College-wide Research Vision

College-wide Research Vision Initiative

The Office of Research of the City College of New York announced in October 2021 a competition for seed funding and invites the CCNY community to harness paradigm shifting fundamental research to address challenging real-world problems by connecting diverse disciplines, techniques, and ways of thinking.  To achieve these objectives, faculty from different disciplines must share knowledge, ask questions from multiple angles, collaborate on research, and tear down academic barriers. The College-wide Research Vision (CRV) aims to remove academic silos and foster research that addresses the toughest questions facing humanity and that has practical implications for New York City, the nation and the world.  CRV is designed to support researchers as they form inter-divisional teams tasked with investigating urgent issues, the results of which will have direct impact.

Through the CRV Initiative, proposals were solicited across the campus for work that may portend solutions attainable in less than a decade. These projects must be rooted in collaboration to produce practical solutions to social, environmental, economic, cultural, political and humanitarian challenges. The collaborative team must commit to seek funding to grow and sustain the effort during and after an initial three-year period of internal funding.

Overview

The Office of Research requested through the 2021-2022 competition process Concept Papers that embraced the above goals. The concept papers should provide forward-looking views and identify new opportunities at the forefront of research and innovation. Concept Papers should not simply represent the PIs’ ongoing or planned research activities. Researchers should identify challenges or opportunities, potential solutions and outline the collaborative team necessary to address the challenge. In order to facilitate broader discussions of the submitted ideas, topic suggestions will not be kept confidential. The College Research Council (CRC) subsequently reviewed submitted Concept Papers and invite submitters to engage with the CRC in further discussions of their proposed topic. Concept Papers should consider the following:

• Does the proposed topic represent an opportunity for a significant leap or paradigm shift in a research area, or have the potential to create a new research area, generally and on our campus?
• What are the underpinning breakthroughs? Why is now the right time?
• Is there potential for making significant progress on a current national or societal need, or “grand challenge”?
• Does the topic require inter/multi-disciplinary expertise? Is the research scope beyond the capabilities of one school/division?
• How will the project be managed and what role will the non-lead personnel play in the research?

This was a multi-stage discussion and selection process to determine a collaborative college-wide effort.  The process included discussions among proposers whereby ideas / teams could merge into a single funded project.

Funding

• The goal is to support one project beginning 09/01/2022.  The Office of Research will provide seed funding of up to $200,000 annually for up to three years. 

Requirements

• The CRV team is required to report out by way of semi-annual presentations to the CRC and annual reports to the Office of Research. 

CRV Timeline

• CRV Announcement – October 1, 2021
• College-wide CRV Town Hall – October 21, 2021 (view Town Hall Recording)
• Deadline for submission of Concept papers – December 1, 2021 (See below table for submitted concept papers)
• An overview of the teams and Concept Papers - December 9, 2021. (View Recording) (PowerPoint Presentation File) 
• CRC Review of Concept Papers and potential teams – December 2021 - January 2022
• Coordination/Facilitation of potential CRV Teams – January – March 2022
• PI Meeting and Presentation - With AtKisson Training Group - 3/18/2022 (View Recording) 
• Presentation to CRC (Session A) – June 29, 2022 1-3pm (Teams 1-4) - See below (View Recording)
• Presentation to CRC (Session B) – July 27, 2022 1-3pm (Teams 5-8) - See below (View Recording)
• Final Selection of CRV Team – August 31, 2022
• Commencement of the CRV Project – September 1, 2022

Final Selection

On behalf of the CCNY Community and the Office of Research, we congratulate Team 7 led by Dr. Yana Kucheva being selected as the inaugural CRV project. The CRV-2022 awarded project is titled "Energizing Equity: Co-creating Scalable Urban Resilience via Climate Solidarity."

Session A:

Date and Time: Wednesday, June 29, 2022, 1 – 3 pm EDT

• Team 1: Artificial Intelligence for Health Equity and Diversity (AIHED)
  Team Lead: Ashiwel Undieh
  Framing Question: How might individual and community health evolve if wellness and healthcare delivery were infused with inclusive and equitable AI technologies?
  Presentation File: Link

• Team 2: Mitigating the Effects of War on Vulnerable Populations
  Team Lead: Bruce Cronin
  Framing Question: How can governments, international organizations and non governmental organizations better protect and provide for the physical security and mental health of civilians, forced migrants, displaced persons, and wounded soldiers during armed conflict?
  Presentation File: Link

• Team 3: Offshore Wind Farms for Clean and Renewable Energy –Towards a Systematic Framework to Evaluate their Environmental and Societal Impact
  Team Lead: Hansong Tang
  Framing Question: Imagine if we had the knowledge to inform the planning and building of offshore wind (OSW) farms and mitigate the potential adverse effects such farms might have on the ocean's ecosystems and the vulnerability of the farms to extreme weather.
  Presentation File: Link

• Team 4: Interdisciplinary approach to critical environmental and municipal infrastructure challenges: application to biosolids management
  Team Lead: John Fillos
  Framing Question: Imagine if New York viewed waste as a valuable resource rather than a problem and used waste to bring sustainable benefits to a range of people. What would that look like?
  Presentation File: Link

Session B: (Presentation Video)

Date and Time: Wednesday, July 27, 2022, 1 – 3 pm EDT

• Team 5: The “Beloved Community” Project
  Team Lead: Terri N. Watson
  Framing Question: What Would Be the Social Consequences If Harlem’s Residents Were Given Access to Culturally Affirming and Quality Health Care?
  Presentation File: Link

• Team 6: “Hygroscience” for Evaporation Energy Harvesting
  Team Lead: Xi Chen
  Framing Question: What would it look like if we could create a NEW form of sustainable energy?
  Presentation File: Link

• Team 7: Energizing Equity: Co-creating Scalable Urban Resilience via Climate Solidarity
  Team Lead: Yana Kucheva
  Framing Question: Imagine if solidarity surrounding climate actions were leveraged to reimagine and co-create a future for New York City?
  Presentation File: Link

• Team 8: Biodiversity and climatic controls of New York State’s economy – lessons from Sugar Maples
  Team Lead: Ana Carnaval
  Framing Question: How do soil microbes and climate impact New York State’s maple-related industries through sap production and Fall foliage colors?
  Presentation File: Link

Questions? Feel free to email CCNYResearchVision@ccny.cuny.edu