A New Name and Direction for CAHR

The Centre for Aboriginal Health Research (CAHR) has been renamed the Centre for Indigenous Research and Community-Led Engagement (CIRCLE). This change in name reflects an expansion of our mandate beyond a focus on Aboriginal health research. We look forward to working closely with other Centres at UVic to promote and facilitate collaborative and interdisciplinary research, to contribute to the university's strategic educational and research plans, and to mobilize knowledge gained through equitable and ethical research.

Expansion of support and services

Within the new mandate, CIRCLE will provide broader support for Indigenous-focused research, faculty, and graduate students. The objective is to:

  • Create an innovative, mult-disciplinary environment to create trust between academics and Indigenous community members, who will share responsibility for direction setting and decision-making
  • Focus on the development and implementation of Indigenous research that is collaborative, interdisciplinary, inter-institutional and community-led
  • Address campus-wide issues about Indigenous research (ie. ethics and informing institutional policies)
  • Support undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral students
  • Support diverse Indigenous and allied research partners, providing capacity building and support for faculty and students with Indigenous research grant preparation, administration and budget allocation

Upcoming New Activities

In addition to the existing programs, new programs will include:

  • Annual research symposium with keynote talks by Indigenous faculty and students
  • Indigenous research workshop series for students
  • Indigenous ethics and grants database
  • Support for land-based, community-facilitated learning activities
  • Enhanced international partnerships to support collaborative research and education opportunities

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