The University-Industry Partnership Program
Faculty members and adjunct professors in many colleges at the University of Saskatchewan are engaged in research which receives funding from government or social agencies, affiliated institutes and private business or industry sources. This research often involves collaboration with researchers in government laboratories, affiliated institutes, the private sector or other locations. As an integral part of their academic program, graduate students in Master's or Ph.D. programs are frequently involved in such research and receive funding support through it as research assistants. Graduate students involvement in this research may also take the form of employment in the course of the academic program or subsequent to it.
Affiliated with the university are many research institutes and centres. Adjacent to the campus is
Innovation Place, one of Canada's most successful research parks. In addition, many links have been formed with private companies who are interested in placements of graduate students with appropriate qualifications.
The University of Saskatchewan is an active participant in the NSERC Industrial Postgraduate Program. This program, along with other forms of financial support, allows the university to offer funding to a number of graduate students who participate in the University-Industry Partnership program. Interested students should inquire at the academic unit in which they plan to register. In many cases cooperative research projects involving the participation and support of graduate students will begin with a formal agreement signed by all concerned parties. The agreement will specify the role and responsibilities of the graduate student researcher, will indicate financial and material support to be provided to them, and will provide a statement regarding the ownership of any intellectual property used while doing the research or resulting from it. In all cases, students' academic rights will be protected by such agreements. A sample agreement is available at
http://www.usask.ca/cgsr/forms.php#prosp.