What is this research about? What did the researchers find? How has it informed complex policy issues and decision-making?

Social sciences and humanities researchers investigate who we are as human beings and study various elements of our world—past, present and future. Communicators at postsecondary institutions need a special kind of resourcefulness and creativity to share the impact of this research with a wide and diverse audience.

That’s why we created the SSHRC Award of Excellence: to recognize the important role research communicators play in crafting innovative and creative ways to make social sciences and humanities research accessible, relevant and easy to understand.

Entering its third year, the award is jointly presented with the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS). SSHRC and CPRS invite submissions from teams responsible for communications at universities and colleges across Canada.   

“The SSHRC Award of Excellence is a unique competition category for research communicators in social sciences and humanities,” said Christopher Walters, director of Communications at SSHRC. “I know that universities and colleges work hard to find creative and innovative ways to convey research to the public. We hope they will take advantage of this opportunity to showcase their best PR success story.”

Possible campaign submissions include: community, government or public relations initiatives, recruitment campaigns, social media engagement, mainstream and/or institutional media coverage, advertising, and events. The featured research does not have to be SSHRC-funded.

Winning submissions will convey insights about today’s complex social, cultural and economic issues and, more importantly, engage Canadians and mobilize research.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, March 30, 2018.

Winners will be honoured at the CPRS Awards Gala in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, in May 2018.

For more information about submission guidelines and requirements, visit the CPRS website, or contact CPRS.