Grand Challenges News for Researchers Research News
Posted October 29, 2021 by Heidi Uhing
Throughout September and October, the Office of Research and Economic Development hosted weekly community-building events on each of UNL’s Grand Challenge themes. Total attendance across the events was more than 600 faculty, staff and students. Where available, recordings and slides from the community-building conversations are posted on the Grand Challenges website.
To propel these discussions toward the proposal development process, additional events are being organized so researchers may broaden their connections across disciplines and form teams around common goals:
- Nov. 16, 2-4 p.m. – “Humanizing the Grand Challenges: Partnering to Achieve Excellence and Impact,” a workshop to help the university community understand opportunities, lessons learned and benefits surrounding reciprocal partnerships among scholars in the arts, humanities, sciences and engineering. Registration is required.
- Dec. 9, 2-4 p.m. – “Centering your Proposal’s DEI Plan in the Diversity Science Literature,” an interactive workshop to support individuals and teams developing diversity, equity and inclusion plans for proposals with a focus on the Grand Challenges RFP. Registration is required.
- Jan. 11-13, 2022 – UNL Grand Challenges Scoping Workshop, which will focus on sparking new ideas and teams positioned to pursue funding through the Grand Challenges Catalyst Competition. Additional information and registration is available on the Grand Challenges website.
Finally, faculty and staff interested in exploring cross-disciplinary connections related to UNL’s Grand Challenges are invited to participate in a randomized coffee trial, intended to randomly connect individuals with shared interests. If you would like ORED to pair you with a colleague interested in helping to address UNL’s Grand Challenges and treat you to coffee, please send an email to grandchallenges@unl.edu.