The Center for Internet Augmented Research and Assessment pilot project 'CyberBridges' is a new model for the research workforce to develop competency in using CI. CyberBridges will not be a locus for fundamental CI research; it does offer the potential to create a new generation of scientists and engineers who are capable of fully integrating CI into the whole educational, professional, and creative process of their diverse disciplines.
CyberBridges will increase the rate of discovery for science faculty by empowering them with CI, to foster inter-disciplinary research, to improve the effectiveness of minority graduate education, and to institutionalize this change process.
The hypothesis is that augmenting graduate student education to include a foundation of understanding in research and education CI will bridge the divide between the information technology communities and the disciplines. This will result in an improved system for the effectiveness, penetration, and utilization of CI with an underrepresented sector of our society.
Broader Implications: At the core of CyberBridges is an opportunity for bringing together graduate students of diverse disciplines, and disparate academic communities. The larger the number of graduate fellows collaboratively building their understanding in research and education CI, the greater the opportunities are for cross discipline communication.
