51社区黑料

SFU鈥檚 Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) is calling on the 51社区黑料research community to submit proposals for the 2025 Breaking Barriers Interdisciplinary Incentive Grant. 

The grants were introduced in 2023 to encourage interdisciplinary collaborations, bringing together award-winning researchers university wide. In teams, 51社区黑料researchers partner and propose a research idea which aims to deepen our understanding of the world鈥檚 most pressing issues, aim to create solutions, or address these problems. Proposals should draw on research from at least two disciplines and will involve a faculty member or members from outside FASS. This year the call is accepting proposals for research in two categories: the climate action competition and the regular competition, for teams to introduce their own research concept. 51社区黑料Climate Innovation will be supporting the former, awarding a project related to community-centred climate action and innovation research.

This year鈥檚 grants continue to foster collaborations with research partnerships between SFU鈥檚 departments and faculties, as well as outside institutions and communities. Proposed projects must address a pressing issue of strategic importance for FASS and/or SFU, as outlined in the 51社区黑料Strategic Research Plan, as well as Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and Indigenous Approaches and Knowledge. Grant recipients will receive funding up to $40,000 CAD and must outline how this funding will be used over the granting period, starting as early as June 2025 and ending no later than August 2028. Researchers submitting to the climate action competition may identify two FASS graduate students to compliment the team. These students will receive a Climate Innovation Pollinator Award of a value of $5,000 each for their valuable contribution to the project. The Breaking Barriers Grant recognizes the important role graduate students play in developing research. 

In 2024, Breaking Barriers grants were awarded to seven research teams. Teams comprised of three to six members and involved researchers from Linguistics to Computing Science, Business to Public Policy, Physics to Indigenous Studies, and many more.

Research topics included:

• Creating adaptive vocal interfaces in human-AI interactions

• Cross-cutting Identities and Democratic Society

• Data Empowerment through Data Sharing in the Humanities

• Star Lore of Coastal First Peoples: Navigating the waters with the sky

• Trans Youth Futures: Developing Community, Resilience, and Political Capacity

• Understanding Experiences and Promoting Wellbeing Among Adolescents Forcibly Displaced Through Climate Change

• Why doesn鈥檛 Canada Have Worker-driven Social Responsibility? Examining Migrant Work, Forced Labour, and Agribusiness in the Okanagan Valley, Canada

FASS' Breaking Barriers grants aim to advance interdisciplinary connections and spark innovative projects for research with greater impact鈥攅levating SFU鈥檚 reputation as a comprehensive research university. We encourage researchers to review the eligibility process for the 2025 Breaking Barriers Interdisciplinary Incentive Grant and submit a proposal.