Dear Colleague Letter: IDIA P3 Faculty Fellowship
Dear Colleagues,
With this Dear Colleagues Letter (DCL), the Institute of Digital InnovAtion (IDIA) solicits applications for IDIA Public-Private-Partnership (P3) Faculty Fellows.
Program Description
The newly launched IDIA P3 Faculty Fellows Program seeks to stimulate research collaborations and partnerships between George Mason University and industry partners on impactful societal problems and cutting-edge digital solutions of consequence to the local, regional, or national economy. The program directly supports the growth of George Mason University’s digital innovation ecosystem and catalyzes a tightly integrated academe-industry community of innovation.
Program Structure
IDIA P3 Faculty Fellows are expected to:
- Identify an industry partner that commits to a deeply collaborative relationship to work jointly on a problem of critical importance to industry and society at large
- Formulate a novel research approach that has high intellectual merit and promises to lead to a breakthrough technology with high broader impact
- Provide evidence of the commitment of the industry partner on joint research and innovation
Industry partners can have a local, regional, national, or international footprint. Evidence of their commitment can include one or more of the following:
- A letter of shared interests and mission by a company representative
- Access to and utilization of company data, hard, and/or software infrastructure
- In-kind commitment by allocating company staff to work jointly with Mason faculty
- Opportunities for Mason undergraduate or graduate students potentially included in the project to further their experience through internships and other industry-housed activities and events
Awards
Awards are expected to be in the range of $50,000 to $75,000 for a duration of at most two years. Awards are restricted to Mason faculty and subject to George Mason University guidelines. Up to three awards are expected, based on the quality of submissions and the availability of funds.
Eligibility Information
Only current employees of George Mason University can apply. This program is limited to tenure-track, tenured, or research-track faculty. An individual may participate in only one proposal. Being a consultant for a company disqualifies that individual from participating in this program through a partnership with that company.
Program Requirements
An end-of-year ‘Come Meet our Fellows’ meeting that celebrates the achievements of IDIA fellows is anticipated, and awardees should make plans for a meaningful and active participation in this event. Fellows are additionally expected to provide an annual report of their progress and accomplishments.
IDIA P3 Faculty Fellows are expected to become an integral part of the IDIA community. As such, they will have the opportunity to: take part in community-building events with other IDIA faculty and predoctoral fellows; collaborate with other fellows to organize and support IDIA-sponsored events, such as seminars, panels, workshops, and tutorials; connect with IDIA’s rich network of academic, government, think tank, and industry partners around digital innovation; and engage with Mason Innovation Exchange and Mason Enterprise.
IDIA P3 Faculty Fellows will additionally have the opportunity to benefit from in-support activities, such as Mason Enterprise ICAPS, Accelerate, and other programs, through which they may further integrate themselves in Mason’s innovation ecosystem and bring their ideas and innovation from the lab to the market.
A successful IDIA P3 Faculty Fellows experience naturally positions fellows for industry-partnered external funding opportunities, which include but are not limited to the NSF GOALI program, the NSF Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) program, the NSF I-Corps program, the NSF Activate Program, and larger-scale NSF programs, such as IUCRC, ERC, STC, the Virginia Catalyst Award program, the NIH Bioengineering Partnerships with Industry, the NCI Academic-Industrial Partnerships for Translation of Technologies for Diagnosis and Treatment, the DTRA Transitions Program, the SBIR/STTR program, the DARPA Embedded Entrepreneurship Initiative, the DARPA Information Innovation program, and more.
Application Details
Applications should adhere to the template provided. Applications that do not follow the provided template will be returned without review.
The application template can be found at: IDIA-P3-Faculty_ApplicationTemplate.
Applications should be compiled into a single pdf, named FirstName-LastName-IDIA-PD.pdf, where FirstName and LastName refer to the first and last names of the applicant, and submitted via email to idia2@gmu.edu. The email subject should be: IDIA P3 Faculty Fellowship Application: First-Name Last-Name.
Applications will be reviewed by a team of interdisciplinary senior researchers and faculty, and awards will be made on a competitive basis.
Timeline and Other Information
Applications should be submitted by the following deadline:
April 10, 2024, 5:00PM EST
Office hours are planned to address questions from interested participants. They will be held remotely, via zoom, on:
March 11, 2024 (10-11AM), EDT.
RSVP here.
Any questions before then can be directed to idia2@gmu.edu
Sincerely,
Team IDIA
Amarda Shehu, Associate Vice President of Research, IDIA
Kammy Sanghera, Executive Director, IDIA
History and Background:
The IDIA P3 Faculty Fellowship Program was launched in March 2023. View archive here.
