Achieving the goals of the IU-MSI STEM Initiative begins with our Institutional Partners, which include Indiana University’s core campuses (Bloomington and Indianapolis) as the foundation and over 20 invited minority-serving institutions which include Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities.

Our initiative began back in 2007 with nine partners and has grown to include some of the leading institutions in their given fields. Each of our partnering institutions understands the level of commitment needed and adheres to the best practices outlined in our full partnership requirements.

More importantly, they discover the role of their partnership with the IU-MSI STEM Initiative in facilitating the expansion of funding opportunities for their core sets of research, increasing their research capacity, and preparing faculty and students for leading research positions.

All fully engaged partner institutions are committed to the goal of fostering collaborative research teams, with an ever broadening and diverse set of research proposals.

Faculty Collaboration Activities are designed to introduce faculty to each other around common interests in their respective STEM-related fields. Faculty teams are invited to activities designed for intense collaboration, idea generation, and proposal development. The team’s goal is to submit joint proposals to funding agencies.

Activities span a variety of time frames with the weeklong Faculty Research Development Institute (referred to as FRDI), a four-day Grant Writing Boot Camp, three-day Faculty Exchanges, and a one-day Grant Writing Workshop.

Each of these activities provide various spaces for collaborations focused on grant design and proposal development.

Collaborations between and among faculty teams can be enhanced through digital tools. Fully engaged faculty from minority-serving institutions gain an IU affiliate account. This account provides access to IU email, online research journals, and the Zoom virtual meeting service.

Other support tools include invitations to share research interests via Lightning Talk Presentations and Informational Webinars. Faculty teams who are submitting proposals can also access Proposal Development Services and receive feedback to improve chances for a funded submission.

If faculty teams need additional support to gather preliminary data for proof of concept, small seed grants may be available.

The IU-MSI STEM Initiative has a collaborative relationshio with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division, better known as Crane - offers a number of research connections for fully engaged faculty in our initiative. Research areas  target material science, optics, computer, mechanical, and electrical engineering.

Crane scientists also participate in the Lightning Talk Series and in the webinars related to student internships through the Crane Summer Student Employment Program (SSEP), and faculty fellowships, through the Faculty Summer Fellowship Program. 

Faculty can also visit Crane through Faculty-Crane Exchanges to learn about the ongoing collaborative research by research scientists with a possibility of working together as well as being funded for their research.

Crane scientists also participate in the Lightning Talk Series and in the webinars related to student internships, through the Crane Summer Student Employment Program (SSEP) and faculty fellowships, through the Faculty Summer Fellowship Program. Faculty can also visit Crane research scientists through Faculty-Crane Exchanges to learn more about collaborative research.