By DONOVAN HARRELL
The Office of the Provost is trying to increase the visibility of and promote more interdisciplinary researchers and projects with the inaugural Fueling Our Future showcase.
The internal funding showcase on Feb. 24 will provide Pitt faculty and staff an opportunity to learn more about the University’s grants, including the Pitt Research Momentum Funds and Forge Your Own Path (formerly the Personalized Education) grants, and find out which projects were awarded this year
“We wanted to have a chance to recognize and celebrate and showcase some of the innovative work that our faculty and staff are doing in teaching and research, and a lot of it is really interesting collaborative work as well,” Provost Ann Cudd said.
The big prizes are the two Pitt Momentum awards for scaling grants of $400,000, given out over two years, and seven teaming grants of $60,000 each. The showcase is a collaborative effort between the Office of Research, run by Senior Vice Chancellor Rob Rutenbar, and the Provost's Office. Both offices are funding the grants along with the Chancellor's Office.
Michael Holland, the University’s first vice chancellor for Science Policy and Research Strategies, and Julia Spears, associate vice provost for Academic Innovation, have played integral roles in putting the showcase together.
Spears said the showcase format can foster more interdisciplinary networking and collaboration at Pitt. The showcase is an attempt to get people out of their “bubbles.”
“Part of what we're trying to do is also elevate the way in which interdisciplinary work happens and to encourage researchers and other faculty or staff who are trying to see connections beyond their disciplinary perspectives,” Spears said. “So this is a space to help to bring those folks together and to really encourage conversation beyond us.”
The showcase will feature presentations from past grant awardees and more. It will take place from 1 to 6:30 p.m. at Alumni Hall in the seventh-floor auditorium and the Connelly Ballroom. RSVP here.
Showcase schedule
Seventh Floor Auditorium:
1-1:10 p.m.: Welcome
1:15-3p.m.: Accomplishments from prior funding:
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1:15-1:45 p.m.: Erin Anderson, Department of English, “Dear Mr. President: A Podcast in Letters.” 2019 Special Initiative to Promote Scholarly Activities in the Humanities
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1:50-2:20 p.m.: Carla Ng, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, “Can the Toxic Equivalency Approach Be Used for Perfluorinated Water Contaminants?” 2018 Central Research Development Fund
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2:25-2:55 p.m.: Gina Garcia, Department of Administrative and Policy Studies, “Faculty Development at One Hispanic-serving Community College: Exploring Relationships between Student Outcomes and Faculty Knowledge, Skills, and Behaviors.” 2019 Central Research Development Fund
3-3:15 p.m.: Announcement of Teaming Grant Awardees
Connolly Ballroom
3:30-3:45 p.m.: Announcement of Forge Your Own Path Grant Awardees
3:45-4:15 p.m.: Academic Innovation Panel, with:
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Brian Galla, Department of Psychology in Education, “Personalizing Undergraduate STEM Learning through Mobile Mindfulness Training.” 2018 Personalized Education Grant Award
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Lorna Kearns, University Center for Teaching and Learning, “LMS Platform for Online Continuing Education.” 2018 Pitt Seed Grant Award
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Jane Wallace and Katherine Wolfe, Department of Economics, “Micro- and Macroeconomics Theory Incubator.” 2018 Course Incubator Project
4:20-4:35 p.m. Announcement of Scaling Grant Awardees
4:35-4:45 p.m. Recognition of University Research Council coordinators and reviewers
5-6:30 p.m. Reception and Poster Session
Correction:
An earlier version of this article said there were two teaming grants. It's been updated to show that there are seven.
Donovan Harrell is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at dharrell@pitt.edu or 412-383-9905.
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