Grant: CCI Mobilize Grants

Conestoga’s NSERC Mobilize investment will be focused on supporting applied research activities connected to the theme of Sustainable and Inclusive Communities. This funding is critical to ensure we can continue to support the participation of students in applied research and engage with community leaders and industry stakeholders to support economic prosperity, social justice, and environmental sustainability. Mobilize objectives: 1. Expand our established research areas by supporting projects aligned to the theme of sustainable and inclusive communities 2. Increase research capacity in new, emerging, and evolving areas of including biosciences, sustainable business innovation, and indigenous-led research 3. Diversify our funding portfolio by leveraging relationships with innovation ecosystem partners and funding agencies to develop a pipeline of new funding opportunities. 4. Strengthen relationships with partners by engaging in short-term projects that respond to time-critical innovation needs. Mobilize Activities: 1. To respond to the growing bio-tech sector we propose a dedicated Business Development Manager and a Research Technologist who will support existing faculty with industry partnered activity in the new Biosciences Research Hub (NEW) 2. The growth in Indigenous-led research at the college will be supported by the addition of an Indigenous Research Lead who will identify new funding opportunities to expand the scope and scale of activities with our local Indigenous communities. (EMERGING) 3. Our Centre for Supply Chain Innovation will evolve to become the exCHANGE, a research centre focussed on Environmental, Sustainability and Governance (ESG). We will recruit a centre Director to focus on project, partnership, and funding development for applied research in sustainable, inclusive, and socially responsible business practices. (EVOLVING) 4. To support the overall capacity growth, we will recruit a Funding Development Program Manager to develop funding relationships with government and non-governmental organizations to support diversification of the College’s applied research funding portfolio. 5. The Rapid Response Innovation Fund (RRIF) will enable us to undertake short, time-critical applied research projects in areas of strategic importance to our community and industry partners. Funding will be prioritized for projects that are aligned with the theme of Sustainable and Inclusive Communities.