Strategic Research Plan (2024-29)

UM strives to advance Change Through Research by creating solutions to society’s most significant challenges. Every day, our talented and accomplished researchers inspire creative solutions to local and global challenges for maximum impact.

Strategic Research Plan (PDF)
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Strategic Research Plan (2024-29)

Change Through Research

UM has significant capacity to solve complex environmental, social and economic problems and drive transformational change. This plan outlines our research strengths and opportunities for growth that will inspire creativity and innovation, resulting in greater impact, external profile and recognition. The interconnected themes will promote the overarching mission of transforming research culture, advancing understanding and creating positive societal impact.

We are ready to move forward, together, with clear line of sight and clarity of purpose, to take on the challenges of tomorrow and build a brighter future for all.
B. Mario Pinto, Vice-President (Research and International)
Mario Pinto.

Our mission, vision and values

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Our values

  • Respect
  • Relationality
  • Responsiveness
  • Responsibility
  • Reconciliation
  • Reciprocity
  • Relevance

The incorporation of seven values signifies the importance of the seven sacred teachings or laws in Indigenous culture and the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) philosophy’s Seventh Generation Principle that any decisions made today must take into account their impact seven generations into the future.

Our vision

Research grounded in relationships, committed to change.

Our mission

To transform research culture, to advance understanding and to create societal impact.

Our goals

  • Top

    10

    in Canada in the Center for World University Rankings

  • Top

    200

    in the world in the Center for World University Rankings

  • Top

    251-300

    in the Times Higher Education Rankings

  • Top

    100

    in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings

Themes

These themes are meant to interconnect and promote the Mi’kmaq concept of Etuaptmumk (“two-eyed seeing”), coined by Mi’kmaq Elder Albert Marshall, in which each eye brings either an Indigenous or Western perspective. Using those two views dynamically in parallel leads to a productive way forward.

Supporting research through the four Ps

We recognize that to embrace our research mission, we must:

UM URS 2023 Winners

People

Attract and retain talented people, including graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, staff and faculty and with particular focus on currently under-represented scholars and stated commitments to Reconciliation and the Scarborough Charter. This includes creating and maintaining learning and working environments that are respectful and inclusive and providing mentoring, professional development and social opportunities for early career researchers who are establishing their research programs.
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Partnerships

Foster partnerships and collaborative relationships with communities, industry, government, social and educational institutions, and NGOs within Manitoba and beyond through initiatives such as the University Indigenous Research Connect Program, Lab2Market for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and UM’s new entrepreneurship hub IdeaStart.
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Platforms

Enhance platforms for research by updating physical and digital infrastructure; improving access to infrastructure funding opportunities for mid-career researchers; enhancing tools for the UM community and external users to enable easier identification of research opportunities; facilitating two-way flow of people and ideas between the UM and external communities and growing opportunities for cultivating social innovation and commercialization.
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Processes

Provide more efficient processes for research-related administration including funding proposal submissions to Research Services, changes to the Research Administration System for Research Ethics Board protocol submissions and approvals, and enhanced support for developing large-scale, institutional-level funding proposals through the Major Projects Office. Incorporate flexibility of process that allows for community-grounded and emerging methodologies where current processes present an unreasonable barrier to doing research in a way considered respectful and ethical by the community(ies) involved.
UM URS 2023 Winners
A close up of multicoloured strands of string being braided together on a white background.
A close up of four computer monitors displaying different graphics and a machine from the Manitoba Institute for Materials.
A close up of the inner workings of large circular gears all working together in tandem.

Strategic Research Plan Development

In January 2023, Drs. Annemieke Farenhorst, Mario Pinto, and Karen Schwartz began leading a committee consisting of 18 faculty researchers representing diverse disciplines in the strategic research planning process. Committee members planned and facilitated five hybrid, iterative engagement sessions with University of Manitoba (UM) faculty, staff and students from February through June.

The initial session introduced the vision for the strategic research plan, focusing on opportunities, needs and potential thematic areas of impact. The theme of the second session was Indigenous research. In the third session, attendees had more targeted discussions to narrow thematic areas. A session to measure research impact and frame UM’s research vision, mission and values rounded out the consultation process.

Attendance at each consultation session was robust, with between 60 and 100 participating in-person and on-line. An additional option to provide comments on-line generated approximately 40 responses. During the final stages in July, committee members discussed and provided feedback on the Plan’s thematic areas.