Strategic Research Plan
Planning and Approval Process
Laurier has been expanding its current CFI strategic plan to produce a comprehensive research plan involving all disciplines. This
plan reflects emerging and future "clusters" of scholarly activity. The Laurier strategic research plan was developed at VPAC, the
Vice-President's Advisory Committee. Each operating Dean brought to the table the relevant faculty interests after extensive
consultation at the faculty level. The Vice-president: Academic took the plan developed in this way for discussion and endorsement
to two relevant committees of the Laurier Senate: Senate Academic Planning, and the Senate Committee on Research and
Publications. The plan, duly endorsed by these committees, was approved by the full Laurier Senate on January 22, 2001.
Major Objectives
Interdisciplinary research is emerging as a major emphasis in the development plans of all Laurier faculties. A prime goal in the
Laurier Canada Research Chairs strategy is to appoint chairs who will create synergies among researchers in fields that cut across
traditional disciplinary boundaries.
An overriding objective is to build on strengths in basic and applied research, and in student (undergraduate and graduate)
research training, primarily in areas where a critical mass of faculty and students is already engaged. At an institution such as
Laurier, "critical mass" can be achieved by relatively small numbers of researchers.
Equally important is the intention of building up the infrastructure in each CRC cluster by seeking funds in existing NSERC, SSHRC,
CIHR, CFI, ORDCF, OIT and PREA competitions, plus any future programs of research which may emerge; as well as from private
sector sources. Implicit in this objective is the desire to increase the involvement by Laurier faculty and students in provincial,
national and international research networks.
Evaluation of the Objectives
Once Canada Research Chairs take up their appointments there will be regular reporting and scrutiny of the effects of those
appointments on research. Each CRC will report annually to the Vice President: Academic on his/her personal research
achievements for the past year; on the incremental and new research activities (contributed by other faculty and students) in the
CRC area of strength; and on research plans for the next academic year.
The President, Vice President: Academic and Dean of Graduate Studies and Research will evaluate the effects on research in the
relevant areas of the CRC appointees. They will present this summary to Senate, to the Board of Governors, and to the CRC
Board (if requested) as part of an annual report.
Major Research Thrusts
The Laurier research environment comprises over two hundred active researchers in five faculties that are housed within a highly
interactive academic community. There has long been a strong collaborative tradition within this environment, and the Research
Chairs program will be used to intensify and deepen this collaboration within and across departments and faculties. The following
section identifies four research "clusters" that reflect, in broad measure, the existing and planned contours of strengths, interests,
and objectives of the Laurier research community. These clusters are self-consciously interdisciplinary in character, given Laurier's
current research objective to create synergies across disciplines and departments. Individual departments, faculties and research
teams may have researchers in more than one cluster. The clusters also provide opportunities for building partnerships with other
universities and institutions.
A. Culture And Human Experience
Our understanding of what it is to be human, and how humans function individually and collectively, has evolved over the past few
decades. The challenge of understanding "human experience" has cultural, scientific and humanistic dimensions, requiring a range
of integrated skills and approaches.
Laurier's roots lie in the liberal arts and science tradition, with its humanistic values and aspirations. Laurier focuses strongly on
the value of the individual, and is well connected to and grounded in community and cultural activities. This history and approach
are reflected in a variety of research endeavours across the disciplines and faculties. Faculty in the Arts area deal with: the ethical
and religious dimensions of community and identity; ancient, aboriginal and tribal cultures and the impact of modernity; imperial as
well as post-colonial and diasporic literature and culture; the gender, class and cultural dimensions of human experience; the
historical sweep of human and cultural development; and (with colleagues in Music) approaches to aesthetics and criticism.
Researchers in Psychology and Kinesiology explore culture and human development in a myriad of ways, including the ways in
which social and cultural contexts affect cognition, identity, values, family relations, learning and individual and community
well-being. Researchers in Social Work, particularly via a recent CURA grant, examine social support systems for children and
families. Faculty members in business and economics investigate the interaction of individuals within organizations, the relationship
of corporate and personal life, and the ethical dimensions of business culture.
Research activity within this cluster in the future is likely to emerge in a number of interdisciplinary thrusts that animate many of
our interdisciplinary academic programs. These themes will range from ancient and modern historical studies to Canadian,
aboriginal and gender studies to social, developmental and community psychology, to the impact of business in national and global
cultures and the exploration of music around the world. Areas such as History, Film Studies, Communications, Fine Arts, Music and
Literature will work together to generate academic programming and research activity in the broad area of cultural studies. This will
intersect with the growing activities in graduate programs in History, English, Philosophy, Psychology, Religion and Culture. Faculty
in Business and Economics (and in other areas) will examine how best to manage and affect the impacts of the new technologies.
Several explore the ethical issues that arise in the business environment. Faculty in Science and Social Work will build on their
ongoing interdisciplinary activities on human and community development.
B. Society and Public Policy
The public policy challenges confronting twenty-first century society remain problematic. Interdisciplinary research, spanning the
sciences, humanities and social sciences, seeks to understand these challenges and to increase our capacity to deal with them.
Much of Laurier's research activity has an applied character, a community base, and a policy- or action-orientation. This reflects our
strong links with a number of policy-forming communities, including business and industry, social work, and the public sector.
Such activity includes both historical and contemporary analysis of a micro and macro character ranging from a focus on the
individual, the local, the community to the regional, the national, and finally the international scene. This activity is reflected in a
number of Laurier's Research Centres, including the Centre for Military, Strategic and Disarmament Studies, the Institute for the
Study of Public Opinion and Policy, the Clarica Financial Services Research Centre, the Research Group for European Studies.
Researchers in the School of Business and Economics focus on policy and on corporate performance areas. Research is done in
areas such as macroeconomics, national infrastructure, corporate and fiscal policy, stock market and financial performance,
organizational behaviour, and accountability in the public and not-for-profit sector. In the faculties of Arts and Social Work, studies
focus on gender, class, aboriginal and ethical issues as well as on historical and contemporary investigation of institutions, family,
community, globalization, civil society and the state, and broad issues of economic, social and political development. Researchers in
the Faculty of Science, such as those in community psychology, carry out action-oriented research addressing issues of gender,
disability, children and family, in order to promote social well being, while others explore sports organization and policy.
Research initiatives in this cluster will emanate from the growing graduate programs that intersect with these themes, including
those in History, Political Science, Religion and Culture, Business and Economics, Social Work, Psychology, Geography and
Environmental Studies. Issues in these topic-areas include: war and peace; immigration; human rights, justice and equality; social
activism, social welfare and community development; advocacy and policy making of all kinds.
C. Environment and Health
The range and variety of Canadian health research initiatives, including those of the Canadian Institute for Health Research,
demonstrate the social importance and vitality of this area. The scope of needed research ranges from the scientific and clinical to
the social and organizational. Equal in importance to the human health agenda is the "health" of the natural environment.
Important research ranges from considerations of the social, economic and organizational dimensions of the natural environment
(and its related impacts on human health) to the ecological and scientific dimensions of that environment. Health and
environmental agendas are linked.
There are many Laurier faculty active in this cluster. The music therapy program uses an interdisciplinary approach to treat people
with mental and physical disabilities, involving faculty from Music, Psychology and Social Work. Funding from the Better Beginnings,
Better Futures program and the Family Wellness Project supports research in Social Work and Community Psychology related to
community-based development and community mental health for children and adults. Other Psychology faculty are involved in a
new Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement funded by Health Canada. Faculty in Arts, Social Work, and Science investigate a
range of public health issues, including health prevention/health promotion, coping with cancer, the geography of health. Science
faculty are active in the area of cognitive and behavioural neuroscience, examining the relationship between neurobiology and
cognition and behaviour using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in a multi-institutional CIHR neuroscience research program.
In the natural sciences, the recent acquisition of instrumentation for the study of proteomics, gene expression, and protein
structure-function strengthens an already-strong nucleus for research in proteomics and biotechnology.
The environment has been an area of research concern for many Laurier faculty, who examine the interaction of environmental
factors and human populations and conditions, the management of the environment and related policy issues. This is reflected in
activities in the work of the Cold Regions Research Centre, as well as that in the Geography and Environmental Studies program.
Topics include eco-system management, urban studies, organizational design, and the ethics and policy dimensions of the
environmental agenda. A multi-institutional research program on ground water is supported through grants from Crestech
(Ontario), while other faculty are part of a National Network Centre of Excellence, Geomatics for Informed Decision Making
(GEOIDE).
The organization and management of health care and its performance are studied in the School of Business and Economics, and
faculty are part of a research team evaluating the use of performance based management information through a
SSHRC/NSERC/MRC Centres of Excellence grant and a significant grant from the Ontario Hospital Association.
Future work will see closer interactions and collaboration among research faculty. The cognitive neuroscience and
proteomic/biotechnology groups will provide a synergistic combination of expertise to identify and characterize proteins and other
biomolecules involved in cognitive neurological activity. A connection with the bioinformatics interest in computational science will
add to this effort. Cross-faculty initiatives will pursue an integrated approach to the social aspects of health, such as children and
adult mental and social well being, and health care promotion and management. There is planning for a Research Centre for Music
Therapy. Collaborative work in the environmental area, linked to health, will emanate from the growing graduate programs in
Geography and Environmental Studies, Political Science, Philosophy, and Business and Economics.
D. Science and Technology
Scientific and Technological innovations are central to the development of a knowledge-based economy. Science and Technology
drive international competitiveness and are important tools in health care activities. The nature of the scientific enterprise now
relies on a high level of interdisciplinary research activity for the advancement of knowledge.
Research activity in Science and Technology at Laurier is significant and continues to grow at a rapid rate. Scientific activities of the
faculty are in the main stream of scientific investigation and are increasingly multidisciplinary. The research programs have
benefited considerably from infrastructure grants from the CFI and this has been a major contributor to the growth in activity. The
majority of faculty in Science receive research funding support from NSERC, contracts and Research Centres of Excellence. Some
of the Science research programs have been included in the Health research cluster above. Researchers in the area of
optoelectronics and photonics are making important contributions to one of the fastest growing high technology areas locally and
in the rest of Canada. Their work receives support from the Canadian Institute for Photonics Innovation, Photonics Research
Ontario, the Centre for Information Technology Ontario as well as from the Canadian optoelectronics industry. Another area of
common research interest from different disciplines is the application of computational methods to solve significant problems in the
natural and physical sciences. Laurier is one of a consortium of five institutions awarded a CFI and ORDCF grant in
high-performance computing (SHARC-NET).
Research activity in this cluster is growing. Scientists from several disciplines have formed a computational science working group
that will lead to the establishment of a graduate program in this area. The program will involve the use of computational methods
to study problems in such topics as molecular dynamics, bioinformatics, spatial data analysis, discrete mathematics, cryptography,
and information science. Similarly, the photonics/optoelectronics group has prepared valid proposals for both graduate and
undergraduate programs in this theme. An important result of this initiative will be the training of highly qualified scientists in an
area where such graduates are in high demand. The potential for technological spin-off is very high.
In the School of Business and Economics (SBE), faculty research and the commitment of resources to work on innovation and
technology are growing rapidly. A topic of significant interest focuses on the way businesses create value by understanding,
designing and managing the flow of goods and information between a firm, its suppliers, and its customers (supply chain
management). Central to this process is the use of e-business technology. Supply chain management and e-business are rapidly
growing fields in SBE.
Early-stage technology enterprises have unique management problems. SBE is in the process of developing strong research
capacity in this area. With a grant from the ORDCF, matched by a corporate donation and university funds, a research chair is
being established in this area, and a further faculty position is being added. These research activities will take place in the Schlegel
Centre for Entrepreneurship Studies, currently under construction.
Laurier has been expanding its current CFI strategic plan to produce a comprehensive research plan involving all disciplines. This
plan reflects emerging and future "clusters" of scholarly activity. The Laurier strategic research plan was developed at VPAC, the
Vice-President's Advisory Committee. Each operating Dean brought to the table the relevant faculty interests after extensive
consultation at the faculty level. The Vice-president: Academic took the plan developed in this way for discussion and endorsement
to two relevant committees of the Laurier Senate: Senate Academic Planning, and the Senate Committee on Research and
Publications. The plan, duly endorsed by these committees, was approved by the full Laurier Senate on January 22, 2001.
Major Objectives
Interdisciplinary research is emerging as a major emphasis in the development plans of all Laurier faculties. A prime goal in the
Laurier Canada Research Chairs strategy is to appoint chairs who will create synergies among researchers in fields that cut across
traditional disciplinary boundaries.
An overriding objective is to build on strengths in basic and applied research, and in student (undergraduate and graduate)
research training, primarily in areas where a critical mass of faculty and students is already engaged. At an institution such as
Laurier, "critical mass" can be achieved by relatively small numbers of researchers.
Equally important is the intention of building up the infrastructure in each CRC cluster by seeking funds in existing NSERC, SSHRC,
CIHR, CFI, ORDCF, OIT and PREA competitions, plus any future programs of research which may emerge; as well as from private
sector sources. Implicit in this objective is the desire to increase the involvement by Laurier faculty and students in provincial,
national and international research networks.
Evaluation of the Objectives
Once Canada Research Chairs take up their appointments there will be regular reporting and scrutiny of the effects of those
appointments on research. Each CRC will report annually to the Vice President: Academic on his/her personal research
achievements for the past year; on the incremental and new research activities (contributed by other faculty and students) in the
CRC area of strength; and on research plans for the next academic year.
The President, Vice President: Academic and Dean of Graduate Studies and Research will evaluate the effects on research in the
relevant areas of the CRC appointees. They will present this summary to Senate, to the Board of Governors, and to the CRC
Board (if requested) as part of an annual report.
Major Research Thrusts
The Laurier research environment comprises over two hundred active researchers in five faculties that are housed within a highly
interactive academic community. There has long been a strong collaborative tradition within this environment, and the Research
Chairs program will be used to intensify and deepen this collaboration within and across departments and faculties. The following
section identifies four research "clusters" that reflect, in broad measure, the existing and planned contours of strengths, interests,
and objectives of the Laurier research community. These clusters are self-consciously interdisciplinary in character, given Laurier's
current research objective to create synergies across disciplines and departments. Individual departments, faculties and research
teams may have researchers in more than one cluster. The clusters also provide opportunities for building partnerships with other
universities and institutions.
A. Culture And Human Experience
Our understanding of what it is to be human, and how humans function individually and collectively, has evolved over the past few
decades. The challenge of understanding "human experience" has cultural, scientific and humanistic dimensions, requiring a range
of integrated skills and approaches.
Laurier's roots lie in the liberal arts and science tradition, with its humanistic values and aspirations. Laurier focuses strongly on
the value of the individual, and is well connected to and grounded in community and cultural activities. This history and approach
are reflected in a variety of research endeavours across the disciplines and faculties. Faculty in the Arts area deal with: the ethical
and religious dimensions of community and identity; ancient, aboriginal and tribal cultures and the impact of modernity; imperial as
well as post-colonial and diasporic literature and culture; the gender, class and cultural dimensions of human experience; the
historical sweep of human and cultural development; and (with colleagues in Music) approaches to aesthetics and criticism.
Researchers in Psychology and Kinesiology explore culture and human development in a myriad of ways, including the ways in
which social and cultural contexts affect cognition, identity, values, family relations, learning and individual and community
well-being. Researchers in Social Work, particularly via a recent CURA grant, examine social support systems for children and
families. Faculty members in business and economics investigate the interaction of individuals within organizations, the relationship
of corporate and personal life, and the ethical dimensions of business culture.
Research activity within this cluster in the future is likely to emerge in a number of interdisciplinary thrusts that animate many of
our interdisciplinary academic programs. These themes will range from ancient and modern historical studies to Canadian,
aboriginal and gender studies to social, developmental and community psychology, to the impact of business in national and global
cultures and the exploration of music around the world. Areas such as History, Film Studies, Communications, Fine Arts, Music and
Literature will work together to generate academic programming and research activity in the broad area of cultural studies. This will
intersect with the growing activities in graduate programs in History, English, Philosophy, Psychology, Religion and Culture. Faculty
in Business and Economics (and in other areas) will examine how best to manage and affect the impacts of the new technologies.
Several explore the ethical issues that arise in the business environment. Faculty in Science and Social Work will build on their
ongoing interdisciplinary activities on human and community development.
B. Society and Public Policy
The public policy challenges confronting twenty-first century society remain problematic. Interdisciplinary research, spanning the
sciences, humanities and social sciences, seeks to understand these challenges and to increase our capacity to deal with them.
Much of Laurier's research activity has an applied character, a community base, and a policy- or action-orientation. This reflects our
strong links with a number of policy-forming communities, including business and industry, social work, and the public sector.
Such activity includes both historical and contemporary analysis of a micro and macro character ranging from a focus on the
individual, the local, the community to the regional, the national, and finally the international scene. This activity is reflected in a
number of Laurier's Research Centres, including the Centre for Military, Strategic and Disarmament Studies, the Institute for the
Study of Public Opinion and Policy, the Clarica Financial Services Research Centre, the Research Group for European Studies.
Researchers in the School of Business and Economics focus on policy and on corporate performance areas. Research is done in
areas such as macroeconomics, national infrastructure, corporate and fiscal policy, stock market and financial performance,
organizational behaviour, and accountability in the public and not-for-profit sector. In the faculties of Arts and Social Work, studies
focus on gender, class, aboriginal and ethical issues as well as on historical and contemporary investigation of institutions, family,
community, globalization, civil society and the state, and broad issues of economic, social and political development. Researchers in
the Faculty of Science, such as those in community psychology, carry out action-oriented research addressing issues of gender,
disability, children and family, in order to promote social well being, while others explore sports organization and policy.
Research initiatives in this cluster will emanate from the growing graduate programs that intersect with these themes, including
those in History, Political Science, Religion and Culture, Business and Economics, Social Work, Psychology, Geography and
Environmental Studies. Issues in these topic-areas include: war and peace; immigration; human rights, justice and equality; social
activism, social welfare and community development; advocacy and policy making of all kinds.
C. Environment and Health
The range and variety of Canadian health research initiatives, including those of the Canadian Institute for Health Research,
demonstrate the social importance and vitality of this area. The scope of needed research ranges from the scientific and clinical to
the social and organizational. Equal in importance to the human health agenda is the "health" of the natural environment.
Important research ranges from considerations of the social, economic and organizational dimensions of the natural environment
(and its related impacts on human health) to the ecological and scientific dimensions of that environment. Health and
environmental agendas are linked.
There are many Laurier faculty active in this cluster. The music therapy program uses an interdisciplinary approach to treat people
with mental and physical disabilities, involving faculty from Music, Psychology and Social Work. Funding from the Better Beginnings,
Better Futures program and the Family Wellness Project supports research in Social Work and Community Psychology related to
community-based development and community mental health for children and adults. Other Psychology faculty are involved in a
new Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement funded by Health Canada. Faculty in Arts, Social Work, and Science investigate a
range of public health issues, including health prevention/health promotion, coping with cancer, the geography of health. Science
faculty are active in the area of cognitive and behavioural neuroscience, examining the relationship between neurobiology and
cognition and behaviour using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in a multi-institutional CIHR neuroscience research program.
In the natural sciences, the recent acquisition of instrumentation for the study of proteomics, gene expression, and protein
structure-function strengthens an already-strong nucleus for research in proteomics and biotechnology.
The environment has been an area of research concern for many Laurier faculty, who examine the interaction of environmental
factors and human populations and conditions, the management of the environment and related policy issues. This is reflected in
activities in the work of the Cold Regions Research Centre, as well as that in the Geography and Environmental Studies program.
Topics include eco-system management, urban studies, organizational design, and the ethics and policy dimensions of the
environmental agenda. A multi-institutional research program on ground water is supported through grants from Crestech
(Ontario), while other faculty are part of a National Network Centre of Excellence, Geomatics for Informed Decision Making
(GEOIDE).
The organization and management of health care and its performance are studied in the School of Business and Economics, and
faculty are part of a research team evaluating the use of performance based management information through a
SSHRC/NSERC/MRC Centres of Excellence grant and a significant grant from the Ontario Hospital Association.
Future work will see closer interactions and collaboration among research faculty. The cognitive neuroscience and
proteomic/biotechnology groups will provide a synergistic combination of expertise to identify and characterize proteins and other
biomolecules involved in cognitive neurological activity. A connection with the bioinformatics interest in computational science will
add to this effort. Cross-faculty initiatives will pursue an integrated approach to the social aspects of health, such as children and
adult mental and social well being, and health care promotion and management. There is planning for a Research Centre for Music
Therapy. Collaborative work in the environmental area, linked to health, will emanate from the growing graduate programs in
Geography and Environmental Studies, Political Science, Philosophy, and Business and Economics.
D. Science and Technology
Scientific and Technological innovations are central to the development of a knowledge-based economy. Science and Technology
drive international competitiveness and are important tools in health care activities. The nature of the scientific enterprise now
relies on a high level of interdisciplinary research activity for the advancement of knowledge.
Research activity in Science and Technology at Laurier is significant and continues to grow at a rapid rate. Scientific activities of the
faculty are in the main stream of scientific investigation and are increasingly multidisciplinary. The research programs have
benefited considerably from infrastructure grants from the CFI and this has been a major contributor to the growth in activity. The
majority of faculty in Science receive research funding support from NSERC, contracts and Research Centres of Excellence. Some
of the Science research programs have been included in the Health research cluster above. Researchers in the area of
optoelectronics and photonics are making important contributions to one of the fastest growing high technology areas locally and
in the rest of Canada. Their work receives support from the Canadian Institute for Photonics Innovation, Photonics Research
Ontario, the Centre for Information Technology Ontario as well as from the Canadian optoelectronics industry. Another area of
common research interest from different disciplines is the application of computational methods to solve significant problems in the
natural and physical sciences. Laurier is one of a consortium of five institutions awarded a CFI and ORDCF grant in
high-performance computing (SHARC-NET).
Research activity in this cluster is growing. Scientists from several disciplines have formed a computational science working group
that will lead to the establishment of a graduate program in this area. The program will involve the use of computational methods
to study problems in such topics as molecular dynamics, bioinformatics, spatial data analysis, discrete mathematics, cryptography,
and information science. Similarly, the photonics/optoelectronics group has prepared valid proposals for both graduate and
undergraduate programs in this theme. An important result of this initiative will be the training of highly qualified scientists in an
area where such graduates are in high demand. The potential for technological spin-off is very high.
In the School of Business and Economics (SBE), faculty research and the commitment of resources to work on innovation and
technology are growing rapidly. A topic of significant interest focuses on the way businesses create value by understanding,
designing and managing the flow of goods and information between a firm, its suppliers, and its customers (supply chain
management). Central to this process is the use of e-business technology. Supply chain management and e-business are rapidly
growing fields in SBE.
Early-stage technology enterprises have unique management problems. SBE is in the process of developing strong research
capacity in this area. With a grant from the ORDCF, matched by a corporate donation and university funds, a research chair is
being established in this area, and a further faculty position is being added. These research activities will take place in the Schlegel
Centre for Entrepreneurship Studies, currently under construction.
