Healthy Research Teams Initiative

Overview

The Healthy Research Teams Initiative celebrates promising practices to foster healthy research team environments in the University of Toronto community. The initiative includes educational programming, seed funding, and spotlight awards. Together, these program components are designed to promote a culture of continual learning and celebration of healthy research practices that shape our research environments into welcoming, inclusive, creative, collaborative, and innovative settings.  

Framework

The Healthy Research Teams Initiative is organized around a framework of seven facets of healthy research environments: 

  • Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion: fostering a diverse, inclusive, and just research community
  • Group Collaboration: enhancing the collaborative spirit of our research environments 
  • Leadership: increasing breadth and depth of research leadership and management expertise 
  • Professional Development: increasing capacity to meet trainee professional development needs for a range of possible careers 
  • Research Integrity: promoting research openness, honesty, rigour, and professionalism 
  • Supervision & Mentorship: supporting positive supervisory and mentoring relationships 
  • Well-being: prioritizing work-life balance, health and safety in the research environment, sense of belonging, and welfare 

Seed Funding

The Healthy Research Teams Seed Fund will support activities that promote healthy research practices at the University of Toronto. The purpose of the fund is to improve or enhance the experience of working in research teams at the University of Toronto by supporting the development of new initiatives and accelerating the impact of already successful initiatives.  

Applicants may request support for a wide array of activities. This includes: 

  • Activities taking place within a single lab or research team 
  • Activities involving multiple teams, within or across departments 
  • Projects aimed at the institutional level 

This three-year pilot project is now accepting applications until February 28, 2025. We will hold calls twice yearly or until the funding is spent. An ongoing internal review and evaluation process will ensure the fund is updated as needed to meet its goals. 

Learn more and apply

Spotlight Awards

The Healthy Research Teams Spotlight Awards are intended to recognize activities that have enhanced healthy research practices at U of T and help shape our research environments into welcoming, inclusive, creative, and collaborative settings.  

The Healthy Research Teams Initiative Spotlight Awards will open to nominations in January 2025.

Education and Events

The goal of the Healthy Research Teams Initiative education program is to identify, explain and promote healthy research practices at the University of Toronto. Fall 2024 events are listed below.

How to Succeed as a Graduate Supervisor
Wednesday, October 16, 2024 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM, Online

How to Help Your Students Get the Most Out of their Individual Development Plan (IDP)
Friday, October 18, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM, Online

How to Give More Effective Writing Feedback to Graduate Students
Thursday, November 7, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM, Online

Healthy Research Teams Symposium
Monday, November 11, 2024, In-person
Paul Cadario Conference Centre, University College

History

Below are links to reports and announcements leading to the development of the Healthy Research Teams Initiative: 

Update on the Healthy Lab Initiative (Provost’s Digest, December 3, 2020) 
Promoting a Healthy Lab Culture at the University of Toronto: Final Report (2020) 
Appointment of Professor Reinhart Reithmeier as Special Advisor on the Healthy Labs Initiative (December 11, 2019) 
Five mental health and wellness developments U of T students need to know (U of T News, January 29, 2020) 
2018-2019 Office of the Ombudsperson Annual Report and Administrative Response (2019)

Project Leadership 

The Healthy Research Teams Initiative was developed as a collaboration between the School of Graduate Studies and the Research Oversight & Compliance Office under the leadership of: 

Professor Joshua Barker, Dean, School of Graduate Studies and Vice-Provost Graduate Research & Education (Co-Lead) 
Professor Lorraine Ferris, Associate Vice-President, Research Oversight & Compliance (Co-Lead)
Professor Vina Goghari, Vice-Dean, Research and Program Innovation, School of Graduate Studies 
Professor Vince Tropepe, Vice-Dean, Research, Faculty of Arts & Sciences 
Professor Kelly Lyons, Acting Vice-Dean, Research and Program Innovation, School of Graduate Studies