Winners of SSHRC’s Impact Awards
The SSHRC Impact Awards celebrate the achievements of Canada's top leaders, thinkers and researchers in the social sciences and humanities. Finalists embody the very best ideas and research about people, human thought and behaviour, and culture—helping us understand and improve the world around us, today and into the future.
The Gold Medal is SSHRC’s highest research honour. It is awarded to an individual whose sustained leadership, dedication and originality of thought have inspired both students and colleagues.
Jean-Marc Narbonne
Université Laval
“For me, receiving the SSHRC Gold Medal is a recognition that people are interested in my research on the history of political philosophy. I am thrilled to share this honour with my university and my colleagues.”
The Talent Award recognizes outstanding achievement by an individual who, on April 1, 2024, holds a SSHRC doctoral scholarship or fellowship or postdoctoral fellowship. This includes, but is not limited to, a Canada Graduate Scholarship, Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship or Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Louis Busch
University of Toronto
“As a young man, I struggled with my own mental health challenges. I realize now that I was at a crossroads that many Indigenous youth don’t make it back from.”
The Insight Award recognizes outstanding achievement arising from a single or multiple SSHRC-funded initiatives. It is given to an individual or a team of six people maximum (including the nominee) whose initiative(s) have significantly contributed to knowledge and understanding about people, societies and the world. The research outcomes must have led to demonstrable impact within the nominee’s fields of research and/or beyond the social sciences and humanities research community.
Lynette Ong
University of Toronto
“If you lift the facade of a country, you’ll see the darker side. I spent a lot of time in those less glamorous places. In some localities, I did think about my safety. In China, repression often happens in invisible ways, involving social pressure exerted by people deeply embedded in the community.”
The Connection Award recognizes an outstanding SSHRC-funded initiative that facilitates the flow and exchange of research knowledge within and/or beyond the social sciences and humanities research community. It is given to an individual or a team of six people maximum (including the nominee) whose initiative has engaged the campus and/or wider community, and has generated intellectual, cultural, social and/or economic impacts.
Marcia Ostashewski
Cape Breton University
“In this research-creation, our collective efforts draw on multiple perspectives and different ways of being and knowing. I’m inspired by the selfless dedication of time and care that our team members devote to their communities.”
The Partnership Award recognizes a SSHRC‑funded formal partnership for its outstanding achievement in advancing research, research training or knowledge mobilization, or developing a new partnership approach to research and/or related activities. It is awarded to a formal partnership that, through mutual co-operation and shared intellectual leadership and resources, has demonstrated impact and influence within and/or beyond the social sciences and humanities research community.
Pierre Noreau
Université de Montréal
“It doesn’t make much sense to try and go it alone these days. Collective work is where all the new insights are coming from. This SSHRC Partnership Award doesn’t just recognize the work I have done so far, but the work of everyone who has participated in my projects.”