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Social Innovation / Action SRC Award

The Social Innovation and/or Action Scholarly Research and Creative (SRC) Award is a university-wide, annual award that recognizes excellence in SRC initiatives done in collaboration with community partners which lead to the strengthening of civil society either through program or policy impact(s). Unique and innovative projects may include initiatives, such as corporate social responsibility, public private partnerships, new ventures, technological innovations, or process improvements within existing non-profit or government organizations in areas such as poverty alleviation, education, health, human rights, diversity and inclusion, violence prevention, peace building, sustainability, capacity building and/or engagement.

Award recipient(s) will receive a certificate of recognition and a monetary award of $2,000 as a one-time payment (subject to applicable deductions).

Key criteria: Scholarly, research and creative social innovation action

Nomination guidelines

  • TFA members are eligible to be nominated for this award. Please note that retired members, professors emeriti and adjunct professors are not eligible.
  • Faculty who receive this award may not receive the same award for two years (e.g. 2019-2020 recipients cannot receive the same award until 2022-2023).
  • Award recipients shall present to the university community a brief description of the scholarly, research or creative work for which they are receiving the award.

Candidates are nominated by two colleagues, a ‘Nominator’ and a ‘Seconder’. The Nominator is required to supply the information and documents as outlined below under Nomination Process and Nomination Package. A Seconder for each nomination is also required and may assist the Nominator in preparing the nomination package. Please note that either the Nominator and/or the Seconder must be a member of a department or school other than the nominee’s.

Excellence in SRC social innovation and/or action will be recognized by:

  • A unique, innovative contribution to SRC social action design and/or implementation.
  • The extent of effective collaboration with community partners.
  • Evidence of significant transformative impact of the work in terms of social or public benefit and/or contribution to social action.

Contributions to the training and research careers of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, research scientists and technical staff are foundational to TMU’s SRC activities. The nominee’s contributions to training, taking into account the standards of the relevant field, will be considered in the adjudication process.

  1. Obtain the nominee’s permission.
  2. Complete the nomination package as described below.
  3. Submit the nomination package via the Online Nomination Portal on the Recognition website.
  4. Nominee will receive a confirmation email with a link to provide online consent. This step must be completed before the deadline.

The nomination should provide:

  • Citation (100 word maximum) highlighting how the nominee meets the criteria of excellence for this award and any notable achievements. This citation will be included in related university communications should the nominee or team be selected.
  • Supporting Statement (three page maximum) that explicitly describes how the nominee meets the award criteria.
  • Summary (two page maximum) of the nominee’s contributions to social or public benefit and/or social action, and a brief note about norms for the field as these can vary between disciplines.
  • The supporting statement and summary should be written in language that can be understood by non-experts.
  • The nominator has the option to provide supporting materials (five-document maximum) including, if appropriate, external appraisals of the nominee’s work and one or two significant publications. Materials may include up to two full-length articles or book chapters (no page limit), each of which counts as one document. Non-publication supporting materials should not exceed ten pages in total.
  • Updated CV in CCV or OCGS format highlighting the relevant key contributions related to the nomination. This requirement is submitted after the initial nomination process. Nominees will be prompted by email to submit their highlighted CV.

The award recipient(s) shall be recommended to the VPRI by the OVPRI Prizes and Awards Committee. Members of the Committee who are nominated or who are acting as a nominator must recuse themselves from all discussion related to the selection process for this award. The Committee may recommend not to present an award in a particular academic year.

Nomination deadline: November 7 at noon
Recipient notified by: December 21, 2023
Award presentations: Celebration of ExcellenceToronto Met Awards Gala

Office of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation
Programs Assistant
srcfunding@torontomu.ca
416-979-5000, ext. 553553

Celebration details

This award is celebrated at the Celebration of Excellence and the Toronto Met Awards Gala.