2014 NSF Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) Workshop: Interdisciplinarity and Innovation

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Recent reports from the National Academies speak to the weakening of U.S. competitiveness and the need for a diverse workforce to drive innovation. Federally funded university research is a proven driver of innovation, and minorities and women remain an insufficiently tapped talent source. This workshop, targeted towards women and underrepresented minority engineering faculty, will be conducted at NSF on August 21-22, 2014. It will provide participants with opportunities for professional development and a chance to gain a better understanding of how to identify, conduct and fund transformative research carried out by interdisciplinary teams. In doing so, the workshop addresses strategic goals of the National Science Foundation and critical needs of the nation related to our global competiveness and an improved national economy.Building upon past professional development models employed in previous workshops led by the PI and incorporating programming that addresses interdisciplinarity and research innovation, this EFRI funded workshop is uniquely positioned for success. Faculty participants will gain a better understanding of interdisciplinarity and what constitutes cutting-edge transformative research, how to bring a team together to define an important research problem/challenge and develop a strategy to address it, how to lead interdisciplinary teams and manage large complex projects, and how to network and exploit opportunities. The workshop format will consist of a series of informational and interactive sessions over a 1 ½ day period. It is organized to specifically address professional development, leadership and innovation along with project management in support of transformative research. Participants will be recruited from institutions across the country with a special emphasis on minority serving institutions and presenters will be drawn from the academy of engineers, federal agencies, senior faculty and administrators, NSF program officers, and successful EFRI awardees.