We, the people of the Faculty of Science at Carleton University, acknowledge that our campus is located on the traditional, unceded territories of the Algonquin Anishinabeg. Miigwetch to the Algonquin Anishinabeg for their stewardship of this territory and the teachings that come from it. We are grateful for this land, the air we breathe, and the water that sustains us all as well as the animals, plants and other living beings: these enable us to research, teach, mentor, support, study, and learn. We recognize our responsibility to our natural environment and to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
Following consultation with faculty, staff, students and the Ottawa community, Carleton University presented a Strategic Integrated Plan (SIP) for 2020-2025. Carleton’s SIP asks individuals, Departments, Schools, and Faculties to answer the following three questions:
This page outlines the Faculty of Science’s response, under the framework of the values we rely upon, including the pathways we will follow. It articulates the highest-level actions we will take to meet the challenges of our time and the opportunities of the future. It will guide detailed planning within our academic units. The intention of this response is to bridge the gaps between scientific disciplines to ensure we capitalize on the individual strengths.
Science contributes solutions to the worlds greatest challenges, such as climate change, sustainability, food security, and global health. Despite this, however, is an undercurrent of public distrust and misinformation that, if left unchecked, could impede scientific progress.
The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the need for improved science communication, science-informed policies, and the value of interdisciplinary collaborations. The Faculty of Science is well-placed to respond to this global context. We are home to emerging and established research leaders in fields ranging from subatomic physics to human-computer interaction to ecology and beyond. Carleton’s enrolments are bolstered by growth in areas such as health sciences and computer science. The Faculty of Science is committed to supporting the whole student experience from admission to graduation through the Science Student Success Centre. We recognize the value of collaboration and have launched programs such as Interdisciplinary Science and Practice and a specialization in Data Science. New certificate programs in Science Communication and Science and Policy provide students with practical skills and foundational knowledge to ensure success.
We are also committed to fully honouring Kinàmàgawin, Carleton’s Indigenous Strategy, by working with Indigenous knowledge holders to learn together, inform each other of salient commonalities and complementarities, and enhance calls to action outcomes. We strive to braid Indigenous knowledge with western science and interweave them into our research and teaching enterprises. Our strong foundation enables us to take bold but calculated risks to better position ourselves as a leader within Canada and beyond.
The Faculty of Science’s Schools, Departments, and Institutes bring forward unique disciplinary strengths to serve our core academic missions in teaching and research. Fundamental scientific research unites these strengths and expands scientific knowledge which, when applied, can solve key societal challenges. Science is committed to continuing our investment in fundamental science. It is at the nexus of many of our disciplinary strengths that we see opportunities for substantial growth and impact.
Three areas that draw greatly on our current expertise and will benefit from interdisciplinary approaches are: life sciences, sustainability, and next-generation technologies. All have the potential to fold in traditional knowledge and perspectives, allowing us to learn together. At the core of each pillar is our interdisciplinary strength in data science, as the ability to collect, analyze and interpret vast amounts of data generated in every field is essential for scientific growth.
The Faculty of Science will invest and grow our strengths in life sciences, sustainability, and next-generation technologies to advance our local and global communities, to benefit the future, while we simultaneously grow our interdisciplinary approach to data science.
To solve critical issues, meet societal needs and leverage the power of our research and teaching, we will:
To showcase our strengths in science communication and science mobilization and to better leverage the venues we already have, we will:
To ensure our research programs are more inclusive, we will:
To prepare students for success in an ever-changing future, we will:
To enhance student employability outcomes, we will:
To strive to make our campus, country and world accessible for all, we will:
To learn and take action together towards reconciliation, we will:
To foster individual distinctiveness and a sense of belonging, we will:
To become a leader in sustainability, we will:
To open our doors to the community, encourage community engagement in research and teaching, and to develop and foster partnerships with purpose, we will:
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Following extensive consultation, the Strategic Integrated Plan (SIP) was approved by Carleton’s Senate and Board of Governors in the spring of 2020. The SIP lays out an ambitious vision for the future, fully anchored in Carleton’s strengths and student-centric, community-engaged values. Read Carleton’s Strategic Integrated Plan.
