Partners for Broader Impacts
The Research Development team in the VPR Office serves as liaison to several external and internal partners, including the following:
iTHRIV (integrated Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia)
Director: Karen Johnston
The integrated Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia (iTHRIV) is a collaboration of public and private institutions across the Commonwealth of Virginia that promotes shared resources and best practices, team science, community engagement and innovation. iTHRIV integrates data science approaches through all aspects of clinical translational research in order to speed discovery and improve the health of our communities. iTHRIV is committed to train and equip the next generation of clinical and translational researchers. Health care solutions are hidden in underutilized data. The iTHRIV overall goal is to support clinical translational research for the benefit of diverse rural and urban populations by expanding iTHRIV infrastructure and improving processes. iTHRIV will integrate data and data analytics to accelerate and streamline scientific workflows for clinical trials, innovative therapeutic advancements, and the creation of more personalized approaches to healthcare. Through the Commons (cross-state informatics infrastructure) and the Research Concierge Services, iTHRIV will remove barriers to discovery in Virginia and beyond.
iTHRIV partners: Inova, University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Carilion
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
ORNLis the largest multi-program science and energy laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy. As part of the original University Partnerships vision, ORNL established a founding group of core partners with the major southeastern research universities, including UVA. Each core partner university has two formal linkages to ORNL: 1) a seat on the Board of Governors and S&T Committee, and a 2) Core University Liaison. ORNL and the core universities work together through the team of University Liaisons. UVA's ORNL Liaison serves as PI on the ORNL Liaison grant and is responsible for the ORNL-UVA Travel Fund Program, which provides funding to faculty, students, and staff in support of the ORNL-UVA relationship.
FUNDING MECHANISMS THAT SUPPORT STUDENT RESEARCH AT ORNL
MITRE University Innovation Exchange Program
The MITRE University Innovation Exchange was established in 2018 as a partnership between the MITRE Corporation, UVA and several other Virginia public universities, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, and the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority. The University Innovation Exchange envisions MITRE staff and university students and faculty working on integrated project teams to identify and try approaches to fast track innovative solutions to complex national challenges. In 2019 MITRE, UVA, George Mason University, Virginia Tech, Christopher Newport University, James Madison University, Virginia State University, Old Dominion University, and William & Mary implemented a master agreement to facilitate establishing projects. The vision is for other universities to join the master agreement in the future. The University Innovation Exchange will provide the following benefits to its partners:
Public universities
- Provide students and faculty opportunities to collaborate with practitioners on national challenges in cybersecurity, national security, aviation, social science, healthcare, and other sectors.
- Advance ongoing workforce development efforts.
- Attract prospective students.
- Opportunities for students and faculty to publish.
- Open avenues for commercializing innovations.
MITRE
- Expedite innovative solutions to complex national challenges in support of MITRE's government sponsors by combining expertise, perspectives, and leading research capabilities.
- Increase the pipeline of qualified systems engineers, computer scientists, health informatic specialists, aviation, and other specialists to tackle next-generation public challenges.
- Strengthen longstanding academic partnerships to support MITRE's mission to solve problems for a safer world.
The Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium and the Medical CBRN Defense Consortium
The Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC) is a nationally-dispersed consortium with members from industry, academia and the nonprofit sector which seeks to be the partner of choice for private industry, academic institutions, government agencies, and other research organizations seeking to accelerate the development of medical solutions that prevent and treat injuries and restore America’s military and veterans to full health. The Medical CBRN Defense Consortium (MCDC) was formed in response to the Government’s expressed interest to establish an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) with an eligible entity or group of entities, to include industry, academic, and not-for-profit partners, for advanced development efforts to support the Department of Defense's (DoD) medical pharmaceutical and diagnostic requirements as related to enhancing the mission effectiveness of military personnel. The VPR RD team serves as a Point of Contact for MTEC and MCDC and distributes funding opportunities to the Schools. Stewart Craig in OSP is the Primary Institutional Point of Contact for MTEC and MCDC.
The University of Virginia is home to a number of centers and initiatives that offer partnership opportunities to enhance the breadth and impact of research projects. These entities can help connect research with K-12 classrooms, conduct research analysis for public policy, train future leaders, and facilitate community outreach and engagement. They can be valuable partners for strengthening the broader impacts of research proposals to the National Science Foundation and other funding organizations.
The Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Outreach posts information on funding opportunities for research in the public interest and community engagement. Listed below are centers and initiatives affiliated with the Vice Provost for Academic Outreach.
CENTER FOR THE LIBERAL ARTS
Co-Directors: Victor Luftig and Lisa Woolfork
In April of 1983, a committee charged by the Reagan administration issued A Nation at Risk. A year later, a group of faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Virginia banded together in an effort to redress what they saw as a subordination of content enrichment in teacher education. What emerged was an institution, directed by Harold H. Kolb, Jr., that brought together professors from English, History, Classics, Politics, the foreign languages, Math, and the sciences, in order to create and offer programs for K-12 teachers and to establish a new ongoing relationship between the university and the schools.
Begun as an experiment in 1984, the Center for the Liberal Arts has for more than three decades honored its mission of offering "programs for K-12 teachers designed to increase their knowledge of the content that they teach. It has also sustained and nurtured respectful relationships between university faculty—including some of the nation's most celebrated thinkers--and those K-12 teachers, collaborating with education and technology specialists and master teachers to create pedagogical tools and materials that are used around the globe. The Center, now under the direction of Victor Luftig, resides at 102 Cresap and continues to enjoy the support of the Office of the Provost, reporting directly to the Vice Provost for Academic Outreach, Louis Nelson.
Support of faculty research
Faculty whose grant proposals would benefit from an outreach component involving K-12 teachers may turn to CLA at any stage of the process: developing an idea for such outreach, drafting the relevant portion of the proposal, and implementing and assessing programs if funded. Programs may range from one-day programs and supervised teacher research fellowships to multi-week residential institutes, on Grounds or on site at school divisions around the Commonwealth.
ENGAGED UVA
Engaged UVA is the front door to community partnerships at UVA, designed to connect faculty, students and communities to mutually beneficial research and teaching programs. The site reflects current and ongoing community based initiatives, and allows users to search for associated faculty, courses, projects, and community partners. Engaged UVA was launched by the Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Outreach in 2017 in an effort to gather and highlight information on the community engaged programs already underway at the University. Faculty can use this site to find colleagues doing similar work. Students can find new courses and engagement opportunities. Community members can see the array of current and ongoing programs.
VIRGINIA HUMANITIES
Executive Director: Matthew Gibson
Since its founding in 1974, Virginia Humanities has produced more than 40,000 humanities programs serving communities large and small throughout Virginia, the nation and the world. In addition to Foundation-directed programs including festivals, publications, digital initiatives, conferences, teacher institutes, and public radio programs, VFH has contributed to more than 3,000 grant projects and 300 individual and collaborative fellowships.
Virginia Humanities encourages discovery and connection through the humanities by supporting and producing cultural, civic, local, and global educational programs for broad public audiences. We work with individuals and communities to explore the past, confront current issues, and discover a promising future. Virginia Humanities is the state humanities council. Apply for a grant or fellowship, attend our annual book festival, listen to one of our radio programs or podcasts, or join us at an event near you.
Here’s a complete list of all the things we do.
WELDON COOPER CENTER FOR PUBLIC SERVICE
Interim Executive Director: Meghan R. Murray
The Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service works to strengthen and preserve effective governance in Virginia by leveraging the research, expertise, and resources of the University of Virginia to inform public policy, develop and support community leaders, and foster impactful civic engagement. We seek to build an informed, skilled, engaged public working with capable and inclusive leaders through institutions of government, community organizations, and other avenues for dialogue and problem solving.
Tracing its history back as far as 1931, today’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service weaves together several threads of services to local and state government officials and to residents of the Commonwealth:
SERVICES
Weldon Cooper Center professionals are known for conducting top quality research, independently and under contract, on a range of topics in the public interest. Cooper Center expert researchers know how to ask the right questions, responsibly analyze data, and develop sound, practical conclusions for public and private organizations across Virginia.
Government Training and Support
The Weldon Cooper Center advises and offers training and recertification programs for government practitioners, incorporating hands-on wisdom, identified best practices, and research on emerging trends.
Leadership Development Programs
Expert training and coaching for optimizing leadership and strengthening organizations in local governments and among political candidates and elected officials lies at the heart of Cooper Center engagement in communities across Virginia and the nation.