Kelly Babchishin Awarded Prestigious Early Researcher Award

Congratulations to Kelly Babchishin (Department of Psychology), who received an Early Researcher Award (ERA) from the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities.  

Dr. Babchishin’s research project, “Understanding and Addressing Technology-Facilitated Sexual Offences in Ontario,” will gather data from 800 university students and 800 adults convicted of sex offences to identify the factors linked to technology-facilitated sexual offences and the crossover from online sexual exploitation to in-person sexual offences. The findings will inform prevention programs and sexual education curricula for schools and universities to reduce the incidence of sexual offences and improve the management of sex offenders in Ontario to enhance public safety. These insights will also help alleviate pressure on Ontario’s criminal justice system by guiding more effective resource allocation. 

Four Carleton researchers have been recognized by this year’s Early Researcher Awards (ERAs). The Ontario government recently announced it is investing $75 million in 162 research and innovation projects across the province through the ERAs and the Ontario Research Fund. 

Each researcher will receive $140,000 from the Ontario government to support the direct and indirect costs of their projects, with Carleton contributing an additional $50,000 in matching support.