We are pleased to announce the appointment of Ridhima Peravali to the position of International Outreach Manager with Carleton International. Reporting to the Associate Vice-President (Research and International), she will support the establishment of international research relationships (MOUs), oversee the visiting scholar program and diplomatic engagements, and direct the coordination of international activities.

Ridhima comes to us from her position as the Manager to the Canada-India Centre for Excellence (CICE) in which she led a team of multi-disciplinary professionals to uphold the centre’s mandate of promoting ties between Canada and India through research and training. Prior to CICE, she gained 5 years of experience with the British High Commission in India where she facilitated bilateral education partnerships and MOUs, promoted research collaboration opportunities across the UK and India, and organized a number of training workshops, policy dialogues, and visits with various international personnel.

Ridhima obtained a Master’s degree in Engineering in India and a Master’s in Business Administration in the US. She also has experience in monitoring budgets, risk assessment, and developing mitigation strategies. In the past, she’s demonstrated a keen ability to establish relationships with funders, the research community, and in the government and private sectors.

Please join us in welcoming Ridhima to the OVPRI team!

Faculty members across campus continue to engage in international activities despite the many setbacks caused by Covid-19. Professor Deborah Conners and her third-year sociology class were prepping to go to Nepal in the spring of 2020. When the trip got cancelled, Professor Conners was determined to show her students that you can still take part in international social advocacy projects with long-lasting impacts while remaining in Canada. As a result, her class pivoted to create a guidebook to record their insight on violence against women in Nepal and initiatives to counter this social issue for future students and projects.

Professor Conners later adapted to the online teaching model, working with 29 students on a qualitative research project about gender norms and inequalities in Nepal, and how we can best support Nepalese women. This comprehensive project involved interviewing 5 women activists from the region via Zoom, further leveraging Carleton’s global connections and demonstrating how to do meaningful work in a virtual space.

Despite the pandemic, Professor Conners has continued to work alongside international organizations, including Mitini Nepal, which supports the rights of the LGBTIQ community in Nepal, and the Women’s Foundation of Nepal (WFN), which aims to establish a violence-free society by helping women and children who are victims of violence, abuse, and poverty. Tara Upreti, Director General of the WFN, has been a committed partner the entire journey and instrumental in the success of the above projects.

We are proud to recognize Professor Conners’s contribution to Nepalese activism and her efforts in increasing Carleton’s visibility on the global stage.

The Global Skills Opportunity grant offers thousands of post-secondary students the chance to develop global skills, expand their networks, and strengthen their career prospects through valuable international experiences. It aims to promote opportunities for students who are frequently unable to participate in outbound mobility. This includes Indigenous students, low-income students, and students with disabilities.

We are thrilled to announce that Carleton University has been awarded two of these prestigious grants.

“As a long-time educator, I am a firm believer in the benefits of international research. However, the unfortunate truth is that not all students are born with the same advantages, or have equal access to the same resources due to a number of structural barriers. I’m pleased that these grants will help provide a new avenue for underrepresented groups to go abroad as part of their post-secondary education.”

-Dr. Karen Schwartz, Associate Vice-President (Research and International)

The first grant will be managed by Career Services and the International Student Services Office. The second was awarded to the CALAREO International Research Mobility Experience project which will be implemented by several member universities of the CALAREO consortium, including Carleton.

Are you interested in outbound mobility opportunities in Europe? Erasmus+ provides funding for short-term visits to various European universities and institutions for Carleton faculty (teaching), staff (training), and students (studies or research). These visits are based on previously established agreements with specific institutions in the European Union. They are a great way to expand your network, collaborate with international partners, and share your research and best practices with colleagues in the field. Alternatively, Carleton faculty can host members from different partners in the EU.

Erasmus+ mobility opportunities are posted on our website, where you can find current and past calls for proposals.

Throughout November, students across Canada had the opportunity to complete CBIE’s International Student Survey. This national initiative provides critical insight into the experiences of being an international student studying in one of Canada’s post-secondary institutions. Its main goal is to better equip the education sector to implement more informed and innovative practices based on the stories, motivations, and perceptions of those who choose to study in Canada.

Approximately 41,000 completed surveys have been collected from 67 post-secondary institutions, with over 1,200 coming directly from Carleton. As an added bonus, 15 names out of those from Carleton will be randomly drawn to receive $100 for their participation!

We are thrilled with the level of engagement we’ve received and look forward to analyzing the results over the coming months. This data will help us learn how we can better serve our international students and will shape the various university strategic plans going forward, including our International, and Student and Enrolment Strategic Plans. The overall experience of our international students is a priority for Carleton, and so we thank everyone who took the time to share their voice.

Back in October, Carleton International had the great pleasure to present our “Virtual Research Visits – Bridging Barriers” video at the International Virtual Exchange Conference. Over the past 20 years, Carleton’s established International Visiting Scholar program has welcomed roughly 1,500 faculty and student researchers from over 80 countries and 740 institutions for on-campus collaborative research visits.

During the pandemic, we embraced the opportunity to re-think how we support these types of international collaborations. After significant planning, we expanded our service to include access to virtual research tools, video conferencing platforms, and library holdings through our new and unique Virtual Research Visits initiative.

This video highlights how we adapted our program to provide continuity for our pre-existing international research collaborations, and the value of virtual exchanges in enhancing collaborations post-pandemic.

The International Research Seed Grant (IRSG) is an internal funding program that supports Carleton faculty members interested in pursuing new international research collaborations. The purpose of this grant is to initiate new projects and international collaborations that will lead to larger collaborative funding proposals and joint publications within two years. Projects are expected to be innovative, globally focused, and lay the foundation for long-term partnerships. Up to $10,000 is awarded to projects with one or more international partners.

Please email Sylvie Jasen, International Projects Coordinator, as soon as you intend to apply, or if you have any questions regarding the application process or Carleton’s current travel policy. cuResearch portal approval form due February 18, 2022. Final IRSG application form due February 25.

Are you seeking an international collaborator for an existing or proposed research project with potential student mobility but lack the contacts and resources to pursue it? Mitacs has officially launched a new tool to facilitate matchmaking between faculty members and one of their international partners.

For more information, please contact:
Sylvie Jasen (International Projects Coordinator)

Carleton International is pleased to organize a diverse range of events. These educational and fun experiences are unique to the activities of the international research office and are designed to provide meaningful opportunities to the wider university community and beyond. They raise awareness of Carleton’s international efforts, offer support to faculty and students, address common challenges, and strengthen our global ties.

In the interest of promoting and highlighting these initiatives, we have officially updated our events webpage! Now, you can easily see and register for upcoming events using the calendar feature. Or you can explore past events, like our recent “Central America’s Economic Recovery in a Post-Covid World” webinar in which esteemed guests explored the impacts generated by the pandemic, and Canada’s potential role in supporting the region’s economic recovery. This virtual event was jointly organized by Carleton International, NPSIA, and the Embassies of Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.

Our events webpage will be updated frequently so be sure to check back often!

In November, Carleton International was pleased to host Hungarian professor Ernő Rubik, inventor of the famed Rubik’s Cube, for a student competition and moderated Q&A. This event was jointly organized by the Embassy of Hungary to Canada. Fifty people had the privilege to attend in-person, including the Ambassador of Hungary and an Ottawa-born, 5-time Rubik’s Cube world record holder, while a live stream went out to an audience watching elsewhere.

Even though a number of meaningful topics were discussed, the main takeaway was the cube’s ability to create community and forge relationships. Whether it’s between countries like Canada and Hungary, at a university level, or between friends at one of the 1,000+ competitions organized worldwide every year, Professor Rubik’s invention—a seemingly simple, multi-coloured toy—paves the way for new types of connections, many of which cross international borders.

Click here to read more about this special event and the cube’s global impact.

Part of what made “A Morning With Ernő Rubik” so special was the Rubik’s Cube competition in which student representatives from five different faculties competed in several 1-on-1 elimination rounds. All eight participants gave impressive performances, with one round coming down to less than a second difference!

“Competing in my first-ever cubing contest and doing so in front of the inventor of the puzzle is something I never would have envisioned when I first picked up the Rubik’s Cube as a kid. I had the opportunity to ask Professor Rubik some questions, talk to the best speedcubers in Canada, and go home with a signed cube! This event is a story I will tell for years to come.”

-James Hebert, student from the Sprott School of Business

Relive every exciting moment of the Rubik’s Cube Student Competition by watching the official recording, now available on our YouTube channel.

Photo credit: Ülle Baum

Back in December, the Canada-India Centre for Excellence (CICE) was proud to host the 2021 Dhahan Lecture. This virtual event aimed to encourage knowledge sharing between Indo-Canadian universities and improve bilateral policy between governments. In association with CICE, the Dhahan Lecture was first established in 2012 by Mr. Barj S. Dhahan in honour of his parents.

During the lecture, noted educationalist and innovator, Dr. Achyuta Samanta (photo), reflected on his personal journey establishing the Kalinga Institute of Social Services, a vocational training entity dedicated to empowering India’s youth in tribal communities through free education. Joined by Dr. Beverly Jacobs, former President of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, the lecture also explored the Indigenous experience in Canada with the goal of identifying shared insights.

The 2021 Dhahan Lecture has become the starting point to many collaborations between Carleton and the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), also founded by Dr. Samanta. KIIT and the Innovation Hub signed an MOU following the event to work together on various endeavours in the entrepreneurial space, with several other conversations in early stages.

Carleton International invites Carleton researchers, faculty, and students to attend a virtual information session on the Mitacs Globalink Research Award (GRA) on Friday, January 28, 2022. This program is an opportunity for both faculty and students to build partnerships abroad through student research mobility. The information session will outline the program details, the application process, and its overall benefits. It is also designed to answer any questions you may have on using this opportunity to further your own research and collaboration goals.

Drop in to get answers to your questions from ISSO’s Immigration Advisors. Ask about study permits, co-op work permits, post-graduation work permits, COVID-19 considerations, travel requirements, or anything else that comes to mind. A full lineup of live, virtual sessions will be taking place throughout January and February.

Click here to view ISSO’s events calendar.

We’d love to hear from you! If you have any content recommendations or suggestions on how we can improve our newsletter, please contact Nathaniel Whelan.