King's invests $1M in research awards for faculty
November 17, 2021
King’s University College has taken a major step forward in supporting and enhancing research by its full-time faculty. A $1 million fund has been established to support research. Under this initiative, which has been passed by the King’s Board of Directors, King’s will provide funding of up to $60,000 annually for projects that align with our mission.
King’s investment in the King’s Research Excellence Fund is in alignment with a major component of King’s strategic plan: research excellence. Awards will support and enhance the research work by full-time faculty, and supported students and staff. At the same time, students will have increased opportunities to work with researchers at King’s, gaining valuable experience.
“The King’s Research Excellence Awards are a bold and unprecedented initiative in support of research excellence at King’s. It has been developed in response to and in recognition of our tradition of outstanding and impactful research and the great potential of our scholars. I believe that this is a landmark decision that will place King’s in a league of its own for its institutional research support,” says Dr. David Malloy, King’s President.
There are three types of awards within the King’s Research Excellence Fund. The King’s Research Excellence Scholar Grants will provide up to three grants per year, valued at $10,000 each. The grants will be used to fund high-quality, innovative, and impactful research projects by King’s full-time faculty. The King’s Research Excellence Chairs will honour scholars at King’s who are recognized by their peers as established or rising authorities in their field on a national or international scale. They will be awarded to two researchers every three years. One King’s Research Excellence Chair will be awarded to an early career scholar (defined as someone in the first seven years of their academic career taking into account approved leaves) and one other King’s Research Excellence Chair will be awarded to an established scholar. Each Research Chair will receive $15,000/year, renewable on an annual basis for a maximum of three years (totalling $45,000).
This in-house support will further recognize and fund projects on a wider scale. King’s faculty, staff and students have access to national and international funding including Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and others.
“This award represents a sustained commitment to research excellence across King’s. Research at King's reflects our values of serving the public good, improving lives, and engaging with our communities. The President has made research a top strategic priority. I will be working with the faculty at King's to ensure programs are supported to allow for the significant knowledge creation and community impacts,” says Dr. Gillian Balfour, Vice-President and Academic Dean.
The King’s Research Activities Committee (RAC) established the terms of reference for distributing the King’s Research Excellence Fund and for selecting recipients.
Full-time faculty members of King’s University College are invited to apply to these programs. Instructions on how to apply can be found on the King’s Research webpage.
Questions about the Research Excellence Fund should be directed to research@kings.uwo.ca and will be addressed by Dr. Trevor Bieber, ’07, King’s Research
Facilitator who will be managing the administrative aspects of the program on behalf of the King’s Research Activities Committee.
Dr. Bieber has recently joined King’s as our inaugural Research Facilitator in support of faculty projects. He comes to King’s from Western University’s research office where he helped faculty members write successful competitive grant applications and manage awards. He helped Western introduce new funding programs, leadership programs and revised internal processes.
Research at King’s goes beyond work by faculty and staff. King’s has a long history of students and alumni being honoured by the prestigious Global Undergraduate Awards, an international awards program which recognizes the top undergraduate research and projects from around the world. Since 2016, King’s students have accounted for two Global winners, three Regional winners and 18 Highly Commended winners.
King’s also has a number of faculty members who have become members of the Royal Society of Canada, College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, including
Additionally, Dr. Paul Werstine is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.