University of Regina announces new strategic research plan

News Release Release Date: April 21, 2011 12:00 p.m.

University of Regina President Vianne Timmons today announced an exciting new strategic research plan to help move the University forward. Entitled Working Together Towards Common Goals: Serving Through Research, the strategic research plan will help guide research over the next five years. It also describes the essential role research plays at the University.

The new plan is the result of extensive consultation with internal and external stakeholders. The formation of the plan involved three town hall meetings, four online questionnaires and 90 interviews.

"Our faculty members and students are engaged in a wide spectrum of pure- and applied-research activities - from research in the social and hard sciences to performance- and community-based research. We should all take great pride in the research that is conducted at the University of Regina," Timmons said. "Whether it's in the laboratory, the library, or the classroom, together we are engaged in research that is relevant to the academy and meaningful and responsive to the needs of our communities."

The plan identifies three signature research themes and eight sub-themes that reflect areas of demonstrated expertise and sustained research excellence at the University of Regina.

Sustainable Development and its two sub-themes: Energy and Natural Resources; and Environment
Human Development and its three sub-themes: Health; Human Justice, Safety and Security; and Arts, Culture and Heritage
Knowledge Creation and Discovery and its three sub-themes: Information and Communication; Pure Discovery-Based Research; and Community-Based Research

One of the goals of the new plan is to further support and develop these areas of excellence.

Since 2000, the University of Regina has doubled its external research funding. One of the objectives is to build on that momentum, and support efforts to attract more funding, especially Tri-Council funding.

Another important outcome of the strategic research plan will be to strengthen the impact University of Regina research has on the communities it serves. As stated in the plan, "Research is most valued by society when it changes the way we think, act, and feel about ourselves, others and our environment, be it at the international, national, provincial, or local level."

"This new plan will help to support areas of research excellence at the University of Regina, which will result in innovation, employment and a stronger economy in our province," said the Hon. Rob Norris, Minister of Advanced Education, Employment and Immigration. "These research areas will have an impact on the local, regional and global communities."

Timmons was joined at the strategic research plan launch by several University of Regina researchers, including Raman Paranjape and Luigi Benedicenti, who along with fellow engineer Craig Gelowitz have developed a computer technology used to track city buses. The technology, known as "TransitLive", was designed to make public transit easier to use and manage.

They recently received the prestigious Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscinetists in Saskatchewan (APEGS) 2010 Exceptional Engineering/GeoScience Project Award and the 2011 Award of Innovation for their TransitLive computer technology. The Award of Innovation was announced at the Regina Chamber of Commerce Paragon Awards gala on April 7, 2011. For more information on TransitLive, please visit http://transitlive.com/

The strategic research plan can be downloaded from www.uregina.ca/research/strategic/

To view the University of Regina's research video, go to www.uregina.ca/research/

Photos on research at the University of Regina can be downloaded during the next 30 days from http://download.uregina.ca/UpLoad/DownloadAttachment/cf6078f7835ebf7185918004d87f3239/

The University of Regina celebrates 100 Years of Excellence in Education in 2011
Research grants at the University of Regina increased from $455,253 in 1970-71 to $24,950,000 in 2009-10.