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.
By mobilizing resources around three central research themes, Connected Minds is co-creating innovative solutions that address pressing societal challenges:
Theme I: Co-Creating Research for Societal Needs and Impact.
Our research involves working with experts from a wide range of fields, including Indigenous communities, to identify pressing societal needs and co-create research approaches to address them. By collaborating with non-academic partners, we aim to ensure that our research is relevant, impactful, and informed by diverse perspectives.
Theme II: Fundamentals of Social Interaction: Neural, Algorithmic, and Social Networks.
We are investigating the different scales of social interaction, from the smallest cellular and algorithmic processes involved in individual behaviour to complete social networks comprising both humans and machines.
Theme III: Developing Ethical and Responsible Technologies.
In collaboration with partners from industry, healthcare, government, and not-for-profit sectors we are developing intelligent technologies that promote a healthy, just society. We will also advocate for policies that support ethical technology development and validate our work on a global scale.
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 encompasses expertise in areas related to the Social Sciences, Humanities, Arts, Indigenous Studies, Education, Policy, and Law relevant to the goals of understanding how humans and intelligent technologies interact in our evolving techno-social collectives. Fields of study may include social psychology, cultural anthropology, architecture, engineering, rehabilitation sciences, technoscience, linguistics, philosophy (e.g., ethics, philosophy of mind), digital media, performance, community health and health services, law (e.g., IP, regulatory, human rights), policy (e.g., health, guidelines for technology development).
2) Neuroscience and Behaviour:
This encompasses expertise in human neuroscience, and related behavioural and clinical sciences (e.g. rehabilitation therapy, nursing, medicine) relevant to the biological, cognitive, social and behavioural aspects of the human side of human-machine interactions. Specific examples may include social, cognitive (perception, attention, memory, action, language), developmental and computational neuroscience/psychology, as well as study of dysfunction in these processes in disciplines such as neuropsychology, psychiatry, and neurology. This also may involve the use of non-human species as models for human neuroscience and behaviour.
3) Intelligent Technologies:
This encompasses expertise in computer science, engineering and the sciences that contribute to the theory and application of intelligent technologies that interact with human beings to form techno-social collectives. Examples include research in areas such as network science, data science, AI, human-computer interaction, signal theory, digital communications, computer vision. robotics, autonomous vehicles, large language models, virtual and augmented reality, brain-machine interfaces, and data sovereignty and stewardship.
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.
Co-creation can (and should) be used across the full research lifecycle - during early planning, when research questions and priorities are being formed; during design and testing, when diverse perspectives refine prototypes, methods, or interventions; and during evaluation, when partners assess both research impacts and the quality of collaboration itself. It is especially valuable for interdisciplinary, multisector, or community-embedded projects, and for any initiative seeking to influence policy, practice, or technology. Co-creation can strengthen trust, improve the usability and relevance of research, and support 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