Interdisciplinary Research
Investing in Issues-Based Research
Centers for Innovation and Innovation Groups
Ohio State University is investing $16.7 million to tackle issues of global importance that transcend the boundaries of individual disciplines. The Office of Academic Affairs and the Office of Research created the Centers for Innovation and Innovation Group programs to encourage trans-institutional and interdisciplinary scholarship across campus to address issues and problems of global dimension (poverty, hunger, health and disease, climate change, economic systems, industrial competitiveness, societal dynamics, art and culture, access to energy). Because of the complexity of these issues, resolution does not fall within the neat boundaries of existing scholarly disciplines – it requires collaboration and teamwork across disciplines.
Background
The Office of Academic Affairs and the Office of Research initiated a request for proposals in January 2009 to support the formation of Centers for Innovation and Innovation Groups in an effort to bring faculty across campus together to address some of society’s most pressing issues.
Center for Innovation proposals were required to come directly from the faculty and involve at least 30 faculty members drawn from a minimum of eight colleges. Innovation Group proposals also were required to come directly from faculty and involve at least 10 faculty members drawn from a minimum of three colleges.
Evaluation Criteria
Centers for Innovation proposals were evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Strategic focus on one of the overarching issues/problems identified (poverty, hunger, health and disease, climate change, economic systems, industrial competitiveness, societal dynamics, art and culture, access to energy), including the science involved and policy implications
- Potential to advance the “One University” concept
- Ability to propel the focus area into an internationally recognized area of research and policy formulation
- Distinctiveness of the approach to knowledge generation
- Capacity to leverage regional/national funding
- Potential for partnerships locally, nationally, and globally
- Generation of departmental/college/external matching funds
- Licensing/commercialization potential
- Sustainability after 5 years
Innovation Group proposals were evaluated on the same criteria as the Centers for Innovation, but on a much smaller scale. Innovation Groups needed to demonstrate that they had the potential to grow into Centers for Innovation.
Moving Forward: Centers and Groups Selected for Funding
Two new Centers for Innovation were selected for funding. Each center will receive $750,000/year for a five-year period with the expectation that each center will become self-sufficient at the end of the funding period.
OSU International Poverty Solutions Collaborative
(More than 60 faculty members from 14 colleges)
Principal Investigators: Howard Goldstein, College of Education and Human Ecology; Jay Barney, Fisher College of Business
Efforts to eradicate poverty have been limited by disciplinary, unidimensional approaches. The International Poverty Solutions Collaborative recognizes the multidisciplinary nature of poverty and will work to develop and evaluate comprehensive, culturally-sensitive solutions that allow individuals, families, and communities to thrive. The center will clarify the interrelations among economic, social, cultural, educational, health, and political factors that combine to create poverty conditions. Four research teams will focus on promoting health and well-being, designing physical environments, developing business and economic opportunities, and building families, schools, and communities. These teams will interact with four community laboratories, spanning urban, rural, and international settings.
Download the International Poverty Solutions Collaborative Proposal
Food Innovation Center: Foods for Global Security, Safety, and Health Promotion
(More than 80 faculty members from 12 colleges)
Principal Investigator: Ken Lee, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences
Feeding the rapidly growing world population (a projected 8 billion by 2025) will require a 40% increase in the world food supply, at a time when we are wasting 40% of the current supply due to challenges in economics, safety, health, nutrition, security, technology, and food policy. The Food Innovation Center brings together a multidisciplinary group of researchers to attack the food crisis by addressing four themes: designing foods for health, ensuring food safety, advancing biomedical nutrition in disease prevention and health promotion, and global food strategy and policy.
Download the Food Innovation Center Proposal
Innovation Groups
Complexity in Human, Natural, and Engineered Systems
(More than 20 faculty members from 8 colleges)
Principal Investigator: David Woods, College of Engineering
Complex systems are everywhere, from anthills to ecosystems, from small towns to metropolitan regions, and from distributed robotics to air traffic control networks. This Innovation Group will bring theorists and empirical researchers from many disciplines together to evaluate the dynamics and output of a wide array of complex systems, and to create models that can predict the behavior of these systems. This group will work to position Ohio State as a leader in the rapidly emerging field of complexity science.
Download the Complexity in Human, Natural, and Engineered Systems Proposal
OSU Center for Ethics and Human Values
(35 faculty members from 11 colleges)
Principal Investigator: Donald Hubin, Division of Arts and Humanities, College of Arts and Sciences
Every problem confronting us, both individually and globally, has important ethical dimensions, which are critical considerations in any proposed solutions. The OSU Center for Ethics and Human Values encompasses researchers from across the campus whose work involves foundational or applied ethics in a forum that will create a new capacity to address emerging ethical issues in all areas of life. In addition, the group will facilitate ethics instruction at both undergraduate and graduate levels, promoting an "ethics across the curriculum" approach to ethics education.
Download the Center for Ethics and Human Values Proposal
Computational Modeling of Global Infectious Disease Threats and Policy
(14 faculty members from 7 colleges)
Principal Investigator: Daniel Janies, College of Medicine
The emergence, reemergence, and spread of infectious diseases among humans and animals represent a complex and critical global problem. Combating the spread of infectious disease requires the collaboration of researchers in public health, medicine, biology, public policy, and social science—as well as mathematics and statistics. This group will develop cross-disciplinary means of discovering the biological, clinical, environmental, and social causes of the spread of infectious diseases via computational modeling of pathogens and hosts, and will engage present and future scientists and policy makers in a dialogue to enhance the control of infectious diseases.
Download the Computational Modeling of Global Infectious Disease Threats and Policy Proposal
