Media Release

For Immediate Release

February 28, 2008

You are in the RED

Until recently the Saint Mary’s Research Expertise Database (RED) for full time faculty seemed to be a well kept secret on campus; however, word is getting out.

RED, launched in 2001, is designed to allow users, both on and off campus, to query on Saint Mary’s research expertise by researcher name, department or faculty, or keyword, and view listings of individual faculty recent published works.

In particular, RED is used regularly to find research specialization to address informational queries and in some cases, bring together faculty and third parties for further discussion of their research. The Industry Liaison Office (ILO) believes RED is becoming increasingly useful to find researchers based on their expertise and serves as a great marketing tool for initiating research collaborations with external partners.

The database is administered by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research through its ILO. Although the ILO coordinates annual update and maintenance activities for RED, profiles can be updated directly by faculty at any time with or without the support of the ILO because the user-friendly data entry/editing interface is available to all full time faculty on-line 24/7

The participation rate this year improved significantly to 53% percent, compared to 30% and 46% for 2005 and 2006 respectively, a 7% increase over 2006! In particular, the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research were encouraged with the increase in number of faculty that contacted the ILO directly to submit information and/or advise they updated their own profiles. A total of 89 faculty members contacted them compared to 56 in 2006.

Based on the 2008 figures, RED’s profile is certainly growing in popularity and this is promising news because Red can be used not only internally, e.g. the ILO or Public Affairs office, but also externally, e.g. potential industry partners, other researchers in our community, government agencies, and the mass media, to name a handful.

Being in the RED helps to demonstrate the full research potential of our university that eventually could lead to new opportunities. We encourage faculty to join in and maintain their profiles throughout the year to keep the database current.

You may find RED at: http://fgsr-red.smu.ca/ . The ILO strives for continual improvement and we welcome feedback from faculty, staff, and other users on ways and means to improve RED. Please send your comments to ilo@smu.ca

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For More Information:

Paul Fitzgerald
Public Affairs Officer
Saint Mary's University, Public Affairs
(902) 420.5514
E-mail: paul.fitzgerald@smu.ca
www.smu.ca