Research and innovation are key components of UBC's Strategic Plan: Shaping UBC's Next Century.
They are present across the university's stated purpose, goals, themes and core areas and strategies.
Research Excellence
Research excellence is identified as a core area with strategies.
UBC is a research powerhouse. We are among the world’s leading universities for research across many fields. Our research has had a profound impact on several areas of society. Continued success requires both disciplinary depth and collaboration within and across disciplines and communities. It demands the creation of new knowledge and its accelerated translation into action. It also necessitates resources for research services that enable researchers to achieve excellence in a highly competitive landscape. Research might lead to spinoffs that take advantage of technological developments, but impact is also to be found in projects that lead to social innovations, that inform our understanding of history, or that enrich our world through creative works. Research Excellence encompasses this broad vision of accomplishment.
- Strategy 6. Collaborative clusters: Enable interdisciplinary clusters of research excellence in pursuit of societal impact
- Strategy 7. Research support: Strengthen shared infrastructure and resources to support research excellence
- Strategy 8. Student research: Broaden access to, and enhance, student research experiences
- Strategy 9. Knowledge exchange: Improve the ecosystem that supports the translation of research into action
- Strategy 10. Research culture: Foster a strong and diverse research culture that embraces the highest standards of integrity, collegiality and service
Read more about research excellence and its associated strategies
Innovation
Innovation is identified as a theme running throughout the strategic plan.
In a world characterized by complex societal challenges and heightened public expectations, broad-based innovation is essential. As institutions of research and learning, universities must embrace creativity and risk-taking across all their activities. Technology and data are reshaping our world and how we interact with one another; this explosion of information is opening new opportunities for study, problem-solving and knowledge exchange beyond the academy. The spirit of innovation must also characterize how public universities operate and steward resources.