TORONTO, May 28, 2012 – Seven York-led research partnerships have received a total of $3,647,551 through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Partnership Grants program and Partnership Development Grants program.
York University Psychology Professor Debra Pepler, together with Shelley Cardinal of the Canadian Red Cross, has received over $2.4 million in funding over five years from SSHRC to lead a major national project: Walking the Prevention Circle: Re-Searching Community Capacity Building for Violence Prevention. They are joined by Susan Dion, a York education professor, and other researchers and partners. The project will examine how communities mobilize and build capacity through the Canadian and Australian Red Cross Societies' Walking the Prevention Circle (WTPC) − a model for violence prevention in Aboriginal communities. The project will receive more than $1.2 million in matching funding from partnering organizations.
Pepler, a Distinguished Research Professor in the Faculty of Psychology and core member in York’s LaMarsh Centre for Child and Youth Research, will lead a 10-member research team as they study the process of community capacity building.
“This grant provides an extraordinary opportunity to collaborate with communities in learning how they engage with the Red Cross community capacity building process to share knowledge, promote stronger relationships, and move from the cycle of violence resulting from colonization to the circle of healing based in Aboriginal traditions,” said Pepler.
Project partners include: Canadian Red Cross, Australian Red Cross, CAMH Centre for Prevention Science, Chiefs of Ontario, Prince Albert Grand Council, Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network (PREVNet), Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Victoria Native Friendship Centre.
Six York researchers were also awarded more than $1.1 million in SSHRC funding through the Partnership Development Grants program, with more than an additional $1 million in total funding from matching partner contributions. The Partnership Development Program encourages applicants to work collaboratively with partners to develop research in the social sciences and humanities. This funding will support partnerships between York researchers and Canadian and international universities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), government departments, domestic and international associations, among others.
"The results of these recent SSHRC competitions are a testament to the exceptional track record York has in leading interdisciplinary and collaborative research projects,” said Robert Haché, York’s vice-president research and innovation. “The project led by York Professor Debra Pepler and Shelley Cardinal of the Canadian Red Cross, in collaboration with local and global partners, is designed to address and prevent the cycle of violence and improve the quality of people’s lives.”
The announcement was made on Friday by the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology, while speaking at the launch of the annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. In total, more than $70 million is being awarded over a period of seven years to support 92 research teams across the country through SSHRC’s Partnership Grants and Partnership Development Grants.
“Our government’s top priority is jobs, growth and long-term prosperity. To remain at the forefront of the global economy, our government is investing in the people and ideas that will produce tomorrow’s breakthroughs,” said Minister Goodyear. “Through these investments, we are creating the best-educated and most skilled workforce in the world and strengthening Canada’s research advantage.”
“These multisectoral research partnerships are key to innovation and to building knowledge for Canada’s future,” said Chad Gaffield, president of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. “With this funding support, we are gaining insight about, and developing innovative solutions to today’s social, economic and cultural issues, while training the next generation of researchers and leaders.”
For a complete list of Partnership Grant and Partnership Development Grant awards, visit the SSHRC Web site.
York University is a leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto – Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 55,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 250,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 10 faculties and 28 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.
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Media Contact:
Arielle Zomer, Research Communications, York University 416 736 2100 x21069 / azomer@yorku.ca
Janice Walls, Media Relations, York University, 416 736 2100 x22101 / wallsj@yorku.ca
