Deadline: January 8, 2026

The annual Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Research Award recognizes outstanding research projects that promote equity, diversity and inclusion principles and activities.  Equity Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in research is defined as the practice of ensuring that all individuals are respected and have equal opportunity to fully participate throughout the research process. EDI best practices are defined as the strategies and actions that researchers implement to create a fair, welcoming, and respectful environment for all research team members and partners, regardless of their background, identity, or personal characteristics. EDI best practices aim to ensure that everyone has equal opportunities to thrive, that diverse perspectives are valued, and that inclusive cultures are fostered.  This award recognizes initiatives advancing EDI strategies within a research project. 

EDI in research can be achieved in both the research process and the design of a project. 

• Within the research process, EDI may be incorporated into a project in multiple ways, including but not limited to, ensuring training for all research team members (including trainees and investigators) in order to achieve research excellence,  ensuring diverse perspectives are involved from project inception to completion, enabling each member of the research team to fully contribute to the success of the project; and

• In the research design, EDI must be embedded within all aspects of the project, including but not limited to equitable and respectful engagement with historically underrepresented or disadvantaged groups, including Indigenous peoples. 

The Award recognizes a Lakehead University faculty member and their research team for outstanding research projects in which EDI principles and activities are thoroughly embedded. The Award is valued at $1,000 and includes a framed certificate to be presented during Research and Innovation Week.

Applicant Eligibility

All Lakehead University tenured and tenure-track faculty members and three-year Limited Term Appointments (LTAs) are eligible to apply. Applications must be submitted by one Lead Applicant. Lead Applicants may only receive one award per research project. The research team may include faculty members, students, post-doctoral fellows, Indigenous and community partners, librarians, research staff, etc. The Lead Applicant must list each of the research team members within the application.

Application and Deadline

Applications must be completed and submitted in the ROMEO Research Portal, and require care and attention on the part of the applicant to ensure that applications are complete. All parts of the application must be submitted within the ROMEO form and adhere to the character count. Any documents attached separately (other than the letters of support) or text over the character count will not be considered by the committee. 

Applicants must submit electronic application packages through the Romeo Research Portal by 11:59 p.m. on January 8, 2026. Should the deadline fall over a weekend, applications will be due the following business day.

The award will be announced at the annual Research and Innovation Week Awards Reception.

Application Award Criteria, Requirements & Supporting Documentation

The following required information must be submitted by the applicant through the Romeo Research Portal in the designated text boxes. As applicants are addressing each of the award criteria, please ensure examples are provided and supporting evidence is used to support their answers. 

1. Research Project Summary (limit 200 words)

Please provide a short summary of the research project using non-specialist language. (This section must be answered in the form within the ROMEO application form).

2. Demonstration of EDI within the Research Process (limit 1000 words) (40% Weighting) 

Describe how EDI processes have been embedded within the research itself (please do not describe the research team/group but instead describe the research design and project development with respect to EDI and EDI best practices). Please describe how the research approach has followed EDI best practices and how the EDI Training provided relates to this specific research project. 

Questions applicants may consider when addressing this criteria are:

• What types of EDI training and career-building activities are available to the team? What types of  training should the team receive and the particular context of the team’s work environment (e.g., antiracism, unconscious bias, microaggressions, Truth and Reconciliation, accessibility, cultural safety)?

• What processes are in place to ensure that unconscious bias does not impact the decisions made about who receives the opportunities (conferences, publications, mentoring, etc.)?

• How do you foster an equitable, inclusive and accessible research work environment for team members and trainees?

• What support is available for students and trainees and junior faculty to develop their skill sets/competencies, networks and CVs?

• Are there formal mentoring opportunities within the team for students and trainees to be mentored by senior members of the team?

• Who within the team is doing the mentoring? Who within the team could or should be mentoring but isn’t? Steps should be taken to avoid imposing “the equity tax” on particular team members.

• Do team leaders and members understand the different types of microaggressions various population groups face, how these create harm to individuals and how, over time, these can lead to trauma? How will this harm be mitigated?

• How will performative/tokenistic action be prevented within the team?

• Is there a clear process for requesting accessibility and adaptive measures for persons with visible and/or invisible disabilities? How will confidentiality be maintained as necessary?

• How will the team be made aware of ableism and how to mitigate it?

• Does the work environment of the team provide a safe, supportive and respectful workspace for all team members?

• Are team meetings inclusive by design?

3. Demonstration of EDI within the specific Research Project (40% Weighting) 

Applicants are asked to describe how they embed EDI processes in their research project. This criterion will be assessed for EDI within the research project and research-related activities (including but not limited to methodology development, knowledge mobilization, result dissemination, etc.). Applicants must demonstrate how EDI has been incorporated throughout the lifecycle of the research project.  Please describe how EDI has been part of the generation of the research question, the project design/development of methodology, data analysis/interpretation of results and/or implementation/dissemination of results, and knowledge mobilization, translation and transfer activities. 

Some questions applicants may consider when addressing this criteria include:

• Are identity (e.g., sex, gender, race, ethnicity, disability) considerations taken into account in the research design, methods, analysis and interpretation and/or dissemination of research findings?

• Who benefits from the research findings? Have you considered which population groups might experience significant unintended impacts (positive or negative) because of the planned research?

• Have you included diverse perspectives in the sources consulted and referenced in your application? 

• Is there diversity in the work consulted and referenced in supporting/secondary research?

• Have you considered the accessibility and adaptive needs of participants involved in the research?

• Have you included a mechanism to disaggregate your data by diversity-related variables and/or identity factors during both data collection and data analysis, to determine differences between groups? Have you applied an intersectional lens to the analysis of the data?

• How could key findings from your research be mobilized so they could be used by specific groups in support of their goals? What forms of knowledge mobilization will be most effective in reaching those who will use and/or could benefit from the findings? Is language taken into consideration in the knowledge mobilization plan, including English, French, Indigenous languages, or other appropriate languages, depending on the individuals or communities involved in the research and the wider audiences you are trying to reach? Are translation services for knowledge mobilization among communities with varied languages planned for, along with other considerations for accessibility of research translation (e.g., screen readers).

• What is the scope of your project (e.g., national, regional, international) and have you considered EDI in specific regional or local contexts/realities?

4. Description of the Applicant’s Specific Role in the Research Project and as an EDI Champion (limit 150 words) (20%)

Please provide a short description of how the applicant is an EDI champion and their specific role within the research project. This description should demonstrate to the committee the exact role and duties of the applicant within the context of this specific research project. Do not include any self-identification information within this description (the inclusion of this information will result in a lower score in the evaluation of the application). 

5. Two Letters of Support

These letters may be from faculty peers, which may include a Chair, Director, Dean, peers external to Lakehead University (such as Indigenous and community partners), student trainees, or research collaborators. Letters must speak to the inclusive excellence and/or EDI impact of the work that the faculty member has implemented within their research project. 

Applicants whose research activity involves community-engaged research must include at least one letter of support from community partners or collaborators as part of the required two letters of support. 

Please note, only the first two letters uploaded to ROMEO will be considered in the review of the application. 

If you have any questions about this award, please contact Anne Klymenko, Director, Office of Research Services at aklymenk@lakeheadu.ca.

Appendix A - Definitions:

Equity is when the environment allows all to have equal opportunity. It can also be understood as removing systemic barriers and biases, enabling all individuals to have equal opportunity to access and benefit from the program. To achieve this, all individuals who participate in the research ecosystem must develop a strong understanding of the systemic barriers faced by individuals from equity-deserving groups (e.g., Women, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, visible minorities/racialized groups, individuals from the LGBTQ2+ community) and put in place impactful measures to address these barriers.

Diversity is defined as differences in race, colour, place of origin, religion, immigrant and newcomer status, ethnic origin, ability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and age. A diversity of perspectives and lived experiences is fundamental to achieving research and training excellence.

Inclusion is defined as the practice of ensuring that all individuals are valued and respected for their contributions and are equally supported. Ensuring that all team members are integrated and supported is fundamental to achieving research and training excellence.

References:

Definitions taken from the Tri-Agency Dimensions Handbook (2023)