College recognized as research facility
7/29/2005 1:20:48 PM
College of the North Atlantic (CNA) is now recognized as a formal research institution following approval by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) on June 15.
CNA will be eligible to receive appropriate research grants from NSERC, a major funding agency of the federal government
“This is a significant achievement that opens the door for a number of possibilities for college research and development,” says Dr. Mohammad Iqbal, chair of CNA’s Office of Applied Research.
NSERC has traditionally been a university focused research council. With the recent introduction of its College and Community Innovation program, it has been reaching out to eligible colleges as well.
“Technically, we were a teaching-only institution prior to this,” says Iqbal. “With the eligibility notification from NSERC, we are now a recognized research institution authorized to do research just as all Canadian universities do.”
The announcement came as recognition of the college’s research achievements from the past few years. These achievements include the establishment of the Office of Applied Research just last year, as well as the launching of two new provisional patents, a significant accomplishment given that CNA’s research is still in the infancy stage.
Dr. Iqbal says that gaining formal recognition was not something that happened overnight.
“In order to obtain this, we had to go through an extensive application process. Quality and standards in modern institutional research demand certain levels of workforce competency, adequate infrastructure, proper policies and procedures, adherence to research ethics, and a commitment to social benefit,” he says.
The college had been working on obtaining this status for over a year.
“Winning the eligibility status was our top most priority during our first year in office. During this, we had to work on aligning ourselves with the prescribed research standards,” says Dr. Iqbal. “We were then able to demonstrate to NSERC our competence to comply with these standards, as well as our ability for an on-going implementation of them.”
Dr. Iqbal says he looks forward to the opportunities this recognition will bring to CNA.
“We have an ambitious plan in light of the approval,” he says. “We plan to interact with NSERC on a number of avenues, both through the Community and College Innovation program, and through routine collaborative research with universities. We are excited about this and are eager to get started on new projects.”
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For more information contact:
Stephen Lee
Communications Manager
College of the North Atlantic
(709) 643-7929
Tanya Alexander
Public Information Officer
College of the North Atlantic
(709) 643-7928