partnerengaged, mission-driven research and creative practices that tackle real-world challenges, enhance the human experience, and inspire new ways of thinking.
• Strengthen pathways for creative expression, social innovation, technology commercialization, and knowledge mobilization.
• Advance dynamic curricular and co-curricular experiences of our research trainees to develop the next generation of thinkers, innovators, and leaders.
• Champion transformative research to inform public policy, provoke critical reflection, and advance sustainability, inclusivity, and cultural vitality.

Advance equity, access, and impact in research

• Identify and remove systemic barriers to access for historically excluded and marginalized groups, ensuring equitable opportunities for all scholars and creators.
• Champion research that advances EDI, Truth and Reconciliation, and Indigenous excellence, integrating Indigenous perspectives to enrich and deepen research outcomes.
• Enhance collaborations with the communities we serve to co-create knowledge that directly benefits society and drives meaningful change.

Strengthen resources and support for research excellence

• Safeguard and expand internal grants and start-up funding for new and early-career investigators, empowering them to thrive.
• Leverage our successes in garnering external grants and expand strategic partnerships to support scholarly, artistic, and community-engaged inquiry.
• Build and nurture research mentorship networks that guide researchers and foster inclusive collaborations.
• Invest in world-class, state-of-the-art research laboratories, creative spaces, and archival facilities to enrich scholarly productivity and institutional reputation.