Neural and Machine Systems for a Healthy, Just Society
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Discover the Impact of Connected Minds
"Connected Minds has reached an important moment in its evolution. What began as an ambitious, CFREF-funded initiative has grown into a dynamic research community where interdisciplinary collaboration and partnership are not parallel efforts—they are intertwined and deeply embedded in how we work. This progress reflects the collective effort of our researchers, trainees, partners, and staff, whose commitment has shaped Connected Minds into a space where meaningful, socially engaged research can take root and thrive.
- Shayna Rosenbaum, Connected Minds Scientific Director
As you explore this report, I invite you to reflect on what this community has built together and on the possibilities that lie ahead."
The Connected Minds Model
At Connected Minds, our research is driven by three long-term goals that guide our exploration of human-technology interactions and their societal impacts:
- Understand how the interplay of humans and intelligent technologies produces unexpected, emergent properties at the community/whole society levels
- Predict how new technologies will disrupt the techno-social collective
- Use these predictions to drive new research and technology development.
As such, we expect all funded initiatives and awards to contribute towards the long-term goals of our program.
Through three core research themes, Connected Minds co-creates innovative solutions to today’s pressing societal challenges:
Theme I: Co-Creating Research for Societal Needs and Impact.
Our research unites experts across disciplines and Indigenous communities to co-create solutions to societal challenges, ensuring relevance, impact, and diverse perspectives through collaboration with non-academic partners.
Theme II: Fundamentals of Social Interaction: Neural, Algorithmic, and Social Networks.
We explore multiple scales of social interaction, from cellular and algorithmic processes shaping individual behaviour to complex social networks made up of both humans and machines.
Theme III: Developing Ethical and Responsible Technologies.
In partnership with industry, healthcare, government, and non-profits, we develop intelligent technologies for a healthy, just society and advocate for ethical policies that support and scale our work globally.
In order to achieve Connected Minds’ aims and goals, our position is that one must understand 1) humans, 2) intelligent technologies, and 3) how they interact at social levels. It is our strategy to integrate expertise across the three pillars, defined below:
1) Society:
This includes expertise across the Social Sciences, Humanities, Arts, Indigenous Studies, Education, Policy, and Law, disciplines vital to understanding interactions between humans and intelligent technologies in evolving techno-social collectives. Relevant fields include social psychology, cultural anthropology, architecture, engineering, rehabilitation sciences, technoscience, linguistics, philosophy (ethics, philosophy of mind), digital media, performance, community health, health services, law (IP, regulatory, human rights), and policy (health, tech development guidelines).
2) Neuroscience and Behaviour:
This includes expertise in Social Sciences, Humanities, Arts, Indigenous Studies, Education, Policy, and Law, all essential to understanding human–technology interaction in evolving techno-social systems. Relevant fields span social psychology, cultural anthropology, architecture, engineering, rehabilitation sciences, technoscience, linguistics, philosophy (e.g., ethics, philosophy of mind), digital media, performance, community health, health services, law (e.g., IP, regulatory, human rights), and policy (e.g., health, tech governance).
3) Intelligent Technologies:
This spans expertise in the Social Sciences, Humanities, Arts, Indigenous Studies, Education, Policy, and Law—fields critical to understanding human–technology interaction in techno-social systems. Areas include social psychology, anthropology, architecture, engineering, rehabilitation, technoscience, linguistics, philosophy (ethics, mind), digital media, performance, community health, health services, law (IP, regulatory, rights), and policy (health, tech development).
Note that most Connected Minds funding programs (including all research grants and training awards) require interdisciplinary academic collaboration, multisector collaboration, with emphasis on co-creation.
Connected Minds Guide on Co-Creation
Co-creation is a collaborative approach to research wherein researchers work directly with the people, communities, and sectors affected by an issue to jointly define problems, design and test ideas, and evaluate outcomes. While co-creation is often used to describe collaboration between academic and non-academic partners, it can also take place between researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds who work together as equal partners to shape the direction, methods, and interpretation of research. In all cases, co-creation seeks to integrate multiple forms of expertise and ensure that research is grounded in the contexts, values and needs of those it aims to benefit.
The Connected Minds approach to co-creation is designed for complex research settings, where problems are not only technical, but also social, ethical, and shaped by different forms of expertise. In these contexts, co-creation cannot rely on a single form of collaboration. Instead, it must operate along two complementary dimensions: epistemic (formerly “horizontal”) and application-oriented (formerly “vertical”) co-creation. In other words, co-creation should be used across the full research lifecycle - during early planning, when research questions and priorities are being formed (epistemic); during design and testing, when diverse perspectives refine prototypes, methods, or interventions (application); and during evaluation, when partners assess both research impacts and the quality of collaboration itself. As the guide makes clear, these are not linear or isolated phases of co-creation but rather interdependent dimensions of collaboration that must be sustained and coordinated throughout the research process. When co-creation is done in this way, it not only improves the usability and relevance of research but also strengthens trust and supports longer-term relationships that enable system-wide change.
The three-part guide below was developed following an extensive literature review of co-creation. Drafts of the guide were refined through iterative feedback from researchers within Connected Minds who have experience with co-creation. To use the guide, start with Step 1 to understand the foundations of co-creation. Then, move to Step 2 to understand the co-creation cycle. Finally, draw on the accompanying worksheets (Step 3) to support real-time collaboration, decision-making, and evaluation.
A Step-by-Step Co-Creation Guide:
Co-Creation Toolkit Step 1: Understanding the Foundations of Co-Creation
Co-Creation Toolkit Step 2: The Cycle (A How-To Guide)
Co-Creation Toolkit Step 3: Co-Creation Worksheets
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