Steeves Family Innovation Fund

Full-time and part-time Mohawk College faculty and staff are eligible to apply as research leads, provided they receive approval from their manager, as well as their Dean and Associate Dean or Manager. Priority consideration is given to emerging researchers who have not previously received funding from the Steeves Family Innovation Fund, the IDEAWORKS Catalyst Fund, or the ARIE Fund.

If you are an external partner, please contact IDEAWORKS to be connected with a potential research lead. 

Applied research projects aim to solve real-world challenges and have immediate practical applications, including applicability for workforce development or strong connections between partners and students. Applied research projects will help industry, government, and community partners resolve issues and challenges they are facing in their organization.

 Your application should demonstrate that the project:

• Aims to solve a specific problem
• Has immediate practical applications
• Focuses on an industry or community challenge

Funded projects will begin on August 1, 2026, and must be completed by July 31, 2027, with most projects running between eight and ten months. Research leads are responsible for working with IDEAWORKS to set up project accounts, securing research ethics approval when required, and submitting both mid-term and final reports to support project monitoring and accountability.

It is mandatory that this project include a partner organization that will benefit from the research findings.

Partner organizations can be private sector (industry, start-ups, etc.), community, educational partner, not-for-profit, hospital, or government organizations.

Partners should be engaged in the project through in-kind or cash contributions and must be willing to sign a collaboration agreement with Mohawk College.

Partners must provide a letter of support with the application.

The funding intends to provide a meaningful experiential learning opportunity for Mohawk College students. Student engagement on a funded project must reflect how students are gaining valuable research skills as active members of the research team, such as acting as research assistants or technicians. Using students as research subjects (e.g., completing surveys or focus groups) does not qualify as student engagement.

Applications are reviewed by a selection committee and assessed based on the overall quality and clarity of the proposal, alignment with priority areas and strategic plans, appropriateness of methods, quality of student engagement, feasibility and risk management, and the strength of partner involvement and contribution.

• We understand that life can be busy, especially for student-caregivers. While we encourage you to attend all 8 weeks to get the most out of the program, you can attend one day a week or both days if space allows. You can miss up to 3 of the sessions and still stay enrolled in the program. You can attend one day a week or both.