Overview and FAQs
Funding Programs
Information on the NRC IRAP Science & Technology Assistance Program, Nova Scotia Business Inc.’s Productivity and Innovation Voucher Program, Mitacs and more.
Resources
Find detailed descriptions of different partnership agreements, learn about the processes involved, and download related forms/templates.
Information for Companies
Tap into Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s brain power
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Our team can help your company:
- Build the right research team for your needs.
- Facilitate the development of research, service, and license agreements with Â鶹´«Ã½ researchers to maximize the value of your company’s R&D budget.Ìý
- Connect with highly qualified Â鶹´«Ã½ students if you’re looking to add new talent to your team.
We're knowledgeable, approachable, and committed to building lasting and mutually benifical relationships.ÌýLearn more about the OCIE team here.
On this page, we cover:
Overview: Research Strengths and Applications
Innovation thrives at Â鶹´«Ã½ — a university with over 200 years of history and a commitment to growing the Atlantic Canadian economy.
As a member of , Â鶹´«Ã½ is a top Canadian research university that conducts over $181-million in research annually. With partnerships around the world, our research community boasts the talent and creativity needed to address real-world problems.
The Dal research community is especially well-positioned to help companies working in the following areas:
- Sustainable OceanÌý
- Healthy People, Healthy Communities, Healthy Populations
- Clean Tech, Energy, The Environment
- Culture, Society, Community Development
- Food SecurityÌý
- Innovation and Entrepreneurship
- Big Data
Browse our collection of success stories to learn more about commercialization and tech transfer activity at Dal.
Sustainable OceanÌý
The ocean is integral to Canada’s economy, culture, transportation and sustenance. Â鶹´«Ã½ has established itself as a world leader in ocean research, and from innovative tracking of marine species to ocean governance, our ocean researchers drive breakthrough discoveries every day. Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s multidisciplinary approach and involvement in international research projects like the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI); Ocean Tracking Network (OTN); Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response (MEOPAR), and others allows Â鶹´«Ã½ researchers to contribute to the most pressing ocean challenges of our time.
Research in this area includes:
- Changing climate effects on the ocean
- Sustainable aquaculture and agro-ecosystems
- Sensors, analytics and autonomous vehicles
- Ocean engineering, networks, communications, materials and tidal energy
- Marine and environmental law, policy and governance
- Cultural and social development of coastal landscapes and communities
- Marine risk evaluation
Healthy People, Healthy Communities, Healthy Populations
From world-leading vaccine research to the investigation of the social, cultural and environmental determinants of health and wellness, Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s approach to health research is grounded in an understanding that the health of individuals, communities and populations are interconnected and interdependent. Â鶹´«Ã½ is the major training centre in the Maritimes for life sciences, health professions, and health law and policy research personnel. Researchers in this area span several faculties at Dal and collaborate across provincial health departments, hospitals, research institutes and research foundations too.
Research in this area includes:
- Infection, immunity, inflammation and vaccinologyÌý
- Genomics, bioinformatics and healthÌý
- Community, population, and Indigenous health and well-being
- Primary and continuing care transformation
- Mental health, resilience, and health equity
- Chronic disease prevention, treatment and management across the lifespan
- Body function and mobility
- Neuroscience and brain function
- Health data analytics, artifical intelligence and technologies
- Critical health, health law, health policy and bioethics
*Many Dal researchers have cross-appointments in one of two (or both) regional teaching hospitals (The QEII Health Sciences Centre and the IWK Health Centre).
Clean Tech, Energy, The Environment
Managing and developing new and renewable energy resources while minimizing their environmental impact is one of our world’s most pressing challenges. Â鶹´«Ã½ is a national and international leader in advanced materials and clean technology research, with world-renowned researchers developing products that improve performance, productivity and efficiency while at the same time reducing costs, energy consumption and waste.
Research in this area includes:
- Renewable energy generation, storage and fuelsÌý
- Energy security
- Clean water, clean soil, clean air
- Clean and NextGen materials
- Sensors, artifical intelligence and data streams
- Social and biophysical dimensions of resource and environmental sustainability Ìý
Culture, Society, Community Development
How does social justice define what we do? What can we do to amplify marginalized voices? How can digital media be harnessed to create community? These are just some of the questions being tackled by Â鶹´«Ã½ researchers, as they use their research to inform our most pressing conversations about culture and community. The interdisciplinary nature of this area engages all faculties across the university.
Research in this area includes:
- Culture and identity
- Ethics and social justice
- Reconciliation and Indigenous peoples
- Governance, security and global affairs
- Building diverse, sustainable, responsible, smart organizations and communities
- Artificial intelligence, privacy, ethics, and social impact
- Immigration and migration settlement and integration
- Development of Indigenous and rural communities
Food Security
Access to sustainable, secure food resources poses challenges and creates instability around the globe. Â鶹´«Ã½ researchers are creating solutions that emerge from a deep understanding of local food issues, which can also provide potential solutions for global food challenges.
Research in this area includes:
- Sustainable aquaculture and agro-ecosystems
- Applied molecular biology, genomics and biotechnology
- Marine biodiversity and wild catch fisheries
- Bio-products and bio-resources
- Agri-food economics, business, trade and marketing
- International development, agriculture, and food technology
- Food policy, access and distribution
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s strengths in innovation and entrepreneurship facilitate opportunities for collaboration between companies and university researchers and help drive the commercialization of research.
Research in this area includes:
- Technical leadership and innovation management
- Software design for rapid innovation
- Disrupting through innovation and entrepreneurship
- Sustainable and social entrepreneurship
- Business lawÌý
Big Data
Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s expertise in the collection, use, analysis and interpretation of big data enables new opportunities for research, analysis and insight across all of the research strengths at the university.Ìý
Research in this area includes:
- Data science
- Machine learning, analytics and big data
- Information systems, cloud and web-scale computing
- Data-driven decision- and policy-making; social, behavioral, and business analytics; and the management of dataÌý
- Law, technology, and ethical use of data
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Working with the Office of Commercialization and Industry Engagement (OCIE)
Our team facilitates all of the university’s industrial research and service transactions with the private sector, and we aim to make those as transparent and frictionless as possible.
We work hard to understand your company’s:
- culture and goals
- timelines and R&D requirements
- challenges and opportunities
- existing products, services and processes
Your company’s needs shape a tailored and mutually beneficial approach research collaboration opportunities with Â鶹´«Ã½.
You can count on our team to:
- work on behalf of the researchers and you to establish a successful partnership.
- assign you a specific OCIE manager to maintain consistency in communication as it relates to your project.
- help, where possible, to identify relevant funding sources that can support your company’s partnership with the university.
You may be interested to learn more about the processes we follow for different kinds of partnership agreements. That information can be found under the Resources section.
Contact us if you want to take the next step toward a university-industry partnership.
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