As an Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) member campus, Appalachian State University is eligible to submit one application annually to their Innovation Partnerships Program (formerly Events Sponsorship). Up to $4,000 can be requested to support an in-person or virtual event which involves participants from more than one ORAU institution, including students. Innovation Partnership applications should focus on workshops/conferences that highlight your university's strategic STEM research and education growth areas and where collaborations with other member universities would add value. ORAU is specifically interested in events that can bring more thought leadership in building a national strategy for STEM education and workforce development.
All full-time employees of the university are eligible to submit an application, and an ORAU subject matter expert will serve as a collaborator with the university Principal Investigator if the program is funded.
Funding is still available through ORAU for events happening before September 30, 2023. If you are interested in submitting an application to ORAU, contact grs@appstate.edu to claim your application slot.
Focus areas and example topics include:
- Climate & Environment: sustainability, environmental justice, clean energy, resilience to climate hazards, emerging technologies, measurement and impact assessment, diversity and inclusion, policy, and data science and analytics.
- Health Equity: telemedicine, telehealth, health literacy, health communication, behavioral and mental health, health disparities, diversity and inclusion, policy, and data science and analytics.
- Future of STEM Workforce: new ways of teaching and learning (K-16), transformative workforce development and mentoring, diversity and inclusion, policy, data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.
Criteria for decisions to award Event Sponsorship grants include:
- Event participation by more than one ORAU institution (however, one ORAU member will submit the proposal and handle the funds).
- Potential impact of the event, including the number of institutions or participants.
- Student participation is considered a positive factor.
- New events have preference over events that are on-going annual events with an established financial model.
- Preference will be given to events in STEM disciplines.
- A representative from ORAU must be invited to the event and will attend, if possible.