Research Week at NU
University research transforms our world. Nipissing University is celebrating that fact with Research Week, culminating in a speaker series downtown on Wednesday, March 11, featuring NU’s Research Achievement Award Winning faculty.
At Nipissing University, and in universities all over Ontario, researchers are working to create new knowledge and improve our understanding of the world and humankind’s relationships within and to that world. University research spawns new ideas that improve health and wellness, inform public policy, advance technology, build communities and make life more interesting and enjoyable. As a classroom tool, research fuels learning by inspiring students to ask vital questions, work to resolve them and, discover that “eureka!” moment.
Research Week kicks off with a bang on Friday, March 6, with the Three Minute Thesis competition from 3:30 – 4:30 pm in the theatre (F213). This university wide competition sees Masters and Doctoral students encapsulate and present their research and its wider impact in just three minutes or less to a panel of non-specialist judges. The challenge is to present complex research material in an engaging, compelling way. The winner takes home a $500 prize and a berth in the provincial competition, second place earns $250 and the Peoples Choice Award also earns $250.
Friday night, March 6, also marks the launch of Nipissing’s Undergraduate Research Conference, featuring keynote speaker Dr. Elizabeth Presa, at 7 p.m. Dr. Presa is a visual artist and Head of the interdisciplinary Centre for Ideas, Faculty of the Victoria College of the Arts and Melbourne Conservatorium of Music at the University of Melbourne.
Following the Keynote, student researchers will explain their academic work via poster presentations in the main Nipissing University foyer.
On Saturday, March 7, the Undergraduate Research Conference hits high gear at 9 a.m. with a day full of panel presentations in nearby classrooms, running until 4 p.m. The presentations have been grouped into related topics to better engage meaningful discussion.
Nipissing’s faculty nominees for theChancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research take the lead on Monday, March 9, in room A246 for a colloquium. Each nominee will present their work, highlighting the significance of their research, scholarly, and/or creative achievements.
Here’s the schedule:
- 2:00 p.m. –Dr. Alexandre Karassev, associate professor and Chair of Computer Science and Mathematics - What is homogeneity and why it is important
- 2:45 p.m. –Dr. Lorraine Carter, associate professor in the school of Nursing - A Retrospective Look at 15 Years of e-Learning Research in Nursing Education in Northern Ontario: Context for an Exciting Future
- 3:15 p.m. –Dr. Hilary Earl, associate professor of History - Understanding Perpetrators of Genocide
- 4:00 p.m. –Dr. Jim McAuliffe, professor and director of the School of Physical and Health Education - Visual Attention: From Body Position to Safe Driving to Post Concussion Assessment.
Tuesday, March 10, marks the annual Celebration of Scholarship at Nipissing University. The university will celebrate the many achievements of faculty beyond the classroom from 3 – 4:30 p.m. in the main foyer. Faculty members’ numerous publications will be on display, featuring a remarkable wealth and breadth of knowledge.
Research Week wraps up in grand style onWednesday, March 11, at Cecil’s Eatery and Beer Society (300 Wyld Street, North Bay). Faculty who earned a 2014 Research Achievement Award will take the stage from 7 – 9 p.m. to provide short presentations of their research in the spirit of the Three Minute Thesis competition. The award winning faculty include: Dr. Rosemary Nagy, associate professor and Chair of Gender Equality and Social Justice; Dr. David Hemsworth, professor in the School of Business; Dr. Mark Bruner, associate professor in the Bachelor of Physical Health and Education program; Dr. Laurie Kruk, associate professor and Chair of the English Department; Dr. Tzvetalin Vassilev, associate professor of Mathematics; and Dr. David Zarifa, associate professor of Sociology.