The InterDisciplinary Exchange & Advancement (IDEA) Leadership initiative supports innovative research, scholarly, and interdisciplinary collaboration. The collaborations are taking a variety of forms such as developing a proposal for a campus research center, a proposal for a funded proposal, a performance or exhibit, a book proposal, or a new academic programmatic area.

Each IDEA leader is participating in leadership development provided by the WAVES project and the Center for Women and Work. The initiative is funded by the Provost’s Office, the Vice Chancellor for Research, and the NSF ADVANCE Making WAVES team.

Our IDEA Leaders and their project:

  • Jana Sladkova, Associate Professor of Psychology
    • Project: Global Migration Issues
  • Kirsten Swenson, Associate Professor of Art History
    • Project: Critical Landscapes: Artistic, Scientific, and Human Approaches to the Environment
  • David Willis, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering & Christopher Hansen, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
    • Project: MASS-STEM Education: Mastering Adaptive and Scalable Systems (MASS) for STEM Education
  • Matthew Gage, Associate Professor of Chemistry
    • Project: Understanding the Mechanics of Movement and Muscle Function
  • Asil Oztekin, Associate Professor of OIS & Margaret Knight, Associate Professor of Nursing
    • Project: A Holistic Data Analytic Modeling of Health Outcomes for Different Vulnerable Risk Groups of Adults