UBC Reports | Vol. 50 | No. 3 | Mar. 4, 2004

Innovation, Ideas Crossing Boundaries

Theme of Research Awareness Week

By Hilary Thomson

If ideas carried passports, we'd see that they cross many borders before having an impact on our lives.

That concept is the theme of this year's Research Awareness Week (RAW) to be held March 6-13 at UBC's main campus, UBC Robson Square and at UBC's affiliated hospitals.

Titled "Innovation: Ideas Crossing Boundaries," the week comprises workshops, seminars, panels, research days and open houses.

"We want to celebrate the new ideas developed at the university which have a direct and positive impact on society," says Sid Katz, executive director, UBC Community Affairs and RAW organizer. "Innovation is all about crossing boundaries -- from knowledge to solutions, from university to community, from discipline to discipline and from research to teaching."

Highlights of the week include a presentation on the institution of marriage in light of the current issue of same-sex marriage as well as a noon-hour panel discussion on how pharmaceutical drugs are developed. In addition, there will be a public debate on the compatibility of teaching and research, a presentation on managing fairness in the workplace and an undergraduate multidisciplinary research conference.

"Every day, UBC's research enterprise is being strengthened by new discovery, by the addition of new and talented researchers and by the translation of ideas into practical solutions and successful businesses," says Indira Samarasekera, UBC vice-president, Research. "And through interaction with researchers in the classroom and the lab, students receive this new knowledge and, in turn, generate new ideas of their own."

Other highlights include a lecture about how governments and scientists are dealing with SARS and a presentation by Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute on the promises and risks of gene therapy. Also, a panel of health researchers will discuss issues such as schizophrenia treatment, ovulation and the ethics of patents.

Samarasekera and UBC President Martha Piper will celebrate the accomplishments of more than 200 researchers at the Celebrate Research Awards gala to be held on the evening of Thursday, March 11.

The event features video vignettes describing the work of selected honourees as well as performances by the UBC School of Music. Individuals to be recognized include Royal Society of Canada Fellows as well as the winner of the Jacob Biely Faculty Research Prize.

For more information on RAW, visit www.research.ubc.ca and click on events. For complimentary tickets to the gala, call 604.822.6010.