Every year, the University of Saskatchewan recognizes the excellent research, artistic, and scholarly work of our faculty members with the New Researcher Award, Distinguished Researcher Awards and the Publicly Engaged Scholarship Team Award. 

Publicly Engaged Scholarship Team Award

The Publicly Engaged Scholarship Team Award is presented annually to faculty members, post-doctoral and graduate students, and/or community partners in recognition of collaborative efforts to combine their knowledges and produce an outstanding social impact locally, nationally, or internationally.

Nomination packages can be submitted to diana.pitoulis@usask.ca. Nominations are due by March 1, 2024.

This award is open to all tenured and tenure-track faculty members and/or members of the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at the university, their postdoctoral and graduate student researchers, and their collaborating and partnering communities.

The University of Saskatchewan strongly encourages nominators to consider equity, diversity, and inclusion when putting deserving colleagues forward for these awards. There is increasing evidence that members of the four designated groups, particularly women, are nominated at significantly lower rates for research awards despite substantial academic achievements.

We encourage members to think broadly about possible candidates as well as the different ways in which excellence can be demonstrated by outstanding candidates

The Publicly Engaged Scholarship Team Award recognizes an outstanding team of researchers who came together and worked with communities to combine their knowledges and produce an outstanding social impact locally, nationally or internationally over the past five years.

The selection committee may consider the following criteria in selecting the recipient:

  • Evidence of contributions, including, but not limited to, scholarly literature, and/or other knowledge mobilization contributions, such as commissioned reports, professional practice, public discourse, public policies, products and services, experience in collaboration, etc.;
  • Quality of engagement with community(ies) benefitting from the social innovation;
  • Quality of engagement with, and quality of training and mentoring provided to, students, emerging scholars and participants, in the creation and implementation of the social innovation;
  • Evidence of influence and impact on social outcomes; and
  • Recognition by professional societies, community organizations or other external bodies. 

The selection committee reserves the right to withhold the award if there are no suitable candidates in any given year.

The award recipients will be chosen by a selection committee that includes:

  • Vice-President Research or designate (Chair).
  • Two senior scholars experienced in community engaged scholarship representing the broad areas of fine and performing arts; social sciences and humanities; natural and applied sciences; and health sciences.
  • Two external community leaders or partners.
  • A graduate student representative and a postdoctoral fellow representative.

Each year, the Office of the Vice-President Research will issue a call for nominations.

Candidates must be nominated by a colleague at the University of Saskatchewan and a community member. The nomination package must include:

  • A letter from the nominators summarizing the candidate’s research achievements and outlining the national or international significance of the candidate’s scholarly work. (The nomination letter should not exceed 3 pages).
  • A current curriculum vitae of the candidate in the standardized format required by the University of Saskatchewan.
  • Three letters of support. One letter from the University of Saskatchewan, in the candidate’s cognate fields, commenting on the import and impact of the candidate's community engaged scholarship nationally and internationally. Two letters from scholars outside the University of Saskatchewan, or external community leaders or organizations (other than those supporting the nomination).

2023 David Natcher College of Agriculture and Bioresources
2022 Wastewater Surveillance Team John Giesy, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, Markus Brinkmann, School of Environment and Sustainability, and Kerry McPhedran, College of Engineering, all members of the Global Institute for Water Security (GIWS)
2021 Pamela Downe and Prairie Harm Reduction Pamela Downe, College of Arts and Science, Department of Archelogy and Anthropology, and Jason Mercredi, Executive Director, Prairie Harm Reduction

New Researcher Award

The New Researcher Award is presented annually to members of the university research community in recognition of significant contributions to knowledge or artistic creativity.  Up to two awards may be presented annually. The New Researcher Award applies to eligible candidates who are within 10 years of receiving their Ph.D or terminal degree. 

The Vice-President Research has issued a call for nominations for the New Researcher Award. Nomination packages can be submitted to candace.leuschen@usask.ca. Nominations are due by March 1, 2024.

The award is open to all tenured and tenure-track faculty members and/or members of the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at the university.

Each year, the award will be given to eligible candidates of the university community who are within 10 years of receiving their Ph.D. or terminal degree (extensions will be granted for parental and/or medical leave).

The committee strongly encourages nominators to consider equity, diversity, and inclusion when putting deserving colleagues forward for these awards. There is increasing evidence that members of the four designated groups, particularly women, are nominated at significantly lower rates for research awards despite substantial academic achievements. We encourage members to think broadly about possible candidates as well as the different ways in which excellence can be demonstrated by outstanding candidates.

The New Researcher Award is given to individuals who have made a significant contribution to knowledge or artistic creativity. This contribution could be a long-term, cumulative contribution or a single, particularly insightful idea, experiment, application, or interpretation.

The selection committee may consider the following criteria in selecting the recipient:

  1. Demonstrated excellence in research, scholarly, and/or artistic work;
  2. Recognition by professional societies, community organizations or other external bodies;
  3. Prestigious contributions to the research environment locally, nationally, and internationally. This can include the development of major research installations (e.g. a research centre), participation in the deliberations of a major research-granting agency (e.g. member and/or chair of a grant selection committee), or other forms of service to the field;
  4. Contributions to the training and education of highly qualified personnel (e.g.: undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and technical staff).

The selection committee reserves the right to make fewer than two awards in any year if there are no suitable candidates. 

The award recipients will be chosen by a selection committee that includes:

  1. The Vice-President Research or designate (Chair);
  2. Four senior scholars representing the broad areas of natural and applied sciences; social sciences and humanities; health sciences; and fine and performing arts;
  3. A graduate student representative and a postdoctoral fellow representative;
  4. A member of the General Academic Assembly (GAA), selected by the Research, Scholarly and Artistic Work (RSAW) Committee of Council.

Each year, the Office of the Vice-President Research will issue a call for nominations.

Candidates must be nominated by two colleagues at the University of Saskatchewan.

The nomination package must include:

  1. A letter from the nominators summarizing the candidate’s research achievements and outlining the national or international significance of the candidate’s scholarly work. (The nomination letter should not exceed 3 pages);
  2. A current curriculum vitae of the candidate in the standardized format required by the University of Saskatchewan;
  3. Three letters of support from scholars in the candidate’s main or cognate fields, commenting on the import and impact of the candidate's work nationally and internationally. At least two of these letters must be from scholars outside the University of Saskatchewan.

2023 Benjamin Hoy College of Arts and Science
2023 Kate Congreves College of Agriculture and Bioresources
2022 Markus Brinkmann School of Environment and Sustainability
2022 Xiaodong Liang Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
2021 Kerry McPhedran Department of Civil, Geological and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering
2021 Steven Rayan Department of Mathematics and Statistics, College of Arts and Science
2020 Helen Baulch School of Environment and Sustainability
2020 Charity Evans

College of Pharmacy and Nutrition

2019 Gregory Penner

Department of Animal and Poultry Science, College of Agriculture and Bioresources

2019 Chanchal Roy                     Department of Computer Science, College of Arts and Science
2018 Kathryn Labelle Department of History, College of Arts and Science

2018

Timothy Jardine School of Environment and Sustainability

2017

Andrew Grosvenor Department of Chemistry, College of Arts & Science

2017

Maud Ferrari Wester College of Veterinary Medicine

2016

Timothy Kelly Department of Chemistry, College of Arts & Science
2015 Regan Mandryk Department of Computer Science, College of Arts & Science
2014 John Howland College of Medicine
2013 Erika Dyck Department of History, College of Arts & Science
2012 Keith Carlson Department of History, College of Arts & Science
2012 Daniel Chen Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering
2011 Dwight Newman College of Law
2010 Curtis Pozniak Plant Sciences, Crop Development Centre, College of Agriculture & Biology
2009 Cheryl Waldner Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Western College of Veterinary Medicine
2008 Roanne Thomas-MacLean Department of Sociology, College of Arts & Science
2007 Jane Alcorn College of Pharmacy and Nutrition

Distinguished Researcher Award

The Distinguished Researcher Award is presented annually to faculty members in recognition of significant contributions to knowledge or artistic creativity. Up to two awards may be given annually. The Distinguished Researcher Award applies to eligible candidates that received their Ph.D or terminal degree 10 or more years ago.  

The Vice-President Research has issued a call for nominations for the Distinguished Researcher Award. Nomination packages can be submitted to candace.leuschen@usask.ca. Nominations are due by March 1, 2024.

The award is open to all tenured and tenure-track faculty members and/or members of the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at the university.

Each year, the award will be given to up to two eligible candidates who received their Ph.D. or terminal degree 10 or more years ago.

The committee strongly encourages nominators to consider equity, diversity, and inclusion when putting deserving colleagues forward for these awards. There is increasing evidence that members of the four designated groups, particularly women, are nominated at significantly lower rates for research awards despite substantial academic achievements. We encourage members to think broadly about possible candidates as well as the different ways in which excellence can be demonstrated by outstanding candidates.

The Distinguished Researcher Award is given to individuals who have made a significant contribution to knowledge or artistic creativity. This contribution could be a long-term, cumulative contribution or a single, particularly insightful idea, experiment, application, or interpretation.

The selection committee may consider the following criteria in selecting the recipient:

  1. Demonstrated excellence in research, scholarly, and/or artistic work;
  2. Recognition by professional societies, community organizations or other external bodies;
  3. Prestigious contributions to the research environment locally, nationally, and internationally. This can include the development of major research installations (e.g. a research centre), participation in the deliberations of a major research-granting agency (e.g. member and/or chair of a grant selection committee), or other prestigious forms of service to the field;
  4. Contributions to the training and education of highly qualified personnel (e.g.: undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and technical staff).

The selection committee reserves the right to make fewer than two awards in any year if there are no suitable candidates.

The award recipients will be chosen by a selection committee that includes:

  1. The Vice-President Research or designate (Chair);
  2. Four senior scholars representing the broad areas of natural and applied sciences; social sciences and humanities; health sciences; and fine and performing arts;
  3. A graduate student representative and a postdoctoral fellow representative;
  4. A member of the GAA, selected by the Research, Scholarly and Artistic Work (RSAW) Committee of Council.

Each year, the Office of the Vice-President Research will issue a call for nominations.

Candidates must be nominated by two colleagues at the University of Saskatchewan. 

The nomination package must include:

  1. A letter from the nominators summarizing the candidate’s research achievements and outlining the national or international significance of the candidate’s scholarly work. (The nomination letter should not exceed 3 pages); 
  2. Current curriculum vitae of the candidate in the standardized format required by the University of Saskatchewan; 
  3. Three letters of support from scholars in the candidate’s main or cognate fields, commenting on the import and impact of the candidate's work nationally and internationally. At least two of these letters must be from scholars outside the University of Saskatchewan.

2023 Cheryl Waldner Western College of Veterinary Medicine
2023 Chris Zhang College of Engineering
2022 Don Cockcroft College of Medicine
2022 Ajay Dalai College of Engineering
2021 Safa Kasap College of Engineering
2021 Julita Vassileva Department of Computer Science, College of Arts and Science
2020 Alex Wilson College of Education
2020 Kate Dadachova College of Pharmacy and Nutrition
2019 Nazeem Muhajarine Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, College of Medicine
2019 Alison Norlen           Department of Art and Art History, College of Arts and Science
2018 Carl Gutwin Department of Computer Science, College of Arts and Science
2018 Jeffrey McDonnell Global Institute for Water Security
2017 Maureen Reed School of Environment and Sustainability
2017 Howard Wheater Global Institute for Water Security
2016 John Giesy Western College of Veterinary Medicine 
2015 Adam Baxter-Jones College of Kinesiology
2014 Graham George Department of Geology, College of Arts & Science
2013 James Waldram Department of Psychology; Department of Anthropology & Archeology; College of Arts & Science 
2011 John Gordon Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture; Department of Medicine
2010 John Tse Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, College of Arts & Science
2009 Soledade Pedras Department of Chemistry, College of Arts & Science
2008 Wei Xiao Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine
2007 Gregg Adams Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, Western College of Veterinary Medicine
2006 Jim Hendry Department of Geological Sciences, College of Arts & Science
2006 Wendy Duggleby College of Nursing
2005 Robert Calder Department of English, College of Arts & Science
2005 Lingyun (Lily) Wu Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine
2004 Bill Waiser Department of History, College of Arts & Science
2004 Marie Battiste College of Education
2003 David Smith Department of Political Studies, College of Arts & Science
2003 Reuben Mapletoft Western College of Veterinary Medicine
2002 Ali Rajput Division of Neurology, College of Medicine
2002 Edward (Ted) Llewellyn Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, College of Arts & Science
2001 David Christensen Department of Animal and Poultry Science, College of Agriculture
2001 John Courtney Department of Political Studies, College of Arts & Science
2000 Robert Kerrich Department of Geological Sciences, College of Arts & Science
2000 Roger Pierson Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, College of Medicine
1999 Robert W. Besant Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering
1999 Curt Wittlin Department of Languages and Linguistics, College of Arts & Science
1998 Ronald C. C. Cuming College of Law
1998 Larry C. Fowke Department of Biology, College and Arts & Science
1997 James R. Miller Department of Hisotry, College of Arts & Science
1997 Pan Ming Huang Department of Soil Science, College of Agriculture
1996 J. A. Well Department of Chemistry, College of Arts & Science
1996 Delwyn G. Fredlund Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering
1995 Che Kan Leong Department of Education of Exceptional Children, College of Education
1995 Akira Hirose Department of Physics, College of Arts & Science
1994 Lorne Babiuk Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Western College of Veterinary Medicine
1994 Kamal K. Midha College of Pharmacy and Nutrition
1993 Ernie G. Walker Department of Archaeology, College of Arts & Science
1993 Roy Billinton Department of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering

Internationalization Awards

As part of the University of Saskatchewan Blueprint for Action 2025, the International Office administers the J.W. George Ivany Internationalization Award, Global Research Leadership Award for Faculty, Global Research Leadership Award for Students, and International Engagement Service Award for Staff. These awards are to recognize the achievements of faculty, staff and students who provide outstanding contributions to the internationalization of USask.