In 2019, U of T launched the Institutional Strategic Initiatives portfolio, which is a part of the division of the Vice President Research and Innovation and which establishes Institutional Strategic Initiatives (ISI). The ISI office works to grow networks of different faculties and organizations to enhance the university’s capacity for conducting impactful interdisciplinary research.
Arij Al Chawaf — the ISI Executive Director for Strategic Initiative Development — believes that the path to solving the problems facing our society today is paved by taking an interdisciplinary approach. In an interview with The Varsity, she said,“You might think interdisciplinary approach might just mean in terms of the research disciplines, but there [are] also [divisions] within all large academic institutions.”
Though each faculty at the university is conducting their own research, and sharing their findings through publications and conferences, opportunities for collaboration might be hard to come by. The ISI office works to bridge this gap by implementing projects that foster communication and collaboration between various faculties who are innovatively attempting to solve large challenges such as climate change, pandemics, and lack of effective mental health support for students.
By definition, an ISI project tackles a complex problem that is likely to be solved by an interdisciplinary collaborative approach between at least three partners. Partners can be internal divisions of the university — such as a faculty or an academic unit — as well as external organizations — such as hospitals, the government, other universities, foundations, or industries. Within an ISI project, researchers are trained to have the skills and ability to work in more than one of the disciplines involved so that there is a smooth collaboration.
Sean Caffrey — a former executive director for the ISI office — wrote in an email to The Varsity, “Once an ISI [project] is launched, [the ISI office] helps support [the project] through the following mechanisms: oversight, reporting & evaluation, branding & communications, capacity-building, strategic planning, human resources, [and] sustainability & fundraising.” Al Chawaf explained that financial sustainability is essential for ensuring continuous support once the seed funding from the ISI office has been used, and she suggests that this secondary funding might come from “grants, industry consortia, or through a donor.”
The advantages of the collaborations generated and supported by the ISI office include funding and the establishment of sustainable infrastructure for work already being conducted to get a head start on grant applications. Two examples of large grants that have been successful targets of the ISI office are the Biomedical Research Infrastructure Fund (BRIF) and the Canadian First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF).
The Emerging Pandemic and Infections Consortium (EPIC) is an ISI project at the University of Toronto that was created to research pandemics. It is a collaboration between C-CL3 — the only high-containment level 3 unit in the GTA — and a dichloride aerosol containment facility. EPIC’s goal is to become the leading initiative involved in the discovery of and policy making for infectious disease. In an email to The Varsity, Sean Caffrey wrote, “EPIC was featured heavily in the grant application and was critical to the grant application’s success. U of T was awarded $35M from the BRIF-CFI.” This is the largest-ever Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) award received by the university.
The ISI office also supported U of T’s application to the CFREF, which Caffrey notes is “the largest and one of the most prestigious grants that a university can secure.” U of T submitted an ISI project called the Acceleration Consortium, which tries to catalyze discovery by creating self-driving artificial intelligence labs. They have advanced to the final interview stage and requested a $200 million grant.
Examples of some other initiatives supported by the ISI include the Black Research Network, which was created in line with the recommendations of U of T’s Anti-Black Racism Task Force. The initiative has created an interdisciplinary network of black scholars, whose education and research are funded and promoted by the ISI office.
Also supported by the ISI, Inlight, the Student & Youth Mental Health Research Initiative fosters collaboration between the university, the Center for Addiction and Mental Health, and other hospitals in mental health research. Inlight has provided international impact through support from the Global Connaught Challenge Award.
Climate Positive Energy — also supported by the ISI — is an initiative that is tackling the goal of researching net zero emissions by 2050 by promoting collaboration between researchers in science, technology, policy, society, and economics.
Al Chawaf said that the problems addressed by the ISI “need innovative and… out of the box thinking, so bringing together these groups of researchers who can focus on one problem or the application of different approaches to a problem” is beneficial to making advancements. She used the example of the Data Sciences Institute, whose role in research is not only to focus on one specific problem but on how data sciences offer solutions for challenges in general.
The ISI is working to enhance the initiatives already in place to ensure that they are self-sustaining. Timothy Chan — the associate vice-president and vice-provost of strategic initiatives — wrote in an email to The Varsity, “In the coming year or two, we hope to launch new initiatives and help our existing initiatives continue to develop vibrant communities of faculty, students, researchers, industry, and international partners.”
