By Léo Charbonneau. Science Minister Kirsty Duncan officially launched, on December 5, the search for Canada’s new chief science advisor. Creating the position of chief science officer was one of the key priorities in the science minister’s mandate letter from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the fall of 2015. More...

By Léo Charbonneau. The approach of Canada’s 150th anniversary, or sesquicentennial, provides an opportunity to reflect not just on where the country is heading, but also on where it’s been. To that effect, we decided to take a look back in the pages of University Affairs circa 1964 to 1967 to see what was preoccupying universities in the lead-up to Canada’s centennial. More...

By Marsha Barber. One parent finds that, despite efforts to make it fairer, the process still favours those with money. More...

By Suzanne Bowness. Graduate students are trying out Three Minute Thesis-type competitions for the soft skills, public connection – and just a tiny bit of fame. More...

By Kathryn Shailer. For the benefit of the entire university community, we need to talk, we need to work together and we need to quell the self-righteous rhetoric. More...

By Diane Peters. Once seen as a silly topic for academic study, boredom is now attracting scientists as well as humanities scholars. More...

By Adam Chapnick and Christopher Kukucha. Bringing together 10-20 people for any given task can be a challenge. When those people are academics – who you are asking to produce quality essays on a fairly rigid deadline – that challenge can be overwhelming. More...

By Adam Chapnick and Christopher Kukucha. When we started our careers, professors didn’t have to think about raising money to publish a book with an academic press. If your manuscript was peer-reviewed positively, then the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program (ASPP) would inevitably provide your publisher with the necessary subsidy (now $8,000) to allow the press to break even on its investment, no matter the book’s commercial success. More...

By Adam Chapnick and Christopher Kukucha. When approaching a publisher with a proposal for an edited volume, there are two things to bear in mind: first, know the difference between a successful grant application and an engaging book proposal; and secondly, know the difference between a special edition of a journal and a multi-authored collection – because they are not siblings, only distant cousins. More...

By Adam Chapnick and Christopher Kukucha. In the academic world, the process for choosing a publisher for your first manuscript is clear: seek out the presses with the best reputation in your field and find a good fit. As strange as it sounds to those outside the Ivory Tower, your primary goal is neither to sell a lot of copies, nor to make a lot of money. More...