Workshop Series Offers Assistance on 'Convergence' Research Proposals

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September 26, 2019

Ohio State researchers can participate in two upcoming workshops to learn more about a $12 million, National Science Foundation funding opportunity for research covering complex problems that focus on societal needs.

Federal agencies that fund research increasingly emphasize the importance of “convergence” (transdisciplinary, stakeholder-driven) research to effectively tackle aspects of complex societal challenges. The Discovery Themes at Ohio State have convened leading experts from multiple disciplines around challenges such as sustainability, infectious disease and food security, but faculty who have not yet begun to collaborate across disciplines or who don’t fully understand what agencies such as the National Science Foundation mean by “convergence research” are at a disadvantage in competing for funding.

A two-part workshop series at Ohio State will provide diverse insider perspectives about “convergence”; an overview of the upcoming NSF “Growing Convergence Research” (GCR) funding opportunity; and facilitated processes to develop teams and project ideas. The NSF GCR proposals are due Feb. 3 for requests of up to $3.6 million in two phases over five years.

The first workshop, Oct. 15, “Growing Convergence Research,” featured an overview of the NSF GCR solicitation; a competitive analysis of recently funded awards; and an overview of support services available for proposal development at Ohio State. It was lead by a panel featuring Ohio State faculty:

  • Sathya Gopalakrishnan, Department of Agricultural, Developmental and Environmental Economics; reviewer on 2019 Growing Convergence Research NSF panel
  • Elena Irwin, Department of Agricultural, Developmental and Environmental Economics; reviewer on multiple NSF calls requiring “convergence” research
  • Rajiv Ramnath, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; former NSF Program Officer, Directorate of Computer & Information Science & Engineering

Then, in the Nov. 4 workshop, “Facilitating Convergence Research Collaboration,” participants will engage in a brainstorming and idea generation process to develop and rank convergence research project ideas for the NSF solicitation or other funding opportunities. Susan Melsop and Yvette Shen from the Department of Design will facilitate this process.

Researchers may participate in one or both of these opportunities; registration is required. Participants in Part 2 are encouraged to watch the Part 1 webinar recording for relevant information about convergence research at NSF. 

Sponsors of the two-part workshop series are the Sustainability Institute, Translational Data Analytics Institute, Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme, University Libraries, and Research Development Office.

Growing Convergence Research (GCR) is a funding program that advances implementation of “Convergence Research,” one of NSF’s 10 Big Ideas: bold, long-term research and process ideas that identify areas for future investment at the frontiers of science and engineering. The Big Ideas represent unique opportunities to position the United States at the cutting edge of global science and engineering leadership by bringing together diverse disciplinary perspectives to support convergence research.