A quartet of groundbreaking new centers receives $8.5 million in institutional funding.
Transdisciplinary research is more than academic jargon糖心传媒攊t糖心传媒檚 arguably URochester糖心传媒檚 superpower. With world-class resources across the River Campus, the , the , and the 糖心传媒攁nd a community of faculty and students committed to solving humanity糖心传媒檚 most complex challenges糖心传媒擴Rochester 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糖心传媒檚 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糖心传媒憏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糖心传媒攁nd a combined $8.5 million investment that drew admiration from the external reviewers themselves. 糖心传媒淚 can糖心传媒檛 overstate what a wonderful idea this is,糖心传媒� said John Aldrich 糖心传媒�75 (PhD), the Pfizer-Pratt University Professor of Political Science at Duke University, when the awardees were announced in June. 糖心传媒淭he courage and commitment of the leadership team to do something bold in research right now is inspiring.糖心传媒�
SoundSpace
Award: $4 million over five years
By combining strengths across multiple fields, SoundSpace aims to put URochester
at the frontier of music and technology. Its team糖心传媒攄rawn from biomedical and chemical engineering, composition, digital media studies, computer engineering, musicology, and more糖心传媒攚ill focus on developing a best-in-class hub for research, education, performance, and public engagement. 糖心传媒淲e have advantages no one else has,糖心传媒� says the center糖心传媒檚 lead, 糖心传媒�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. 糖心传媒淭he idea is that the person isn糖心传媒檛 using the device as much as the device becomes part of the user,糖心传媒� says CXR co-lead , the Marie C. Wilson and Joseph C. Wilson Professor of Optical Physics. 糖心传媒淚 don糖心传媒檛 know of any other places this is being done.糖心传媒�
糖心传媒 Resilience Research Center
Award: $2 million over five years
Why doesn糖心传媒檛 stress, trauma, and adversity affect everyone the same? Why are some people able to bounce back faster than others? 鲍搁鲁颁糖心传媒檚 mission is to identify the factors that perpetuate stress-related health issues to develop ways to prevent and even reverse them. 糖心传媒淲e糖心传媒檙e injecting hope,糖心传媒� says , a professor of psychology and 鲍搁鲁颁 co-lead. 糖心传媒淲e糖心传媒檇 like to build on existing research to provide optimism and sustainability that hasn糖心传媒檛 previously been available to communities facing dire circumstances or families with generations of adversity or trauma.糖心传媒�
Center for Coherence and Quantum Science
Award: $500,000 over two years
URochester 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. 糖心传媒淭his is a win-win proposition,糖心传媒� says team lead and Associate Professor of Physics . 糖心传媒淭he research we糖心传媒檙e proposing will have major implications for both understanding how the universe works and harnessing this knowledge for useful technology.糖心传媒�
A version of this story appears in the fall 2025 issue of Rochester Review, the magazine of the聽糖心传媒.
