The University of Idaho has consistently been praised as a high-quality research institution, and this year UI President Chuck Staben made sure it lives up to the praise.
Last week five groups composed of UI community members received between $40,000 and $80,000 in grant money as part of the Vandal Ideas Project (VIP). VIP is meant to promote new interdisciplinary research within the university.
The work will begin when funds are released this summer. The President”s Office provided the internal funding, reaching a total of $300,000.
Five groups were selected, but almost 40 proposals were submitted, which proves how important research is to this institution and how eager the community is to generate new, interesting ideas.
The Integrated Research and Innovation Center (IRIC), which is intended to provide an area for interdisciplinary research, is scheduled to be completed this fall, opening up space for collaboration among researchers.
Faculty submitted the proposals, but many said they intend to utilize students through their research. The members of each group represent a variety of colleges and departments within the university – from the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) to the College of Business and Economics.
Interdisciplinary research has a large impact at UI. It affects the incoming grant money, the university”s status as a research institution and the faculty, staff and students who work on these projects. It”s good to see Staben recognize how important having interdisciplinary research is to UI and contribute to the progress of it.
The element of collaboration within the project cannot be understated either. In one of the proposals, art faculty and scientific researchers plan to work together to create visual representations of science as an exhibit for the Prichard Art Gallery. Artists and scientists are by no means typical groups to work as partners, but through these opportunities atypical groups of people on campus can come together to discover new ideas.
In another proposal, members of CLASS will work with members of the UI Library to create a space called the Center for Digital Inquiry and Learning. Though CLASS is the biggest college at the university and the university is seen as a research institution, it”s often in reference to the hard sciences.
Both of these proposals serve as examples of how diverse and far-reaching interdisciplinary research can be. Students from across campus may get their first taste of how research can help them build their experience and skills, and that”s a beautiful thing.
Hopefully, these projects will turn out successfully and lead to more programs like VIP at UI in the future.
– EB