For many faculty at Queen’s, no matter how promising the research, it can be a challenge to find funding for their project. This is where the Queen’s Research Opportunities Funds (QROF) competition can help.

The Funds, which award a minimum of $500,000 each year, represent a strategic investment in areas of institutional research strength that provide researchers and scholars opportunities to accelerate their programs and research goals.

The 2017-2018 competition is supporting 17 research projects, ranging in value from $5,000 to $50,000 in funding. These projects will study timely issues of local, national and international significance, including drug therapy targets, vulnerable media, tax and expenditure laws, and extractive sectors.

There are four funds to which researchers can apply: the Research Leaders’ Fund, the International Fund, the Arts Fund, and the Postdoctoral Fund.

“Through the QROF program, we are making important internal investments that present new opportunities to build in areas of research excellence and to enhance success of our partnerships with external funders, industry, NGOs and other collaborators,” says Kimberly Woodhouse, Vice-Principal (Research). “The program is also funding a myriad of research happening across disciplines, highlighting the depth and breadth of our scholarly expertise. I look forward to seeing the project outcomes for the 2017-2018 recipients.”

Investment leads to outcomes

Many of the proposals financed through the QROF in past years have gone on to leverage their funds for other projects. Pascale Champagne (Civil Engineering) recently completed her 2015 project, supported by the International Fund, focusing on wastewater treatment in Ecuador.

Dr. Champagne partnered with researchers at the Universidad San Franscisco de Quito (USFQ) to study the feasibility of developing an integrated algal wastewater treatment system in Ecuador that used microalgae for the recovery of nutrients. If untreated domestic wastewaters are discharged into bodies of water, the impacts can be detrimental to both the environment and human health.

Dr. Champagne was able to leverage her QROF to receive a further $15,000 USD from USFQ to complete the project. She and Dr. Valeria Ochoa-Herrera of USFQ were able to train many students throughout the project as well, creating new opportunities for institutional collaborations

“The support provided by the QROF International Research Fund was instrumental in providing the seed funding to establish a sustained and meaningful international collaboration with the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador,” says Dr. Champagne. “The development of an integrated algal system as a potential wastewater treatment process in Ecuador is of significant importance because it addresses one of the most important environmental issues – there is no real wastewater treatment infrastructure in the country.”

The exchange of knowledge between the two institutions was invaluable. Dr. Champagne has now applied for other research grants based on her work completed through the QROF funding, and her team has published a refereed journal article and two international conference papers on this research.

“Demonstrating the feasibility of this proposed approach will strengthen and formalize the ongoing collaborative research between Queen’s and USFQ that, in the future, will enable subsequent collaborations, on a longer-term basis, focusing on the development of large scale sustainable algal system for wastewater treatment and nutrient recovery in Latin America,” says Dr. Champagne.

The 2017-2018 QROF Recipients

Below, please find the list of the 2017-2018 QROF recipients.

Research Leaders’ Fund

International Fund

Arts Fund​

Postdoctoral Fund

For more information on QROF, please visit the Office of the Vice-Principal (Research) website.