Research Ethics Board (REB) applications involving "more than minimal risk" must be reviewed by the full UPEI REB. The next deadline for submitting these protocols is Friday, January 30, 2026, for review at the February meeting.

Other ethics protocol submissions, including new applications that do not involve more than minimal risk, renewals, and amendments, may be submitted at any time. They will be sent for delegated review as soon as all necessary materials are received.

All research compliance applications, including for the REB, must be submitted through the UPEI Researcher Portal (https://upei.researchservicesoffice.com/Romeo.Researcher/). Instructions for using the site are available at https://www.upei.ca/research-services/forms.

Please contact the Compliance Coordinator at researchcompliance@upei.ca for more information about the Researcher Portal, or the REB application, review, and approval process.

The next deadline for submitting biosafety applications, including new applications, renewals, and/or amendments, is Friday, January 30, 2026. These applications will be reviewed at the February 19 meeting.

All research compliance applications, including biosafety application forms, must be submitted through the UPEI researcher portal https://upei.researchservicesoffice.com/Romeo.Researcher/. Instructions for using the researcher portal, are available at https://www.upei.ca/research-services/forms.

Please contact the Research Compliance Coordinator at researchcompliance@upei.ca if you have any questions about accessing or using the researcher portal, or about the biosafety application, review, and approval process.

The 2026 theme for UPEI’s Data Privacy Week (January 26-30) is “Privacy is Everyone’s Business,” highlighting the importance of respecting privacy, safeguarding data, and enabling trust.

Data Privacy Week spreads awareness about online privacy with the aim of educating individuals on how to manage and protect their personal information and encourage organizations to respect data and be transparent.

Make privacy your business! To learn more about what you can do to be privacy aware, check out the resources on the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s website.

To find out about UPEI privacy training for your department, please contact the UPEI Access to Information and Privacy Office at accessprivacy@upei.ca

The UPEI Department of Religious Studies’ popular Theology on Tap series returns on January 28 with a talk titled “More than Optimistic: Hope and Teilhard de Chardin” by Dr. Libby Osgood, Congregation of Notre Dame and Associate Professor in Sustainable Design Engineering. Dr. Osgood’s talk will take place at 7:00 pm at the Salvador Dali Café, The Arts Hotel, 155 Kent Street, Charlottetown. 

“People often use the words ‘hope’ and ‘optimism’ interchangeably, but hope requires much more than optimism,” said Dr. Osgood. “Hope is not naive. It is not sitting back and waiting for something to change, nor is it easy. Based on the writings of Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a paleontologist and Jesuit priest who helped discover an ancestor to homo sapiens, we will explore the need for hope during these challenging times of ecological change.”

Born in Sarcenat, France, in 1881, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a Jesuit priest and an accomplished paleoanthropologist who researched human beginnings and wrote imaginative, mystical writings on the evolutionary nature of the world and the cosmos. Though his Jesuit leadership did not allow him to publish during his lifetime, his writings were published by his secretary Jeanne Mortier after his death in 1955. Since then, generations of theologians and scientists have been inspired by his desire to find God in the world and how he embraced evolution. He asked, “Who at last will give evolution its God?” At times, he was criticized for being naively optimistic. Dr. Osgood suggests that Teilhard de Chardin is much more than optimistic—he is hopeful.

For more information about the series, contact event coordinator Alexandra Durant at alexandrajdurant@gmail.com, or follow Theology on Tap PEI on Facebook.

On Wednesday, January 28, ITSS will conduct maintenance on Colleague and related services from 8:00 pm to midnight. During this time, there may be intermittent access to and performance issues with myUPEI Self-Service, Web Advisor, and Colleague.

We encourage students, faculty, and staff who may need documents or links located on myUPEI to plan ahead and bookmark or download the resources they may need during this period.

As a reminder, you can access Moodle directly using https://moodle.upei.ca and Outlook email using https://outlook.office.com.

If you have any questions, please fill out our new Help Form: https://go.upei.ca/itrequest

There will be a basic biosafety training session on Tuesday, January 27, at 1:00 pm. Topics will include basic biosafety principles and how they are applied at the University of Prince Edward Island, as well as biosecurity training. This session is open to everyone, including graduate students. Prerequisite training material must be completed prior to attending the session.

To attend, you must pre-register by contacting Jacky Buell by noon, Monday January 26, 2026, via email hse@upei.ca or phone 902-566-0901. 

Please provide:

• Your name
• Your supervisor’s name (if applicable)
• Department
• Email address
• Phone number
• Whether you're an employee or graduate student  

NOTE: An online biosafety training refresher course is available for those who completed basic biosafety training previously. Training must be renewed every three years. Please contact us for information on how to register for this training!

All faculty, students, and staff are invited to the next UPEI Research Breakfast, happening on Thursday, January 29, 2026, hosted by Research Partnerships and Innovation (formerly OCII).

The theme of this breakfast is “Climate Change and Society”. Two UPEI research chairs, Dr. Sara Sadri and Dr. Jean Mitchell, will give short presentations about their research. Presentations run from 8:00-9:00 am, with networking and a continental breakfast available at 7:30 am. This event is FREE, but space is limited. Please RSVP here.

Join us for a morning of knowledge-sharing and networking with fellow researchers and industry, community, and government partners over a delicious breakfast!

Collide Discover is the one-stop shop to get you started on your entrepreneurial journey, whether you already have an idea or not! Learn how to ideate with a customer focus, structure your concept into a business model, identify your most attractive customer segment, and communicate your early-stage idea effectively!

Collide Discover is the only way to make yourself and your team eligible to participate in the new Aspire stream of the Harry W. MacLauchlan Entrepreneurship Program next semester for first and second year students!

The best part? You can complete the whole program in just 3 DAYS! The full bootcamp is taking place in FSDE 128A and B on the UPEI campus on the following dates:

• Friday, January 30 from 5:30 - 7:00 pm

• Saturday, January 31 from 9:30 am - 4:30 pm

• Sunday, February 1 from 9:30 am - 2:00 pm

Any current UPEI and Holland College student, faculty member, or recent graduate within the last 5 years is eligible to attend. Food is provided throughout the bootcamp! Register today.

Bring your own lunch and join us for an engaging session 

Hosted by: The Teaching and Learning Centre 

Session Overview: 

Join us for a relaxed and informative Teaching & Learning Centre (TLC) Lunch & Learn session focused on Maintaining Motivation & Engagement in your classes. This is a great opportunity to connect with colleagues, share ideas, and gain insights into connecting learning to real‑world purpose, building an interactive learning environment, fostering a sense of belonging, providing clear structure and expectations, offering autonomy and choice, giving meaningful feedback, and integrating active learning technologies. 

RSVP: https://forms.office.com/r/c5DsnwcRTu 

Contact: tlc@upei.ca 

The Robertson Library is hosting library tours from January 19 to February 5, and we would love for you to join us.  The tour is an excellent opportunity to explore the library spaces and learn more about what the library has to offer.

Use this link to book your tour.  

We can't wait to welcome you and show you around!

The new UPEI Laboratory Safety Manual, 3^rd Edition, has been uploaded to the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) SharePoint site! You may use the HSE SharePoint search engine or click the ‘Laboratories’ button to access.

All laboratory workers - a person employed in a workplace; or a person in a workplace for any reason in connection there with are responsible for following all applicable safety rules and practices as outlined in the Laboratory Safety Manual.

For questions regarding the Laboratory Safety Manual, please reach out to HSE@upei.ca.  

The fifth meeting of the UPEI Senate will take place on Friday, January 30, 2026, from 3:00 to 5:00 pm in Room 102 at Alumni Hall (618 University Avenue). To view the 2025-2026 calendar of Senate meetings or documents for the upcoming meeting, click here. (Posted one week before the meeting)

All meetings are open to members of the University community, although certain in-camera items (e.g., granting of degrees) may require the Senate to go into a closed session. Only members of Senate are permitted to address the Senate unless otherwise recognized by the chair. 

For logistical purposes, members of the UPEI community who wish to attend the open session of a UPEI Senate meeting are asked to contact senate@upei.ca one week prior to the meeting. While Senate is an in-person meeting, members of the University community may request a virtual connection when they are unable to attend in person. 

Welcome to the following new employees who joined the University of Prince Edward Island community in December 2025:

• McKenzie Aitken, IT Systems and Services
• Blerta Abdija, Registrar’s Office
• Shantol Clarke, Chemistry, Faculty of Science
• Dylan Jubinville, Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering
• Callum Kennedy, Clinical Learning and Simulation, Faculty of Medicine
• Jackson Lagundzija, IT Systems and Services
• Matt Lamont, Clinical Learning and Simulation, Faculty of Medicine
• Taiwo Ademola Pojo, Facilities Management
• Pius Abraham Tetteh, Biomedical Sciences, Atlantic Veterinary College
• Holly Yazdani, Clinical Learning and Simulation, Faculty of Medicine

We are excited to have you join the UPEI team!

Research Ethics Board (REB) applications involving "more than minimal risk" must be reviewed by the full UPEI REB. The next deadline for submitting these protocols is Friday, January 30, 2026, for review at the February meeting.

Other ethics protocol submissions, including new applications that do not involve more than minimal risk, renewals, and amendments, may be submitted at any time. They will be sent for delegated review as soon as all necessary materials are received.

All research compliance applications, including for the REB, must be submitted through the UPEI Researcher Portal (https://upei.researchservicesoffice.com/Romeo.Researcher/). Instructions for using the site are available at https://www.upei.ca/research-services/forms.

Please contact the Compliance Coordinator at researchcompliance@upei.ca for more information about the Researcher Portal, or the REB application, review, and approval process.

The next deadline for submitting biosafety applications, including new applications, renewals, and/or amendments, is Friday, January 30, 2026. These applications will be reviewed at the February 19 meeting.

All research compliance applications, including biosafety application forms, must be submitted through the UPEI researcher portal https://upei.researchservicesoffice.com/Romeo.Researcher/. Instructions for using the researcher portal, are available at https://www.upei.ca/research-services/forms.

Please contact the Research Compliance Coordinator at researchcompliance@upei.ca if you have any questions about accessing or using the researcher portal, or about the biosafety application, review, and approval process.

The Faculty of Science's Human Biology / Environmental Sciences Seminar Series invites the campus community to a presentation by Dr. Sarah Finch (Applied Human Sciences) entitled "Impact of the 2019 Canada’s food guide and vitamin D fortification strategies on childcare meals"

January 23 at 12:30 pm in Duffy Science Centre, Room 204

The UPEI Department of Religious Studies’ popular Theology on Tap series returns on January 28 with a talk titled “More than Optimistic: Hope and Teilhard de Chardin” by Dr. Libby Osgood, Congregation of Notre Dame and Associate Professor in Sustainable Design Engineering. Dr. Osgood’s talk will take place at 7:00 pm at the Salvador Dali Café, The Arts Hotel, 155 Kent Street, Charlottetown. 

“People often use the words ‘hope’ and ‘optimism’ interchangeably, but hope requires much more than optimism,” said Dr. Osgood. “Hope is not naive. It is not sitting back and waiting for something to change, nor is it easy. Based on the writings of Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a paleontologist and Jesuit priest who helped discover an ancestor to homo sapiens, we will explore the need for hope during these challenging times of ecological change.”

Born in Sarcenat, France, in 1881, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a Jesuit priest and an accomplished paleoanthropologist who researched human beginnings and wrote imaginative, mystical writings on the evolutionary nature of the world and the cosmos. Though his Jesuit leadership did not allow him to publish during his lifetime, his writings were published by his secretary Jeanne Mortier after his death in 1955. Since then, generations of theologians and scientists have been inspired by his desire to find God in the world and how he embraced evolution. He asked, “Who at last will give evolution its God?” At times, he was criticized for being naively optimistic. Dr. Osgood suggests that Teilhard de Chardin is much more than optimistic—he is hopeful.

For more information about the series, contact event coordinator Alexandra Durant at alexandrajdurant@gmail.com, or follow Theology on Tap PEI on Facebook.

On Wednesday, January 28, ITSS will conduct maintenance on Colleague and related services from 8:00 pm to midnight. During this time, there may be intermittent access to and performance issues with myUPEI Self-Service, Web Advisor, and Colleague.

We encourage students, faculty, and staff who may need documents or links located on myUPEI to plan ahead and bookmark or download the resources they may need during this period.

As a reminder, you can access Moodle directly using https://moodle.upei.ca and Outlook email using https://outlook.office.com.

If you have any questions, please fill out our new Help Form: https://go.upei.ca/itrequest

The UPEI Writing Centre (Robertson Library 274) is now open. The service is free and available to everyone in the campus community. To book an in-person or online appointment, please visit https://upei.mywconline.com/

We look forward to working with you!

Echoes of the Tango is a duo piano recital featuring UPEI piano professor Dr. Magdalena von Eccher along with invited guest Megaria Halim in an exploration of 2-piano works featuring a suite of dances by Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla, three Romances by his compatriot Carlos Guastavino, as well as music inspired by the distinctive rhythms and passionate melodies of tango, as interpreted by Canadian composer Jeff Smallman in Rhapsodie Espagnole, alongside Richard Bennett's light-hearted tribute to various dance styles, entitled Four Piece Suite.

Echoes of the Tango will take place on Saturday, January 24 at 7:30 pm on the SDU Stage at Steel Recital Hall, UPEI Campus. Accessible parking is available, and the theatre has an accessible entrance via elevator.

Admission: $30 adults, $25 seniors, $10 students. 

FREE for all UPEI students with a valid ID card. Tickets are available in advance at upei.universitytickets.com or by cash at the door.