Interdisciplinary research has gotten an important boost with the University of Alberta's college model.
In the college system, the college and faculty research offices work in tandem with the Office of the Vice-President (Research and Innovation) (OVPRI) and the Research Partner Network (RPNet) to support teams from across disciplines and the university for applications to large competitions like the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) Transformation program.
The NFRF funds interdisciplinary, high-risk/high-reward, transformative research led by Canadian researchers. In the past year, the U of A has seen an over 200 per cent increase in submissions to the NFRF (all competitions) – thanks in part to the increased interdisciplinary focus that follows from Shape: A Strategic Plan of Impact and is bolstered by the college model.
To build strong diverse teams and support efforts for large interdisciplinary competitions like the NFRF Transformation (NFRF-T), the colleges provide the platform for idea generation and team formation and RPNet provides the supports to move the grant forward.
Jonathan (Jon) Veinot, professor of chemistry and associate dean of research (Grants and Innovation) in the Faculty of Science, knew the NFRF-T was the right type of support for his research and that of his colleagues; it includes exploring how hydrogen can be integrated to meet the needs of remote communities and society at large. He chose to reach out to the College of Natural and Applied Sciences (CNAS) for support in submitting a letter of intent for the NFRF-T competition. He received integrated support immediately.
“The college was instrumental in getting things going,” Veinot said.
NFRF-T requires teams to be truly interdisciplinary, with every person involved in all aspects of the project working together. Veinot often works with other scientists as well as engineers but needed help from the college to connect with researchers from the social science disciplines when assembling his team. David Bressler, CNAS associate dean of research, helped Veinot leverage the college system to build that team.
Bressler reached out to his counterparts at the College of Health Sciences (CHS) and the College of Social Sciences and Humanities (CSSH), who then contacted department chairs and professors to find the people Veinot should connect with and made the introductions.
“I was able to pull in the interdisciplinary aspect simply by reaching out,” said Veinot. “If this system hadn’t been in place I would have been making cold calls and I wouldn't have known who to go to.”
The Faculty of Science research team and CNAS research office also connected to the RPNet which pushed his proposal forward, helping secure confirmation of collaborator involvement, signing off on the proposal and getting it submitted internally and externally. They also helped him communicate with the funding agency when questions and concerns arose.The colleges and the OVPRI are also supporting Veinot with networking: helping him identify and meet other potential funding partners and find industry partners.
After submitting his letter of intent (LOI) to NFRF, the OVPRI and RPNet organized a debriefing session with all the teams across campus who submitted LOIs. As this is a new process, everyone wanted to find ways to make the process even more helpful.
“During that debriefing, they asked all of us what was needed to support those submitting these types of large applications,” said Veinot.
College supports to assist the researcher
The Office of Research in CHS has compiled a resource that tells them what all researchers across the six faculties are working on.
“So when major calls come, it's easy for me to identify people we can target specifically,” said Anelise Silveira, research projects manager with CHS.
To advance interdisciplinary research, aligning with Shape, Silveira said CHS consulted leadership across all their faculties to identify research themes. From there, they set up research hubs in priority areas, including the upcoming Climate Change and Health hub, to encourage and promote idea generation for large or strategic funding opportunities.
“In the research hub meetings, we suggest grant competitions and provide the resources available at that time that we also discuss with the research partners,” said Silveira.
For large interdisciplinary funding, OVPRI helps Silveira connect researchers to the Research Partner Network. Silveira meets regularly with Mark Taylor, the senior research partner at CHS. Together, they can determine what resources are needed and who provides them.
“Then we can just combine forces to provide our researchers with the best support that they can have to be competitive,” said Silveira.
With a competition involving a large team, like NFRF-Transformation, faculty from the College of Social Sciences and Humanities often serve as co-applicants.
“There might be a faculty member in economics or political science in our college, who we look for to identify for others because it's not always obvious that one field is going to be part of another’s field’s grant application,” said Joanna Harrington, associate dean, research, CSSH. “We do this because it’s so important for these large grants to have a variety of different disciplines - to bring together these teams - and we look to support those researchers who are willing to work a little out of their comfort zone.”
Harrington also thanked the CSSH Office of Research staff who offered assistance with budget templates, copyediting, filling out online forms and writing summaries.
In the College of Natural and Applied Sciences, David Bressler helps shape the funding documents and supports. For the NFRF-T, he met with many of the principal investigators over coffee to help them position their vision so it has the best chance to resonate with the selection committee.
“Some of it's just being a sounding board. Sometimes it's being an editor on the documentation, and sometimes it's fully supporting, like when there is a workshop helping engage with potential applicants,” said Bressler. “It’s about working with them to understand how to build their team.”
CNAS works closely with the faculty research offices. They meet regularly with research staff and ADRs to help align and talk about proposals, identify opportunities for synergy and connect them to people in the faculties, or Bressler will reach out to counterparts in the other colleges.
“We've developed a kind of a spider web of connectivity that depends on the needs of a proposal,” said Bressler. “The system is now in place where, if we know we need a researcher with this expertise in health sciences it's only a couple of quick emails away through established channels to reach potential collaborators, or access to sites, or even former proposals from another group that might be helpful.”
Bressler says the college model gives U of A researchers a unique competitive advantage in complex, interdisciplinary competitions like the NFRF-T.
“We've got a team, a vision and an identity. We can now build to other grant opportunities as well, whether it's Horizon Europe or provincial or international funding,” said Bressler.
Harrington says the colleges work intentionally to support cohesive and integrated teams.
“Each discipline has its value and insights to be offered that can lead to a more successful outcome, and results in greater impact,” said Harrington.
“There is added value by bringing all the parts together.”