Grad students, post-docs get more than $1.4 million
Guelph has received more than $1.4 million for research, fellowships and graduate scholarships in the arts and humanities.
Twenty-eight U of G post-doctoral researchers and graduate students will benefit from the funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), which was announced in late October. The council promotes university-based research and training that focuses on social, cultural and economic issues.
SSHRC supports research through post-doctoral and doctoral fellowships and through scholarships at the doctoral and master's levels. Dollar amounts range from $17,500 for master's students up to $105,000 for doctoral candidates.
I want to offer my congratulations to the students who received these awards and to their advisers, says Prof. Chris McKenna, associate vice-president (research). The range of research interests that are being funded indicates that U of G continues to add breadth to its scholarly research in the arts and social sciences.
Indeed, U of G's funded research runs the gamut. Doctoral and post-doctoral fellowship projects include an examination of parents' and adolescents' perceptions of family time and work-family conflicts; a study of philosophers Edith Stein and Hedwig Conrad-Martius; and an analysis of fish poisonings and climate change in Cuba.
Graduate students received scholarships for projects that will explore topics such as aggressive behaviour in autistic children, hiring discrimination against gays and lesbians, and therapies for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
We're very proud of our students, says Prof. Isobel Heathcote, dean of graduate studies, who notes that the funding will benefit both student research and the University's graduate programs in the arts and social sciences.
Heathcote notes that U of G has a high success rate in obtaining SSHRC scholarships, with as many as 85 per cent of doctoral applicants being approved. She says she's pleased that SSHRC has introduced master's-level scholarships because the additional support will make it possible for even more of the best students to pursue advanced degrees.
One of those students is Julie Menten, who received a master's scholarship to research First Nations rites of passage in adolescence and the search for belonging.
I feel honoured to be chosen and grateful and proud that my vision for research with First Nations communities was acknowledged with such a prestigious award, she says. It has inspired me to think about continuing with research at a PhD level, something I had not truly considered before. It has also provided me with an opportunity to reflect on how I could contribute to the betterment of our world through social science research.
Another master's award recipient, Dorota Turlejski, is studying the ethical implications of online couple and family therapy. She says the scholarship will allow her to dedicate the time and money her research deserves.
I am all the more motivated to pursue my chosen topic with sensitivity and integrity because I am reminded of the social and humanitarian purpose of the award that my research has been selected to represent.
