Research and Innovation Week:  It is a legacy that started 17 years ago and continues to captivate the research community and the public.  The event was initiated first in the City of Thunder Bay, and then later expanded to Orillia, to showcase the impact of the varied programs of research and other innovations of Lakehead University’s faculty members and trainees on society as whole.  The principal goal of our annual event, which takes place every March, is to take research and innovation from the confines of the ivory tower and put it on display to our public.  R&I Week continues to be possible with the support from the Research Support Fund (RSF) which continues to play a fundamental role at Lakehead University in promoting the dissemination of research and innovation to the public.  The Research Support Fund is a federal funding program for post-secondary institutions in Canada that assists organizations with the costs associated with managing their research enterprise, helping them to maintain a world-class research environment. 

Over the years, this week-long experience has matured from only a few major events to a week featuring special keynote speakers, in depth expert panel discussions, undergraduate and graduate student research conferences and a postdoctoral fellow poster competition. The presidents/representatives of various funding agencies, world-renown researchers and even the  governor general have taken part in our week.  In Thunder Bay, exceptional interactive research displays are set-up in Intercity Mall as part of our “Festival of Ideas” enabling the public to witness first-hand why research truly matters.  The highlight of each R&I Week occurs with an Awards Ceremony that showcases the achievements of our award winners and recognizes our valued partners in the research and innovation enterprise.  This past March, due to the pandemic, R&I was successfully launched using a virtual platform which allowed both campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia to celebrate the week together simultaneously for the first time.

With the distinct goal of generating awareness and dialogue on a major issue/topic, in recent years, Research and Innovation Week has incorporated special themes that have set the focus for the week as a whole. The topics behind these special subjects are often incorporated into and form the basis for many of the events during the week (such as panel discussions and speaker presentations).  The themes which are chosen are meant to be relevant and thought-provoking, and have ranged from the “Our Changing World” and “the Rise of the Machines” to “Sustainability.”

“Research and Innovation Week not only celebrates our researchers’ achievements, but also generates discussion and debate on important topics.  We are looking forward to many more celebrations in the future thanks to the RSF”, states Dr. Andrew P. Dean, Lakehead’s Vice-President, Research and Innovation.

Funding from the RSF, in part, covers costs such as event planning, subscription to a virtual event platform, advertising, travel costs and fees for speakers, and costs associated with hosting the Awards Celebration, etc.    

In 2020/21, Lakehead University received nearly $2 million in assistance from the Research Support Fund to support the indirect costs of research, which includes costs for supporting the management of intellectual property, research and administration, ethics and regulatory compliance, research resources, and research facilities.