A quartet of groundbreaking new centers receives $8.5 million in institutional funding.
Transdisciplinary research is more than academic jargon鈥攊t鈥檚 arguably 暗网吃瓜鈥檚 superpower. With world-class resources across the River Campus, the , the , and the 鈥攁nd a community of faculty and students committed to solving humanity鈥檚 most complex challenges鈥敯低怨� is uniquely positioned to foster innovation and collaboration that can not only reshape existing fields but also create entirely new ones.
To make this vision a reality, in April 2024 the provost鈥檚 office launched a first-of-its-kind process to identify teams to receive multi-year funding to establish fully realized transdisciplinary centers. After an anonymous faculty committee selected聽10 out of 42 proposals to receive one鈥憏ear planning grants, a total of 13 teams submitted comprehensive proposals to be evaluated by faculty, administrators, and more than 60 external reviewers.
Out of this rigorous process emerged four new centers with transformative potential鈥攁nd a combined $8.5 million investment that drew admiration from the external reviewers themselves. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 overstate what a wonderful idea this is,鈥� said John Aldrich 鈥�75 (PhD), the Pfizer-Pratt University Professor of Political Science at Duke University, when the awardees were announced in June. 鈥淭he courage and commitment of the leadership team to do something bold in research right now is inspiring.鈥�
SoundSpace
Award: $4 million over five years
By combining strengths across multiple fields, SoundSpace aims to put 暗网吃瓜
at the frontier of music and technology. Its team鈥攄rawn from biomedical and chemical engineering, composition, digital media studies, computer engineering, musicology, and more鈥攚ill focus on developing a best-in-class hub for research, education, performance, and public engagement. 鈥淲e have advantages no one else has,鈥� says the center鈥檚 lead, 鈥�84 (PhD), a distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering.
Center for Extended Reality
Award: $2 million over five years
CXR seeks to awaken the potential of AR/VR by focusing on how we perceive and experience the world. This involves pulling from optics, engineering, natural sciences, humanities, and medicine to develop platforms that create a seamless connection between hardware and user. 鈥淭he idea is that the person isn鈥檛 using the device as much as the device becomes part of the user,鈥� says CXR co-lead , the Marie C. Wilson and Joseph C. Wilson Professor of Optical Physics. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know of any other places this is being done.鈥�
暗网吃瓜 Resilience Research Center
Award: $2 million over five years
Why doesn鈥檛 stress, trauma, and adversity affect everyone the same? Why are some people able to bounce back faster than others? 鲍搁鲁颁鈥檚 mission is to identify the factors that perpetuate stress-related health issues to develop ways to prevent and even reverse them. 鈥淲e鈥檙e injecting hope,鈥� says , a professor of psychology and 鲍搁鲁颁 co-lead. 鈥淲e鈥檇 like to build on existing research to provide optimism and sustainability that hasn鈥檛 previously been available to communities facing dire circumstances or families with generations of adversity or trauma.鈥�
Center for Coherence and Quantum Science
Award: $500,000 over two years
暗网吃瓜 is the birthplace of quantum optics and key elements of quantum coherence. Soon, it may also become the birthplace of the first circuit boards for quantum computers. Combining experts in physics, optics, chemistry, and more, CCQS intends to make the University a major national player in this space. 鈥淭his is a win-win proposition,鈥� says team lead and Associate Professor of Physics . 鈥淭he research we鈥檙e proposing will have major implications for both understanding how the universe works and harnessing this knowledge for useful technology.鈥�
A version of this story appears in the fall 2025 issue of Rochester Review, the magazine of the聽暗网吃瓜.
