Neural and Machine Systems for a Healthy, Just Society
Connected Minds Latest News
Upcoming Events and Deadlines
Discover the Impact of Connected Minds
"As we reflect on the progress of Connected Minds, it is remarkable to see how much we have accomplished in just a few years. With the support of the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF), York University, Queen’s University, and our many partners, we have built a thriving research community dedicated to understanding the intersections of neuroscience, AI, and society.
- Pina D'Agostino, Connected Minds Scientific Director
As you explore this report, I invite you to reflect on the milestones we have reached and the exciting path ahead. Connected Minds is more than a research program—it is a movement toward a future where technology & human well-being evolve together."
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.
Here are some simple rules for co-creation in our program:
The choice of these collaborators, advisors and partners should be clearly justified in terms of their expertise, role, and the specific goals of the project.
‘Horizontal’ co-creation: All Connected Minds research and training projects must engage at least one internal advisor/collaborator and external collaborator to bring interdisciplinary expertise and perspective to the project. These collaborators must be involved in both the planning and execution of the project. Internal collaborators/advisors must come from a different Expertise Pillar (see above) than the principal investigator/ supervisor and (unless strongly justified) should not come from the same academic unit.
‘Vertical’ co-creation. Any applied project that aims to influence or affect a non-academic community, i.e., through policy, practice or technology, must engage members of the target community in the design, implementation and evaluation of the project, and seek feedback from these communities at each step.
Resources on co-creation:
- https://www.coacch.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2811-COACCH-Co-creation-guideline-web.pdf
- https://backlogs.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Research-Co-creation-toolkit-guidebook.pdf
- https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/co-creation-toolkit-from-design-to-implementation-621384/
- http://gonano-project.eu/road-of-co-creation-training-materials-researchers-engineers/
- https://blogs.helsinki.fi/andaction/files/2018/02/HY_Co_creation_web.pdf
Supported by:
Institutional Partner:
