Evaluation of the Harris Centre's Applied Research Fund

• Main Author: Reid-Shute, Kate
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: The Harris Centre 2009
• Subjects: Canada; Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/8156/; https://research.library.mun.ca/8156/1/ARF_Evaluation_February_27_2009.pdf; http://www.mun.ca/harriscentre/funding/arf/ARF_Evaluation_February_27_2009.pdf

This report was developed for the Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development at Memorial University to assess the impacts of the Centre’s Applied Research Fund (ARF). The evaluation focused on the first three rounds of ARF funding (2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08), as 2008/09 projects have not yet been completed, however the latest round of projects are discussed in this report where appropriate. The evaluation was conducted by assessing ARF’s impacts through the lens of the Harris Centre Evaluation Framework. Findings were drawn from Harris Centre documents and ARF reports as well as from interviews and discussions with Harris Centre staff, ARF researchers and relevant external stakeholders (i.e. community representatives, including government departments and agencies, community organizations, businesses and business organizations, and individuals). The Harris Centre has a mandate to coordinate and facilitate Memorial University’s educational, research and outreach activities in the areas of regional policy and development. The Harris Centre created the Applied Research Fund to stimulate research activities relevant to Newfoundland and Labrador’s regional policy and development needs and opportunities by offering funding up to $15,000 to Memorial faculty, students and staff to conduct such research. The Harris Centre also utilizes ARF to encourage researchers to mobilize the findings from their work to stakeholders in the community who can make use of them. ARF has received funding from the NL Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development (INTRD) and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA). In the first four rounds, funding to ARF totalled $100,000 each year. Consistent with the mandates of INTRD and ACOA, the Harris Centre places emphasis on providing ARF funding to projects that seek to contribute to economic and rural development in Newfoundland and Labrador’s regions (see Appendix E for project descriptions). Since ARF’s inception in 2005, 31 projects have been funded (21 in the ...