Please share with all interested faculty. CLAS is playing a major role in this initiative, including the involvement of our Office of Sustainability and the Environment, and we welcome all those interested in participating. The following is from the OVPR's Research Development Office. 

If climate change is not addressed, what will Iowa look like in 50 years? Do you want to expand your network to answer this question and capture expected climate change research funding while contributing your talents towards building a more just, healthy, and sustainable future? Your response (~100 words/<750 characters) to the question above is critical in shaping the topics that will be explored during a series of three 90-minute Innovation Labs this spring facilitated by Knowinnovation. 

Overview

Through February 4, University of Iowa (UI) and Iowa State University (ISU) are partnering to host a survey leading to a series of Innovation Labs. The Innovation Labs will connect UI and ISU researchers and networks to generate novel interdisciplinary research ideas, help refine research questions, build interdisciplinary teams, and begin the important task of writing team-based, impactful, winning research proposals. With your involvement, expertise, and enthusiasm, new and exciting paths can be charted for Iowa researchers leading to the capture of climate change and sustainability science research funding.

Your Ideas will Shape the Discussion

We seek responses from all disciplines to the following question – What are the interdisciplinary climate change and/or sustainability research challenges that Iowa researchers are particularly well positioned to explore in the next three to five years? Responses will be reviewed, sorted, and themed to identify the top concepts to explore during the Innovation Labs

Provide your responses (~100 words/<750 characters) through February 4 here.

Innovation Labs

A series of Innovation Labs will be held to bring together faculty from across the UI and ISU campuses to identify key research questions that must be answered if these gaps are to be filled and opportunities for collaborative research on related topics. The objective of the Innovation Labs is to share ideas and begin to develop research teams built on important questions and collective strengths, all leading to successful grants in climate change and sustainability science. More specifically, these events are intended to foster an Iowa response to the research challenges associated with climate change and long-term sustainability.

• Innovation Lab #1 - Network and ideate: Wednesday, February 23 @ 9:30am-11am
• Innovation Lab #2 - Network and refine ideas: Wednesday, March 2 @ 9:30am-11am
• Innovation Lab #3 - Network, refine ideas, and pitch ideas: Wednesday, March 9 @ 9:30am-11am

To participate in the Innovation Labs, register here.  You will be sent a calendar invite including a Zoom link prior to Innovation Lab # 1.

Knowinnovation

This workshop is facilitated by Knowinnovation, an organization dedicated to accelerating scientific innovation by designing events that create cross-disciplinary collaborations and build scientific communities. Events use deliberate creativity to harness the power of disparate fields, engage diverse teams, and extend the frontiers of science. Knowinnovation has worked with national bodies to regional colleges including the United Nations, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council UK.

Timeline

• Submit Ideas - Through February 4
• Review and Theme Ideas - February 7 through February 11
• Announce Innovation Lab Themes - February 14
• Innovation Labs - Wednesday, February 23/March 2/March 9 @ 9:30am-11am
• Discuss Ideas and Funding Opportunity Alignment - Tuesday, April 5 @ 10am-11am and Wednesday, April 6 @ 2pm-3pm

Potential Funding

See below for a list of potential internal and external funding opportunities to kickstart your ideas.

Internal

• ISU Presidential Interdisciplinary Research Initiative: These funds are designed to launch new interdisciplinary research teams leading to competitive external funding applications. 
• UI Interdisciplinary, Scalable Solutions for a Sustainable Future: These funds are designed to promote the UI as an important destination for research and teaching in the environmental and sustainability sciences, while enhancing the competitiveness of UI researchers as they seek large interdisciplinary grants.
• UI Seeding Excellence: Interdisciplinary Research Scholars: These funds are designed to build and support interdisciplinary research teams focused on the climate-environment-health nexus leading to competitive external funding applications.

External*
*Search results using Pivot. Must be using University IP address range.

• Climate Change
• Environmental Conservation
• Sustainability
• Agriculture and Food Sciences
• Renewable Energy

Questions

Please email Aaron Kline (Director, UI Research Development Office), Stratis Giannakouros (Director, UI Office of Sustainability and the Environment), Surya Mallapragada (ISU Associate VP for Research), or Jane Garrity (ISU Director of Strategic Initiatives) with questions.