This study will test the hypothesis that awarding of tenure represents an opportunity to nurture innovation as well as non-incremental and novel research pursuits. Development of faculty as highly successful researchers and educators is a critical goal of all universities. Considerable time and effort are invested into recruiting and mentoring exceptionally promising junior faculty. Tenure recognizes the most promising faculty and provides long term security and stability to develop their research ideas. However, less attention is focused upon post-tenure faculty development and the formulaic tenure process in most universities discourages risk associated with pursuing innovative research. This project will test a program to effect a refocusing of research direction in newly tenured faculty, with the goal of increasing their desire and ability to engage with significant problems.
This study seeks to leverage achievement of tenure as a pivot point for inducing reflection, with the goal of stimulating newly tenured faculty to engage with novel research directions with increased potential for societal impact. The study will involve development of a unique, interdisciplinary program, the Faculty Springboard, targeting recently tenured associate professors drawn from the sciences and engineering at Duke University to facilitate the exploration of new and potentially groundbreaking research initiatives. The program will consist of: 1) an annual innovation workshop, focusing on community building, networking and brainstorming; 2) professional coaching and mentoring to further develop faculty?s novel research ideas; 3) a follow-up workshop to cement project development. Program delivery and effectiveness will be assessed through a comprehensive evaluation plan. Best practices will be institutionalized to ameliorate societal impact achieved through faculty research.
The anticipated Broader Impact of this research is the expansion of research programs focused on addressing societal challenges. Through developing a faculty network and skillsets in support of creative risk-taking for innovative research, this professional development model has the potential to enhance researchers? abilities to address "wicked problems". By establishing proof of principle at Duke through targeted iterative evaluation, core essential components critical to success of this model program will be identified and disseminated for adaptation by other universities.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
