About HIBAR Research Buddies
HIBAR Research Buddies, or HIBAR-B, is a student-led initiative at the University of British Columbia. Launched in 2023, it aims to build a community of early career researchers, emphasizing graduate students who care deeply about engaging directly with experts working outside of academia through their research.
Why did we launch HIBAR Research Buddies?
Graduate students increasingly have a strong desire to impact society positively, and they seek meaningful, engaged research opportunities that would allow them to fulfil this desire. Many students, however, cannot find fulfilling research opportunities, partly because aspects of academic research culture have historically been largely inward-looking. For example, some practices within the academic system unintentionally motivate faculty members (and, by extension, their graduate students) to de-emphasize partnering with real-world experts and instead follow a more narrowly defined research excellence path. This can repel some of the students that universities should most want to attract and retain, since those students are left with a perception that university research is out of touch with the needs of society.
The HIBAR Research Buddies initiative aims to create a welcoming community for students who feel this way by reinforcing their sense of belonging within the academic research environment.
What We Do
- We connect like-minded students with each other and reinforce their sense of belonging within the academic environment
- We showcase impactful HIBAR projects, to build awareness of the breadth of this type of research in many disciplines and emphasize the role of graduate students as key members of these research teams, andÂ
- We highlight opportunities for students to participate in activities that will, over time, help to change the academic culture toward more societally-engaged research.
About HIBAR Research
Our activities showcase Highly Integrative Basic And Responsive (HIBAR) research projects, which are the type of projects that pursue basic knowledge while addressing urgent societal challenges. HIBAR projects are co-led by collaborative cross-sectoral teams, including both academics and experts working outside of basic research who bring leadership skills and a deep understanding of a societal problem. Researchers in all fields, including social sciences, humanities, science, engineering, and medicine, are central to many HIBAR projects.
In the following short video, Alliance Director Lorne Whitehead describes the characteristics of HIBAR research projects.
The HIBAR Research Buddies initiative was launched with funding provided by:
- UBC Science Strategic Innovation Fund
- Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Endowment
- The UBC Faculty of Applied Science
- The UBC Faculty of Forestry
- The UBC Faculty of Health and Social Development
- Tuum Est Student Initiative Fund
- Walter H. Gage Memorial Fund