Knowledge Mobilization: Maximizing your Career Options — Inside, Outside, and Beside the Academy

I was trained as an immunologist. The title of my major paper from my PhD was “Gallysin-1, an antibacterial protein isolated from hemolymph of Galleria mellonella.” (Dev. Comp. Immunol 18: 13-23). The title of the major paper from my post doc was “Increased enzymatic activity of the T-cell antigen receptor-associated Fyn protein tyrosine kinase in asymptomatic patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.” (Blood 90 (9):3603-3612) which lead to a patent “Methods for the early detection of HIV infection” (WO1997/021102). I was never trained to be a knowledge broker because no one ever grows up wanting to be one.

For this very reason it is important that organizations like the CFHSS include sessions like Career Corner in the program for Congress. The Career Corner session on May 27 featured Research Impact and Peter Levesque speaking about career paths for KM.

According to the Congress program “Knowledge mobilization may be a career goal in itself, but may also lead to other career opportunities with academic and non-academic employers. Did you want to be a knowledge broker when you grew up? This session will explore a day in the life of a knowledge broker, and tell some stories of how people find themselves in this role. Learn about how knowledge mobilization can be a connector between your graduate experience now, and your future employers.”

The session was attended by a capacity audience who engaged with many useful comments and questions. Thanks to Nicole Vaugeois who showed up expecting to be in the audience and ended up being a speaker contributing her experience and expertise to the conversation.

Sessions like this are important as they allow us to bring the opportunities of KM to graduate students who are considering careers inside, outside and beside the academy. Knowledge mobilization as an activity isn’t new but ResearchImpact is a relatively new organization in the KM landscape. Thanks to Congress and The Federation for giving us the opportunity to share.

“How can my university get involved in ResearchImpact?”

This is the third year that ResearchImpact has been featured at CAURA and Congress. It is the third day of Congress and second day of CAURA, in Ottawa, and delegates at both events approached ResearchImpact with that common question. The question is even more interesting in that it is being echoed by graduate students, faculty, research administrators and senior academic administrators. It is an exciting situation for Canada’s Knowledge Mobilization Network.

The service orientated and university-wide mandate for ResearchImpact is closely aligned to SSHRC’s priorities for connection and impact across all disciplines in Social Sciences and Humanities, as well as CIHR’s knowledge translation mandate. KM also can have an impact wherever academic research can inform public policy and professional practice.

York and UVic, the founding members of ResearchImpact are exploring opportunities for expanding this network. We appreciate the interest shown in our work and welcome questions, comments and suggestions – both to this overarching question as well as toward the continuous improvement of knowledge mobilization services in Canada.

No decisions just questions at this time. For universities and their research partners… stay tuned.

ResearchSnapshot enhances broader access to research at York

Our new ResearchSnapshot series of clear language summaries of completed research was featured today in YFile, York’s daily news bulletin. You can search the ResearchSnapshot collection on our web site by clicking here.  Here is an excerpt from the article:

How would a community organization or policy-maker access social science or humanities research expertise from York? From the United Way of York Region to the Children’s Aid Society, non-academic audiences can now access ResearchSnapshot, a searchable library of summaries of research projects, completed by York’s Knowledge Mobilization (KM) Unit and launched at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences at Carleton University on May 24.

Funded by a Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) grant and led by David Phipps, director, Office of Research Services, the first phase of ResearchSnapshot provides a database of 42 summaries of projects. The summaries – with expertise ranging from organizational behaviour to homelessness and immigration – are searchable by researcher, subject or keyword. Each summary is written in simple language intended to highlight the research expertise at York and inform decisions about public policy or professional practice.

A look at one ResearchSnapshot, about research on the impact of management policies on the nutrition of homeless youth in Canada, informs organizations that research by York education Professor Stephen Gaetz found that the policies intended to help homeless youth are, in fact, having a negative effect. The research identifies that policies are forcing youth to rely on limited emergency food aid and instead of becoming independent they are increasing their chances of malnourishment. Similarly, all summaries identify the research methods, background, results and possible applications, as well as provide a brief biography of the researcher.

“York’s social science and humanities researchers are well-recognized by the international research community. ResearchSnapshot now allows us to systematically extend that reach. Since we had identified the need for policy- and decision-makers to have access to research results that were written in plain language, these summaries are crucial in filling the implementation gap by strengthening the movement for evidence-based policy,” said Stan Shapson, vice-president research & innovation.

To view the full YFile story, click here.

To search the ResearchSnapshot collection, click here.

York Community Data Sharing Symposium II

The KM Unit at York University is pleased to be co-hosting the second York Community Data Sharing Symposium being held on Thursday, June 4 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.

York Community Data Sharing Symposium II

The second in a series of sessions highlighting the power of data to strengthen the capacity of York Region’s human service agencies.

How an Electronic Commons Can Help Us Tackle Poverty in York Region

Thursday, June 4, 2009
10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m

Morning Session
How the emergence of the “electronic commons” will help agencies and organizations share data and information?
How can new ways of information-sharing change the way people talk to each other?
How to use the web to create more options for mobilizing action among and within communities?

Afternoon Session
How can we transfer our knowledge to interactive discussions about efforts to address poverty in York Region?
How can we use new information-sharing tools to change the ways we collectively tackle poverty in York Region?

Guest Speakers, Panellists and Interactive Group Discussion
At the end of the day, you will have a better understanding of new and upcoming web-based social networking technologies and how they can be used to share information and knowledge to better serve the needs of children, youth and families in York Region.

ResearchImpact Hosts KM Session for Research Administrators

For the third year in a row ResearchImpact hosted a session on knowledge mobilization for the annual national meeting of the Canadian Association of University Research Administrators (CAURA).  The session was held on May 25 in Ottawa and featured presentations by Craig McNaughton (SSHRC), David Yetman (Harris Centre, MUN), Michael Johnny (ResearchImpact, York), Fiona Haynes (USask) and Laura Milne (ResearchImpact, UVic).

Michael Johnny (York) at the Poster Session

Craig gave an overview of KM for Canada, at least form SSHRC’s perspective, which was followed by brief overviews of KM services at each university.  The group broke into a poster session where the audience was able to meet each knowledge broker one on one.  The group then reconvened for a Q&A with questions from David Phipps (ResearchImpact, York) and from the audience.  As a strong indicator of the growing interest in KM as a service to researchers and their communities, the group continued with Q&A for 50 minutes and could have continued going had the session not ended. Interesting questions and more interesting discussion included the role of evaluation (despite the lack of it), the need to engage people as well as organizations as well as the importance of the relationship between the KM function and the Office of Research Services.

ResearchImpact is also hosting a knowledge mobilization exhibit at CAURA for the second year in a row.  More and more research service offices are being asked to support grant applications with complex demands for knowledge mobilization strategies.  Building a broad institutional capacity for knowledge mobilization as York and UVic have done is one way that universities can support research grant applications in an increasingly competitive environment.

Panelists l-r: Laura Milne (UVic), Fiona Haynes (USask), Michael Johnny (York), Craig McNaughton (SSHRC) and David Yetman (MUN)

ResearchImpact.ca has a New Look!

After 2 years with our old Web site, we decided it needed a bit of a make-over. We’ve updated the look, added features such as videos, an events calendar, links to our twitter feed and other Web 2.0 tools, as well as a new online opportunity description form. This new form will allow our visitors to submit a potential research opportunity right from our Web site.

Check it out over at www.researchimpact.ca and let us know what you think of the changes by adding a comment to the posting.

Personal Reflections on the ‘Hidden in Plain Sight: Living Homeless in York Region’ Photovoice Exhibit at YorkU – April 27 to May 1, 2009

The York Region Alliance to End Homelessness (YREAH) was formed in 1999 as concerns about homelessness were emerging in our communities. “The Alliance is a coalition of social service agencies, faith groups, interested community members and government representatives that meets regularly to understand, plan and coordinate services and supports related to homelessness in York Region”. What underlies this statement is an incredible, tireless commitment to support this work. I have had the pleasure of working with this agency as a knowledge broker at York University. The emergence of a KM unit at York in 2006 provided opportunity for this agency to seek opportunities to bolster its limited capacity to perform its work. In the summer of 2008, KM Intern Jennifer Logan (MA Candidate, Geography) worked for the Alliance to lead a Photovoice project that captured the images and voices of York Region’s homeless population. The primary goal of the project was to develop a resource to help raise the awareness of homelessness issues in York Region in helping advance policies and practices for homelessness in York Region.

I was able to visit the exhibit here at York on the afternoon of April 30 and I was the only visitor in the gallery at the time. The pictures tell stories that statistics simply cannot. Seeing those images took me back to my work in adult literacy where each person I worked with had a story to tell. The stories were not always pleasant (although some were) and unfortunately reflected a daily reality of struggle and perseverance. The images I saw brought many of the stories from my early career back to life, in a moving and extremely powerful way. I recall a quotation from Joseph Stalin that has stuck with me, “One death is a tragedy, one million is a statistic.” The exhibit I saw helped me to remember we are not dealing with numbers or statistics here, but with people. These people are part of our community.

I applaud Jennifer and YREAH for their work in giving voice to people who are not always given changes to tell their stories. The stories in that room have helped me to reflect on the importance of my work and I am grateful for that lesson!

Open for Ideas Means Open for Business and Fosters Social Innovation

Ok, so it’s an older article but few have yet to seriously adopt open collaboration and innovation. In 2006 Huston and Sakkab wrote about Procter and Gamble’s (P&G’s) Connect & Develop (Harvard Business Review, page 58-66, March 2006). In contrast to the typical pharmaceutical proprietary model of in house R&D, P&G piloted a novel concept called Connect & Develop which presented R&D challenges to outside entrepreneurs and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) who then develop novel solutions to the P&G’s innovation challenges.

“The model works. Today, more than 35% of our new products in market have elements that originated from outside P&G, up from about 15% in 2000.” These new ideas came from a variety of sources such as proprietary networks but also from open networks such as Nine Sigma, InnoCentive (founded by Ely Lilly), YourEncore (kind of like a technological Handy Man Connection) and Yet2.com (an online marketplace for intellectual property exchange).

Lessons Learned for KM:
- “Never assume that ‘ready to go’ ideas found outside are truly ready to go. There will always be development work to do” – work with your partners to adapt research to new learning and policy environments
- “Don’t underestimate the internal resources required. You’ll need a full-time, senior executive to run any connect-and-develop initiative” – while knowledge brokers support social innovation by connecting research to practice you need support and buy in from senior management
- “Never launch without a mandate from the CEO. Connect and develop cannot succeed if it’s cordoned off in R&D. It must be a top-down, companywide strategy” – knowledge mobilization must be an institutional priority not just a value permeating a handful of community-university projects.

ResearchImpact defines social innovation as the creation or application of research and knowledge to develop sustainable solutions to social, environmental and cultural challenges. Social Innovation results in more efficient and effective human services, more responsive public policies and a greater cultural understanding. As P&G learned to open its doors to outside innovation so universities, community organizations, government agencies, granting councils and Foundations must embrace a culture of openness and collaboration in order to realize the benefits of social innovation. Working through knowledge brokers who foster a culture of openness and collaboration, knowledge mobilization is the means to social innovation.

David Yetman of the Harris Centre, MUN at YorkU – May 12

The KM Unit at York hosted a talk on Tuesday May 12 as part of our KM Speaker Series.  David Yetman is the Manager of Knowledge Mobilization at the Leslie Harris Centre with Memorial University in St. Johns, NL and spoke about Memorial’s experiences with KM.  He also demonstrated Yaffle a new research search engine designed to support knowledge co-production in Newfoundland and Labrador.  Information on KM activity at Memorial University can be found on their web site.

David has been managing the KM Unit at Memorial since 2004 and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. within the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial.  His area of study is KM and this provides Memorial with a strong theoretical understanding of KM in addition to David’s operational experience and leadership in this area.

The audience included York staff, researchers and administrators along with guests from York Region, the University of Toronto and the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services.

The Blogosphere and Beyond

If you’re reading this on our blog you’re almost part of the blogosphere. If you’re reading this because you received Mobilize This! in your e mail inbox you’re not, but I bet you’re thinking about it. In Wikinomics, Don Tapscott describes the web 2.0 world as the blogoshpere which represents the ecosystem of wikis, blogs, Facebook, twitter, Flickr, LinkedIn, YouTube, Ning, wiggio, MySpace and any other number of social networking platforms that blur the line between on line content creation and consumption. Web 1.0 was a publishing platform where you read what I wrote. Web 2.0 allows the reader to interact with the writer creating an iterative dialogue where the lines between reader and writer become indistinct.

Go on, try it. Hit the comment link above and tell us what you think or at least tell us you are there. Do it and you’ve joined the blogosphere.

According to the Globe & Mail (“The medium is no longer the message”, March 10, 2009), “blogging and social-network sites such as Facebook and Twitter are now the fourth-most popular online activities, eclipsing e-mail and growing twice as fast as any other category in the top three…”

ResearchImpact has a blog, you’re reading it. We also use a wiki to collaborate on content, share documents and develop our thinking using discussion threads. Now you can follow us on twitter. Twitter will be updated a number of times daily both at York and UVic. You’ll not only be able to follow our knowledge brokers you’ll be able to hear about events as they happen, blogs as they are posted, know which exciting faculty member or community partner we’re about to meet with. This blog tells you our edited version of the story. Twitter will make you part of it.

To follow ResearchImpact on twitter you need to sign up for a twitter account at twitter.com and click on “Get Started – Join”. It’s fast and it’s free. Go to twitter.com/researchimpact and click on “follow” and you’ll get our updates as they happen. Follow us and interact with us. Use the “reply” feature by clicking on the back arrow in each tweet or the “message” feature on the right hand tool bar and tell us what is cool – or not – about what we’re doing. Give us feedback. Give us tips like someone you know who needs what we’re doing and we’ll be better positioned to meet the needs of our diverse stakeholders.

Follow us and by interacting, lead us to better knowledge brokering.

Twitter. Check us out.