I’m pleased to announce the renewal and expansion of our Collaborative Research Mobility Awards (CRMA) program, a program which helps our research community establish new, or expand on existing, collaborations.
The CRMA program facilitates collaboration on timely research opportunities between researchers in Vancouver and the Okanagan, helping them share knowledge, interests and access to equipment. These competitions are now running quarterly and have in the past enabled collaborations between researchers in a wide variety of disciplines and topics: from blockchain to mental health, workplace relations, and others.
I’m also pleased that we will continue an initiative that began as part of our drive to strengthen the research and innovation relationships with our sister Cascadia Corridor institution, the University of Washington. The UBC & UW CRMA helps build and strengthen our partnerships in our region while supporting cross-border knowledge exchange. The program began as a very successful pilot last year, demonstrating that our researchers are committed to excellence and eager to collaborate.
Our newest initiative takes our researchers a little further afield to foster and strengthen relationships with another Pacific Rim institution — UCLA. The first round of funding for the UBC & UCLA CRMA is open to researchers in all disciplines, with priority given to the social sciences, humanities, and the creative and performing arts. It’s an excellent start to what we hope will be the beginning of new research relationships for years to come.
These collaborations help drive UBC’s reputation for research excellence locally, regionally, nationally and across the world. It is my hope that the researchers involved in collaborations supported by these awards are empowered to apply new approaches and ideas to their work and to deepen their relationships with each other in expanding knowledge and tackling key issues facing society.
All of these awards have deadlines in the new year — take a look at the CRMA page for full details and to apply:
https://research.ubc.ca/about-vpri/collaborative-research-mobility-awards