Research report celebrates collaboration and community

Memorial University has launched its 2014 research report, which features the extraordinary and impactful work of Memorial students and researchers

Thursday, November 20, 2014 By Krista Davidson

The report’s theme, We Are Research, is prevalent in each of the stories as a celebration of and testament to the impact that research will have on society. It also reflects the collaborative effort and teamwork that is required to make extraordinary research happen.

“Research at Memorial touches the lives of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and beyond,” said Dr. Ray Gosine, vice-president (research), pro tempore. “Memorial’s faculty are engaged in dynamic, inventive and often multidisciplinary research that will improve our everyday lives and the future of our province and the world. This level of commitment to research and bettering the world we live in often involves the helping hands of many disciplines, student researchers, funding bodies and other research partners, organizations and community members.”

Collaboration figures greatly in the report, as evidenced in the story, Connects Generation, which highlights how researchers from Memorial’s School of Music and the Department of Computer Science worked together to develop an iPad application to allow audio exchange with musicians and artists around the world. The theme is also illustrated in Mine Over Matter, a story about a collaborative research project involving the Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, at Memorial, with 16 other universities and 24 leading mining companies to develop innovation in Canada’s mining industry.

The report also highlights the importance of teamwork in developing impactful research. Many of the stories celebrate the involvement of student researchers, such as Smoke on the Water, which tells the story of Marine Institute faculty members and senior marine engineering students working together to design and build a series of exhaust gas scrubbers that will benefit the environment.

Whether it’s showcasing the province’s rich history, delivering research that will improve health care in Newfoundland and Labrador or developing world-class technology and equipment that will increase efficiencies in offshore industries, the stories featured in the 2014 research report demonstrate Memorial University’s mandate of enriching the lives of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Research funding is also represented in the report; the total for external research funding at Memorial for the 2013-14 fiscal year is $91,612,000. The report features interactive charts that allow users to examine trends in research funding over the last decade.