This award recognizes and celebrates problem-driven, interdisciplinary research teams whose proven work has demonstrably transcended traditional disciplinary boundaries to address complex societal or scientific challenges. It specifically honors the synergistic and shared creation of knowledge, impactful findings, and methodological convergence achieved through prior collaborative efforts, even if conducted within a single department or college.
Eligibility Criteria
Criteria for the award based on prior work being submitted for recognition:
- All faculty and research staff are eligible to apply. This is a self-application process; no internal or external letters of nomination or support are required.
- The research team being recognized must include a minimum of two (2) Co-Principal Investigators (Co-PIs), including the Lead Principal Investigator (LPI), who demonstrably represented expertise from two (2) or more significantly distinct disciplines as defined by their academic training, departmental affiliation (or clearly distinct sub-disciplines within a large department/school), and/or methodological approaches.
- The prior research being nominated must be explicitly framed around a significant, non-academic societal or scientific problem. The achieved research outcomes must clearly align with generating actionable insights or solutions to this defined problem, not solely advancing fundamental knowledge within a single discipline.
- The nomination must clearly articulate a novel methodology that was a fusion of different disciplinary approaches, concepts, or tools, which was essential to the successful resolution of the defined problem. This approach must have gone beyond mere collaboration or serial application of methods.
- Nomination must present specific, measurable, and interdisciplinary deliverables that have already been achieved or are underway (e.g., integrated predictive model, a co-authored paper, novel dataset linking social and physical metrics, successful joint interdisciplinary grant).
- A dedicated section must be included in the proposal justifying how the project met the interdisciplinary team requirement and the methodological convergence criteria.
- Formatting, criteria a-f, has a page limit of 2, 1-inch margins, and font 12 Arial.
- Brief Biographical Sketch (Max 2 Pages per Co-PI): The sketch must be a narrative focused on expertise and demonstrated impact of the prior work, addressing the following: 1) relevant expertise for the project; 2) how your recognized research contributed to a larger societal or scientific cause; 3) evidence of successful interdisciplinary collaborations; 4) impact of the recognized work on institutional or strategic goals; and 5) direct relevance to the award selection criteria. Do not include a list of publications, patents, or general C.V. content. (1-inch margins, and font 12 Arial).
Nominations are to be submitted online through the UA InfoReady page and are to be submitted by noon on January 15, 2026. Recipients will be recognized at the 2026 Faculty Research Day.