Tuesday, October 4, 2022

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• Calling all researchers: nominate an exceptional scholar for a funded postdoctoral fellowship
• Supercharge your commercialization aspirations with Up Start
• The Graham Seed Fund is now open for applications
• It's your last chance to register for the UW Staff Board Foundations sessions
• Tuesday's notes

Calling all researchers: nominate an exceptional scholar for a funded postdoctoral fellowship

A message from Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA).

Applications for 2023 postdoctoral funding programs are now open, including two new opportunities supported by the Provost - one for interdisciplinary scholars as well as Black and Indigenous scholars.

Postdocs at the University of Waterloo play a vital role in advancing our goal of impactful research. These top-tier funding opportunities create the possibility to attract exceptional scholars across all disciplines. Applicants to these programs must have support/endorsement from a University of Waterloo researcher; the application deadline is December 1, 2022. For more details, including eligibility criteria, the endorsement process, please visit the University of Waterloo Postdoc Funding web page.

NEW - Provost’s Program for Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Scholars

• Focus: Interdisciplinary research extending beyond boundaries
• Duration: 2 years
• Value: $60,000 annual salary plus $5,000 research fund

NEW - Provost’s Program for Black and Indigenous Postdoctoral Scholars

• Focus: Strengthen sustainable and diverse communities with research that is transformative, of societal importance and has global impact
• Duration: 2 years
• Value: $60,000 annual salary plus $5,000 research fund

AMTD Waterloo Global Talent Postdoctoral Fellowship

• Focus: Disruptive research agenda that betters society
• Duration: 2 years
• Value: $75,000 annual salary plus $7,500 engagement fund (additional funding for knowledge dissemination available)

Supercharge your commercialization aspirations with Up Start

This article was originally published on Waterloo News.

One of the most rewarding experiences anyone can have is bringing technology to market. Up Start is the opportunity for the University of Waterloo community to step out and build a technology company.

Built by Velocity and the Waterloo Commercialization Office (WatCo), student researchers, founders and recent alumni will be funded and have access to resources from both Velocity and WatCo.

Up Start is accepting applications now and will welcome its first cohort this October. Accepted teams will work closely with Velocity and WatCo advisors to conduct market research, develop a business plan and receive funding to help get them started.

Innovators will be guided through the process of commercializing ideas into a venture that will disrupt the marketplace and create a positive impact on society. 

Canada’s innovation university

A new generation of founders are on campus today and the University of Waterloo is one of the nation’s top research universities and Canada’s top university for founders.

Every year, ambitious students and innovators launch new ventures from the Waterloo campus with the potential to revolutionize industries and create a positive impact on society, enabled by Waterloo’s strong entrepreneurship culture, unique “creator-own” intellectual property policy and more than 45 different extra-curricular programs that support students and founders.

We regularly see UWaterloo founders who are inspiring future founders to go after their ambitious ideas.

Evelyn Allen (P. Eng., M.Eng.) wanted to make an impact by commercializing Dr. Michael Pope’s (Chem. Eng.) ground-breaking research and built her company, Evercloak, to support that goal.

“Effective solutions to global climate challenges come from world-class research that has been rigorously developed,” says Allen, the CEO and co-founder of Evercloak. “This takes time, resources and persistence, but it is immensely inspiring to see our company grow from research to market.” 

This spin-out company created with support from WatCo and Velocity is as cool as it gets. Their focus is to significantly reduce the energy use and associated greenhouse gas related with building cooling. Evercloack is commercializing a manufacturing platform for producing continuous, large area nanofilms.

“As an advanced material company with a breakthrough approach for producing 2D nanofilms, Evercloak is creating new and novel cooling methods,” Allen says. “Our nanofilms disrupt traditional energy cooling systems by dehumidifying air more efficiently, and that results in a real impact when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with climate change.”

Watch video on YouTube

Up Start your startup

Join Up Start and be guided through the process of commercializing your idea into a venture that will transform an industry, and like Evercloak, you too can make your mark. 

Seeing research efforts translate into socio-economic impact is a driving motivator for researchers. “Pursuing an entrepreneurship pathway with your research innovations is an effective way to see your vision become a reality. This program and funding will support students to explore what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur and to make informed decisions about their future,” says Scott Inwood, director of commercialization for WatCo.

Are you building something big? Feeling like you should commercialize your research? Have you started a company and are looking for someone to help you move faster? We want to hear from you!

The Graham Seed Fund is now open for applications

Do you have a project idea to transform health through technology? Do you need funds to support highly qualified personnel (HQP)?

The Graham Seed Fund is now accepting applications for new projects that will work towards the University’s strategic priority of creating a globally recognized hub for innovative and transformative health technologies. Collaborative projects that leverage and build health system partnerships with patients, patient families, the public, academics, clinicians and health-care providers are encouraged. The Graham Seed Fund provides funding in the amount of up to $25,000 for a one-year period. This opportunity is for all faculties at the University. Apply now.

About the Graham Seed Fund

The Graham Seed Fund is a Transformative Health Technologies initiative and is designed to broadly encourage innovative health-care solutions to challenges of today and tomorrow. The Fund seeks to leverage and build health system partnerships by providing resources for collaborating directly with a full range of health providers and clinicians. It is anticipated that this collaborative, interdisciplinary model will help to quickly advance solutions for challenging areas in health technology. Visit us online to find out more and to apply to the Graham Seed Fund.

It's your last chance to register for the UW Staff Board Foundations sessions

A message from the University of Waterloo Staff Association (UWSA).

Waterloo staff - this workshop is for you.

UWaterloo is an amazing workplace that employs skilled members of the Waterloo community. But many of us have never served on a non-profit board, and don’t know where to start. UW Staff Board Foundations is a workshop for staff to build the skills and confidence needed to volunteer as a non-profit Board Director. And because it’s funded by the UW Staff Excellence Fund, it’s being offered at no cost to UW staff. We’ve already held 3 virtual sessions - there are just 2 remaining.

Participant feedback

Here are some comments from Waterloo staff participants:

• “It highlighted the idea that I might have something meaningful to contribute to this community and others.”
• “Grounded overview and lots of time for questions and discussion.”
• “It tackled topics that have intimidated me from participating on boards in the past, and made them more accessible.”
• “Well organized presentation, personable presenter.”

Registration now open

Waterloo staff can register now for either of the two remaining sessions through Portal; direct links to each session's registration area are provided below.

• 004: Monday, October 24 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Session 004 Registration Link
• 005: Thursday, November 10 from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm Session 005 Registration Link

If you have questions or comments about this workshop, reach out to Kathy Becker. And if you have another idea for a staff development opportunity, consider submitting your own proposal to the UW Staff Excellence Fund.

Tuesday's notes

Information Systems and Technology (IST) has provided an update on the Learning Management System (LMS) Review project consultation as follows:

• Project information session – recording available 

A recording of the Learning Management System (LMS) Review project information session, held September 22, 2022, is now available to view (authentication required).

• LMS Review survey – delayed 

The LMS Review project survey, initially planned to launch the week of September 26, has been delayed until mid-October. Communications will be shared when it is available.

"Please visit the project web page to learn more about this work," says a note from IST.

Here's today's Keeping Well at Work Daily Inspiration:

Thankful Tuesday

Keep a gratitude jar for the rest of the month. Grab an old mason jar or container and some scraps of paper. Every day, jot down something you are grateful for. At the end of the month, dump out your container and read through all the things you had to be grateful for in the month. Extra challenge: See if you can keep it going until the end of the year.

The Registrar's Office has published the fall 2022 final examination schedule online. Lectures and classes end on Tuesday, December 6, with two pre-examination study days on December 7 and 8. Final examinations begin on Friday, December 9 and run until Friday, December 23. The Registrar's Office notes that exams will be held on Sunday, December 11 during the exam period.