Concordia University
AC-8: Responsible Research and Innovation

Article 16.03 of the Concordia University Faculty Association’s Collective Agreement offers positive recognition through the following provision: “In accordance with the established procedures of the academic unit, and by mutual agreement with the faculty member, the academic unit heads and the Dean(s), academic duties may be assigned and carried out in academic units other than the member’s primary unit. In the case of members holding a joint or cross appointment, or participating in an interdisciplinary teaching or research project with one (1) or more members of another academic unit, academic duties in both primary and secondary units shall be considered part of the member’s duties for the purposes of all evaluations conducted under the provisions of Articles 14 and 18”.

1) Concordia has identified 9 Strategic Directions, the first of which is to “Double our Research”. As a key step in the plan to achieve this, Concordia has established new transdisciplinary research institutes, fostering greater collaboration among researchers, and keeping up the pace of transdisciplinary cluster hiring.

2) Concordia’s CRC and CFI Strategic Research Plan (2023-2026), approved April 2023, includes commitments such as:
“Establish and support research institutes and units as critical tools for the advancement of research and interdisciplinarity” (p2)
"Mobilize institutional resources to establish collaborations and partnerships with world‐renowned and/or impactful partners (companies, organizations, researchers) that engage in cutting‐edge, innovative, and transformative research locally, nationally, and globally." (p2)
“Identify barriers and provide opportunities for inter‐disciplinary, multi‐disciplinary, and trans‐disciplinary dialogue to address complex research questions” (p3)
"Promote collaborations with other academics (within and across disciplines) and academic institutions by leveraging and pooling complementary and diverse research strengths, resources, and infrastructure both within and beyond Concordia." (p3)

The Strategic Research Plan also includes a commitment to support several interdisciplinary research platforms: “the MILIEUX Institute, which brings together researchers working at the intersection of design, art, culture and technology (p5); the Applied AI Institute fosters disciplinary and inter‐disciplinary collaborations tackling important problems in fields ranging from telecommunications to human‐machine systems, social‐cultural studies, business, and finance (p4); and the Next‐Generation Cities exploring – through interdisciplinary research and public engagement – how cities and communities can be designed and operated sustainably while maintaining necessary services for their citizens. ” (p9).

3) The Office of the Vice-President, Research, Innovation, and Impact (OVPRII) has a ‘Support for Research Units and Infrastructure Platforms Program’ which includes funding for Research Centres and other Research Units; these are typically university-wide interdisciplinary groups with well-defined research and/or research-creation axes under which the individual researchers and trainees work in teams.

4) Faculties also provide financial support for faculty-based interdisciplinary research centres. This includes Loyola Sustainability Research Centre. Another example is the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Society and Culture (CISSC). This is a research centre within the Faculty of Arts and Science that supports innovative Humanities-based interdisciplinary scholarship by providing opportunities for faculty in humanities, fine arts and cognate fields to meet and collaborate.

5) Our Sustainability in Research plan is grounded largely in developing the supporting framework and incentives necessary to facilitate transdiscplinary research at Concordia, in recognition that sustainability research is often transdiscplinary in nature and that researchers continue to face obstacles in working across disciplines.

1) Out of Concordia’s 9 Strategic Directions, several address giving explicit positive recognition to community-based research, the first of which is to “Double our Research” that involves the commitment to develop a distinctive proficiency in research with a public engagement focus. The second of which is “Embrace the city, embrace the world”, which clearly recognizes  and commits to community and public engagement as deeply rooted in the Concordia identity.

2) Concordia’s CRC and CFI Strategic Research Plan (2023-2026), approved April 2023, includes commitments such as:
“Recognize and reward non‐traditional research outputs including research creation, advocacy, policy, and community‐based research” (p2)
“Encourage research institutes and units, to engage with the public, community organizations, and other partners, to advance collaborative and participatory research, community engagement, and knowledge mobilization, and to enhance the societal impact of research” (p3)
“Encourage and support research collaborations and co‐creation of knowledge with community groups and organizations.” (p3)
The Strategic Research Plan also includes recognition that Concordia is home to the, “Canada Excellence Research Chair in Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Communities and Cities, the Next‐Generation Cities Institute, and the Canada First Research Excellence Fund in Electrifying Society: Towards Decarbonized Resilient Communities, which explore – through interdisciplinary research and public engagement – how cities and communities can be designed and operated sustainably while maintaining necessary services for their citizens.” (p9)

3) Our Sustainability in Research plan has several strategies which aim to support and enhance community-engaged research, such as strategy 7, “Recognize community partnerships as eligible for internal Team Start-up and Accelerator funding offered through the Office of the Vice-President, Research Innovation and Impact.”

1) Out of Concordia’s 9 Strategic Directions, “Double our Research” involves the commitment to, “broaden the reach and deepen the societal impact of Concordia’s research, scholarship and creative work”, and “Embrace the City, Embrace the World” involves the commitment to identify, “specific domains for public difference-making, developing appropriate partnerships, and then focusing our research and teaching on these issues promises to produce results that are far greater than the sum of discrete initiatives.”

2) Concordia’s CRC and CFI Strategic Research Plan (2023-2026), approved April 2023, includes commitments such as:
“Support bold, high‐risk, high‐reward initiatives.” (p2)
“Recognize and support research initiatives that result in tangible benefits for individuals, organizations, groups, and communities, and that contribute to sustainability and social justice.” (p2)
“Encourage research institutes and  units, to engage with the public, community organizations, and other partners, to advance collaborative and participatory research, community engagement, and knowledge mobilization, and to enhance the societal impact of research” (p3)
“Promote knowledge mobilization activities and mobilize resources for greater community engagement and enhanced societal impact of research.” (p3)
The Strategic Research Plan also includes commitments around research impact in related the UN SDG’s, “Concordia is committed to supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across all our activities, and this year ranked 5th in the world for Creating Smart Cities and Communities in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings (20th in the world on Climate Action).  The university has made longstanding and significant efforts to support and provide resources to researchers conducting research in topics related to climate change such as: the development of alternative, renewable, and sustainable sources of energy; corporate social responsibility and sustainability; design and support of energy efficient and resilient buildings, civilstructures, infrastructure, communities, and transportation;  circular economy and waste management; material recovery and innovation; transportation infrastructures and logistics; decarbonization and resilience of the economy; sustainable aerospace; spill response and remediation; ecological systems; and water resource management” (p9).

3) The Office of the Vice-President, Research, Innovation, and Impact (OVPRII) now has a “Research Impact Award” that honors the diverse ways in which research and research-creation contribute to academic and scientific impact, society, culture, policy and innovation.

4) Our Sustainability in Research plan is grounded significantly in developing support for research impact outside of academic journals, highlighted by the key target of, “Enhance Research Impact” with strategies such as, “Connect Concordia sustainability research expertise with pre-university institutions”, “Begin a campus-wide discussion about the recognition of alternative metrics of research impact for hiring and promotion that align with community partnerships” and, “Support student and faculty researchers in knowledge mobilization of sustainability research, including training on best practices for communicating research findings and assistance for preparing their research for conferences and events.”

Since 2022, Concordia University has been a member of Research Impact Canada; a network  committed to helping universities and other organizations across Canada maximize the impact of research for communities (https://researchimpact.ca/about-us/membership/). Most recently, Concordia has joined a Pew-convened 'Presidents and Chancellors Council on Public Impact Research', with representatives from universities and funding agencies alike across North America, with the purpose of uplifting and strengthening efforts to ensure that university research results in positive changes to people’s lives, communities, and society as a whole (https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2024/06/12/university-leaders-come-together-to-spur-positive-change-through-research).

Spectrum (https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/) - "Spectrum, Concordia University's open access research repository, provides access to and preserves research created at Concordia"

Concordia University has a long history of supporting open access. The university's 2010 Senate Resolution on Open Access encourages faculty and students to make their peer-reviewed research and creative output freely accessible by depositing it in Spectrum, Concordia's institutional repository, or another open access venue. This was one of the first such resolutions in Canada. In 2011 Concordia University became a signatory to the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and the Humanities. Link to webpage for more information: https://library.concordia.ca/research/open-access/commitment.php#:~:text=The%20university's%202010%20Senate%20Resolution,or%20another%20open%20access%20venue

Since 2010: The Concordia Open Science Working Group, established in September 2022, is a dynamic and rapidly growing initiative born from the successful Open Science @ Concordia conference. Bringing together over 20 faculty members, trainees, and students across eight units—Psychology, Computer Science and Software Engineering, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Biology, Engineering, Education, Communication Studies, and the Library—the group works to accelerate the adoption of open science/scholarship practices, support practitioners, analyze provincial, national, and international policies, and engage with fellow open science/scholarship advocates to promote collaboration. Through a series of workshops, members of the working group co-authored a report with actionable recommendations to advance open science/scholarship. This report, published on Spectrum in April 2023, was broadly discussed with the administration and other members of the Concordia community. Link to Open Science Work Group webpage for more information: https://www.concordia.ca/library/openguides/get-involved/coswg.html

A note from Concordia's librarian, Amy Buckland, regarding an APC fund, "It’s not feasible and it doesn’t actually change the scholarly publishing system to open, just ensures publishers make lots of profit. We have a significant number of read and publish agreements. We negotiate these through consortia."

Concordia has several transformative open access agreements with publishers under the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (such as with MIT Press Direct to Open Ebooks, and Érudit Partnership for Open Access 2023-2024), the Partenariat des bibliothèques universitaires du Québec (such as with the ACM Digital Library, Duke University Press, and Project Music - Produits d'abdonnement) ), as well as several non-consortial agreements (such as with The Biochemical Society, John Benjamins Publishing Company, and the Open Library of Humanities).