How to Link Research and Students

Chair — Peter Stoicheff
Resource people — Bob Besant, Ted Llewellyn (reporter) and Holm Tiessen

These following observations, which came from the workshop sessions, are in addition to those distributed in the printed handout.

• Preparing students for research starts in the first year of undergraduate studies.
   
• In selecting their supervisor(s), science and engineering students give most consideration to the research of the supervisor, rather then the supervisor’s institution. Students in the humanities tend to give the institution more weight in their selection of a supervisor.
   
• A co-op/intern program is a useful source of undergraduate thesis material and can encourage the research model.
   
• In the science and engineering fields much of the graduate research work has a direct association with industry. This interaction can also be a source of new research ideas for the faculty member, and therefore the new generation of graduate students.
   
• Research is very much more a collaborative effort in science and engineering than in the humanities and social sciences. The very close intellectual relationship that results in joint papers is unusual in the humanities but is being increasingly encouraged by SSHRC. This collaboration should also be facilitated by the University.
   
• Students should be advised of the time scale for their graduate work at the outset of their program.
   
• The thesis is the student's, although it is often a collaborative venture.
   
• Communication with students is essential, although it is not usually social (however, this does depend on personal preference and experience).
   
• The relationship of supervisor and graduate student in the research effort is different in the humanities/social sciences than in the sciences. In science/engineering the faculty member may be much more a manager who directs the actual measurement/analysis program — it is seen as being a collaborative venture. In the humanities this relationship has almost always been absent. The supervisor was seen as having little to do with the research effort of the student.
   
• French Canada SSHRC researchers have a much closer graduate student/faculty relationship than in English Canada. Some changes may be happening in English Canada.
   
• The cultural differences between humanities/social sciences and science/engineering are quite profound in the minds of some people. Granting councils seemingly have quite different evaluation criteria — i.e. the importance of highly qualified personnel.
   
• There is an important need for University support (e.g. infrastructure) of successful grant applicants. Much of the present infrastructure comes from council grants and so indirectly supports the undergraduate function.
   
• Faculty must be involved in the editing of the graduate thesis as the submitted product is a reflection of the University.