Peak Scholars: COVID-19 Innovation Excellence

The Office of the Vice-President (Research) is proud to announce the Peak Scholars: COVID-19 Innovation Excellence recognition program. This special edition of the Peak Scholars program will celebrate entrepreneurship, innovation, and knowledge engagement activities related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

UCalgary scholars have gone to great lengths to address the global need created by the pandemic. We are incredibly proud of our community for the rapid response that resulted in exciting and groundbreaking work, with potential for significant impact. 

Ten projects will be selected for this special recognition. Nominations must be submitted by December 4, 2020.

NEW for 2020: Scholars may self-nominate or be nominated by their faculty Dean or Associate Dean (Research). There are no faculty quotas for this iteration of the program.

Recipients will become members of the Peak Scholars community, meet 1:1 with university leadership to discuss their project, be profiled in UToday, and receive formal documentation of their recognition from the President and Vice-President (Research).

Nominees must have demonstrated excellence in entrepreneurship, innovation and/or knowledge engagement, where the individual’s COVID-19-related academic work has had/or is beginning to have a proven impact outside of the academy. This can include, but is not limited to: start-up ventures, commercialization, knowledge or technology transfer, community engagement, social innovation or research collaboration.

Questions? Contact vprawards@ucalgary.ca. 

Nomination submission requirements

Nominations may be submitted by the individual or a nominator. Form must be submitted, with the letter of nomination attached, by 11:59 p.m. on December 4, 2020.

All scholars will be notified of the results of their self-nomination by Dec 18, 2020. Deans and Associate Deans (Research) will also be informed of the decisions.

1. Application form:

• Nominee Name
  • If nominee is a postdoctoral scholar, include principal investigator’s name
• Current title(s)
• Home Faculty and Department; also note any cross-appointments
• Name of project
• Co-applicants (UCalgary faculty or staff)
• Community, non-profit or industry partners
• Identification of COVID-19 research topic: Equipment, infrastructure and products; Applied research; Clinical research; or Social impact
• Identification of primary area(s) of scholarship: Entrepreneurship, Commercialization, Knowledge engagement, and/or Social innovation
• Links to project website, articles, or other background about the project (if applicable)
• Description of project and outcomes

2. Letter of endorsement from Dean or Associate Dean (Research), to be attached to application form:

• Endorsement of the candidate
  • If for a postdoctoral scholar, letter must also be signed by their principal investigator
• Your explanation for each nomination:
  • Describe the nature of the innovation demonstrated by the nominee in their COVID-19 project
  • Describe how the nominee is making a positive impact during the COVID-19 pandemic

Eligibility criteria

1. Nominee must be an academic staff member or postdoctoral scholar at the University of Calgary (all academic staff categories are eligible).
2. Nominees must have demonstrated excellence in entrepreneurship, innovation and/or knowledge engagement, where the individual’s COVID-19-related academic work has had/or is beginning to have a proven impact outside of the academy. This can include, but is not limited to: start-up ventures, commercialization, knowledge or technology transfer, community engagement, social innovation or research collaboration.

Selection criteria

The University of Calgary is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion. Successful scholars will be selected taking into consideration equity, diversity, and inclusion. Successful scholars will include at least five (5) female candidates out of the total 10 Peak Scholars awards awarded.

Successful scholars will be selected from a range of research topics. The 10 awards will be distributed among each research topic, with no more than 4 projects being selected from any one research topic group.

• Clinical research
• Applied research
• Social impact
• Equipment, Infrastructure and products