Research Creation

Research-creation is defined by SSHRC as "an approach to research that combines creative and academic research practices, and supports the development of knowledge and innovation through artistic expression, scholarly investigation, and experimentation. The creation process is situated within the research activity and produces critically informed work in a variety of media (art forms). Research-creation cannot be limited to the interpretation or analysis of a creator's work, conventional works of technological development, or work that focuses on the creation of curricula."
Applicants are requested to identify whether their proposal is or is not a "research-creation" project through a tick-box on the application form. A research-creation proposal must:

  • address clear research questions
  • offer theoretical contextualization within the relevant fields of inquiry
  • present a well-considered methodological approach and creation process


If you elect to submit a research-creation application, you may include a website link to provide samples of artistic work that illustrate your qualifications and/or the nature of your proposed research-creation. The research-creation process and the resulting artistic work will be judged according to SSHRC's established merit review criteria. You are strongly advised to read the guidelines for support materials as provided by SSHRC here and here.

More readings on Research-Creation

Preparing an Application Involving Research-Creation

Articles and Reports

Research-Creation: Intervention, Analysis and "Family Resemblances" (Chapman and Sawchuck, 2012).
Hart Cohen Review of Practice-led Research, Research-led Practice in the Creative Arts (Cohen, 2010).
Maternal Ecologies, a Story in Three Parts. In: Performing Motherhood: Artistic, Activist, and Everyday Enactments, Amber Kinser, Kryn Freehling-Burton and Terri Hawkes, Eds. Demeter Press, (Loveless, 2014).
The iterative cyclic web (a model to depict practice-led research and research-led practice, creative work and basic research by Smith and Dean, 2010).
Making Space: The Purpose and Place of Practice-Led Research (pdf) (Sullivan, 2010)
Integrating Creative Practice and Research in the Digital Media Arts (Brown and Sorensen, 2010).

Books

Practice as Research in the Arts; Principles, Protocols, Pedagogies, Resistances. Robin Nelson, Ed. Palgrave, 2013. Online here.
Mapping Landscapes for Performance as Research: Scholarly Acts and Creative Cartographies. Shannon Rose Riley and Lynette Hunter, Eds. New York and Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. Read the Introduction here.

Examples of Research-Creation

Inflexions A Journal of Research-Creation
Senselab
University of Alberta's Research-Creation Working Group