Research and Innovation
The department of Research and Innovation is the hub for research, development and innovation at Georgian, focusing on product design, prototyping, market research, analysis, testing, and e-business solution development.
How we help
Industry | Bringing ideas to life
We can help your business or industry bring ideas to life by connecting you with faculty, student and staff researchers who have the expertise, skills and knowledge required to address your research and development needs.
- Step 1: Fill out the project request form
- Step 2: Work to define project
- Step 3: Start research project
- Step 4: Achieve outcomes of project
Faculty | Engage and develop
Applied research allows you to bring your expertise to industry, and to bring industry experiences to your students. As a faculty researcher, you will supervise and mentor students to ensure high quality results that meet the needs of industry partners.
- Step 1: Identify research opportunity
- Step 2: Work to define project
- Step 3: Assist with project proposals
- Step 4: Conduct research project
Students | Utilize your education
Students work with industry and community partners on a variety of real-world projects including product design, testing, business support and market research.
- Step 1: Apply to be a student researcher
- Step 2: Interview for position
- Step 3: Conduct research project
Our researchers
Meet the people behind research at Georgian
Get to know Georgian’s talented and experienced team of researchers, including career highlights, achievements, research interests and pursuits, publications and more.
Research, Innovation and Scholarship (RIS) Fund
The goals of this fund are to support researchers to engage in research, innovation or scholarship projects, or proposal development activities, that:
- align with the applicant’s field of scholarship,
- support or enhance college work, and
- enhance the culture of research, innovation and scholarship at Georgian.
There are three award categories:
- research, innovation and scholarship projects (up to $8,000),
- proposal development (up to $6,000), and
- knowledge dissemination (up to $2,000). This fund is currently CLOSED for applications and this page will be updated when the funding reopens.
The fund is available to all faculty, support staff and administrators.
All projects must have signed consent of a dean or manager. Grant applications will be peer reviewed based on established criteria. The fund provides the opportunity to apply.
The fund provides the opportunity to apply for small, short-term grants to support the direct costs of eligible activities. Projects must have demonstrated benefit to students, the college and the individual.
Applicants are encouraged to engage students and industry partners in their projects.
Recipients are expected to align research supported by this funding with the fund goals and share results with the greater Georgian community at the annual Research, Innovation, Scholarship and Entrepreneurship (RISE) Day, as well as via workshops, lunch and learns, and/or articles on the employee portal.
Please email Research and Innovation to obtain application materials.
Commercialization of Intellectual Property Policy Statement
The Province of Ontario issued its Commercialization Mandate Policy Framework in early 2022. The objective of Ontario’s Commercialization Mandate Policy Framework is to harness the intellectual property generated with the institution’s resources to achieve Ontario’s goal of ensuring that made-in-Ontario innovations benefit Ontarians.
Georgian College is committed to supporting Ontario’s Commercialization Mandate Policy Framework within the context of the role Ontario colleges play in applied research and innovation.
Georgian College is uniquely positioned to collaborate with industry partners to advance innovation and facilitate commercialization of intellectual property in Ontario that creates economic and social benefits for our communities. In particular, applied research activities taking place at Ontario’s publicly funded colleges in partnership with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) create innovative solutions to challenges being experienced in our communities in a variety of settings. These innovations will be a key driver for sustainable economic recovery, growth, and competitiveness in Ontario and will be critically important as we collectively emerge from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In order to increase innovation at the community and regional level, Georgian College will continue to rely on funding from granting agencies, primarily federal agencies, as the operating funding provided to colleges does not reflect the overhead costs of exploring, developing and overseeing applied research projects.
Ontario’s Commercialization Mandate Framework provides an opportunity to advance the role of the publicly funded college sector in research and innovation. Georgian College looks forward to continuing to support our partners in the commercialization of intellectual property to realize the full benefits for all Ontarians.
This policy applies to all employees, contractors and students of the college involved in paid or curricular research activities who generate intellectual property in the course of grant‐funded, sponsored and/or contract applied research activities.
Georgian’s Commercialization Policy was approved in March 2023.
Georgian College Research Data Management Strategy 2023-2028
Georgian College is committed to innovative collaboration as demonstrated in our Strategic Plan 2022-2024. We do this by encouraging a connected community that supports research, entrepreneurship, economic development and social innovation.
By engaging in research activities, the college is supportive of the Tri-Agencies Research Data Management Policy (RDM) that was released in March 2021. Like the Tri-Agencies, Georgian College encourages all research associated with the college to meet:
“The highest professional and disciplinary standards, domestically and internationally. These standards support research excellence by ensuring that research is performed ethically and makes good use of public funds, experiments and studies are replicable, and research results are as accessible as possible” (Government of Canada, 2021a, para. 2).
This strategy applies to all Georgian researchers, faculty, staff, students and partners involved in public and Georgian funded research projects.
Read the full Georgian College Research Data Management Strategy 2023-2028.
Charter | Dimensions: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Georgian is committed to research that recognizes the perspectives of all members-including Indigenous peoples, LGBTQ2+ persons, persons with disabilities, racialized persons and women, in order to create an environment where we are all given the opportunity to succeed.
Contact us
The department of Research and Innovation connects industry and community partners with faculty and student researchers to help clear business and/or technology hurdles and better understand their target markets. For general inquiries, please contact us:
- Email: researchandinnovation@georgiancollege.ca
- Phone: 705.722.5197
- Location: Barrie Campus, N201
- Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Featured projects
Research and Innovation works with industry and community partners on projects at any stage of the research and development continuum, from early concept development through to final testing and validation.
Ready to begin?
The first step to working with Research and Innovation is to fill out a Project Request Form and share the details of your proposed research.