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Provost Tricia Serio has announced that 14 teams of faculty and librarians from across all UMass Amherst schools and colleges have been awarded Interdisciplinary Research Grants (IRG) for 2023. The interdisciplinary projects were selected from a total of 57 IRG project submissions. A complete list of projects and team members can be viewed on the provost’s website.

Interdisciplinary Research Grants (IRG) are offered to teams of faculty and librarians from at least two different schools or colleges within the university with the goals of empowering creativity, strengthening the campus’ areas of interdisciplinary excellence, promoting equitable collaborations and attracting external funding and other forms of recognition across our colleges and schools. The grants are offered in two categories: up to $20,000 and up to $50,000.

Offered in coordination with the vice chancellor for research and engagement and the deans, Serio announced the call for IRG proposals in March, stating, “Collaborative and interdisciplinary activities are areas in which my office can have particular impact by facilitating paths for faculty and librarians to innovate at the interfaces of their expertise and thereby have transformative impact on our world.”

The IRG program complements the recently announced Large-Scale Integrative Research Awards (LIRA) program, with LIRA supporting large-scale research initiatives and the IRGs supporting early-stage collaborations among faculty and librarians.