Every day, cutting-edge and impactful research is being conducted at Queen’s, and the university wants everyone to know about it.

Enter Discover Research@Queen’s, a new multi-faceted promotional campaign aimed at celebrating the groundbreaking work of the university’s researchers. The initiative builds engagement with the Research@Queen’s website, a new digital platform that highlights Queen’s research strengths and priorities as well as the tangible impact of this research on people around the world.

During its six-month duration, Discover Research@Queen’s will be featured across LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It will also be showcased on the Queen’s homepage, in the Gazette, in the pole pennants along University Avenue, posters across campus, and through a number of profile-building events in the community and Ottawa.

“Through this campaign we are bringing the stories of our researchers and the impact their work is having on the world to digital platforms like LinkedIn where audiences can easily 'click' to discover more,” says Michael Fraser, Vice-Principal (University Relations). “By leveraging the content on the Research@Queen's website, the hope is that this campaign will build awareness of the critical research happening at the university and have a positive impact on our research reputation overall.”

The campaign will highlight feature stories from the website that centre around the university’s research strengths, issues dominating national dialogues, and matters of policy importance. The first research feature (now being promoted until the end of March) looks at the “wicked” issue of waste and, in particular, the emerging challenge of microplastics. Microplastics are in the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we consume and will have an impact on our health, our environment, and our future. Queen’s researcher Myra Hird (School of Environmental Studies), Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Queen’s National Scholar, believes the solution may lie in our production and consumption habits.

“Research is core to the foundation of Queen’s as an institution, yet much of the work takes place where it isn’t easily accessible to the public – in labs, archives, and in the field,” says Kent Novakowski, Acting Vice-Principal (Research). “The goal of this campaign is to showcase the breadth and impact of our research to target audiences – our funders, our alumni, to potential industry partners, and our own faculty. All of these stakeholders support and build Queen’s research prominence.”

Essential to the success of the campaign is a content-sharing model, where members of the Queen’s community, as key stakeholders and champions can help to promote and amplify the stories of Research@Queen’s through sharing and posting to their own social platforms. Through these posts, the Queen’s community will be empowering their contacts and networks to “Discover” Research@Queen’s.

The Discover Research@Queen’s campaign will run from February to August. For more information, please visit the Research@Queen’s website or contact Melinda Knox, Associate Director, Research Profile and Initiatives.