EAGER Germination Renewal: Piloting a Center for Transformative Research at Boise State University

该项目通过在博伊西州立大学建立一个转型研究中心，解决了培育能够有效满足社会需求的变革性研究想法的迫切需要。该项目建立在一个试点奖项的基础上，该团队在该奖项中展示了初步的原则证明，即有能力建立一个自信的社区--协调利益攸关方和结构，以实现冒险。拟议的中心将有三个主要组成部分：研究活跃的教师和博士后研究员的专业发展；大学结构的调整，以支持变革性研究问题和想法的萌芽；以及对参与者的纵向跟踪，以衡量中心的长期影响。这一转型研究中心的成功发展可能会产生几个重要影响。它不仅可能导致开发新的研究项目，解决具有重大社会意义的研究问题，而且还可能成为其他新兴研究活跃大学的典范。在试点转型研究中心的过程中，博伊西州立大学将测试一个可扩展的平台，帮助教师和博士后提出变革性的研究问题，并让学生参与研究。该中心将在结构上和文化上位于创新+设计学院内，并将与研究和经济发展司建立牢固的联系。在资助期间，私人投资主任将透过静修和工作坊，为参加者提供有针对性的专业发展，加强他们发展研究身份、提出具变革性的研究问题和推进研究议程的能力。一个平行的目标是重新设想大学结构，以支持参与者进行变革性研究的可能性。必要的对话将包括讨论晋升和终身教职政策，以及奖励高风险项目和团队科学的机制。博伊西州立大学可以被认为是新兴的研究活跃的美国大学-高等教育的中产阶级的代表。拟议的方法可以扩展，并可转移到类似的机构。博伊西州参与由24个国家和国际机构组成的垂直综合项目联盟，提供了一条潜在的易于处理的传播途径。

This project addresses the critical need to foster transformative research ideas that can effectively address societal needs by developing a Center for Transformative Research at Boise State University. The project builds on a pilot award in which this team demonstrated preliminary proof-of-principle of the ability to build an ASSERTive community - Aligning Stakeholders and Structures to Enable Risk Taking. The proposed Center will have three major components: professional development for research-active faculty and post-doctoral fellows; alignment of university structures to support germination of transformative research questions and ideas; and longitudinal tracking of participants to measure the long-term impact of the Center. Successful development of this Center for Transformative Research could have several important impacts. Not only might it lead to development of new research programs that grapple with societally significant research problems, but it could also serve as a model for other emerging research-active universities.In piloting a Center for Transformative Research, Boise State University will test a scalable platform for assisting faculty and post-doctoral fellows to pose transformative research questions, and engage students in research. The Center will reside structurally and culturally within the College of Innovation + Design, and will have strong ties to the Division of Research and Economic Development. During the grant period, the PIs will provide focused professional development for participants through retreats and workshops, enhancing their ability to develop their research identity, formulate transformative research questions, and advance their research agenda. A parallel goal is to re-imagine university structures to support the possibility of transformative research among the participants. Necessary conversations will include discussions of promotion and tenure policies, and mechanisms for rewarding high-risk projects and team science. Boise State can be considered representative of emerging research-active US universities - the middle class of higher education. The proposed approach could be scalable and transferable to similar institutions. Boise State's participation in the Vertically Integrated Project (VIP) Consortium, comprised of 24 national and international institutions, offers a potentially tractable route for dissemination.