Significantly expand our top-tier research, scholarship, and creative practice capacity through investment in people and infrastructure, positioning faculty across all disciplines to achieve excellence.
Invest in programs on the cusp of being considered among the nation’s finest and grow the global reputation of our faculty.
A significant increase in our research capacity is critical to the future success of WashU.
Research is foundational to our vision, our mission, and our identity as a premier university. Excellence in research, scholarship, and creative practice positions us to better advance our other two mission pillars of education and patient care.
Many pockets of recognized excellence are present at WashU; yet, in many fields, our engagement in research, scholarship, and creative practice is not commensurate with a university of our caliber, and more of our departments should be recognized as top-tier programs.
WashU will advance a culture of top-tier research, scholarship, and creative practice through investment in people and infrastructure. We will both provide focused investments in those programs that are on the cusp of being counted among the nation’s finest and develop umbrella initiatives to further drive growth in these areas. It is also essential that we elevate those departments that are best positioned to secure recognitions of accomplishment in their field, including major awards and grants. Across the board, we will establish avenues for growth as programs demonstrate increased potential and achievement. Our partnerships with industry and governmental funding bodies are critical to our growth. We will enhance flexible, innovative, and efficient structures to support disciplinary, transdisciplinary, and cross-school research. The recruitment and retention of outstanding faculty, staff, and trainees will be vital to the success of these efforts.
Faculty cannot go it alone. We will position faculty to be increasingly successful as leaders in research, scholarship, and creative practice. Faculty, no matter the discipline, will have access to outstanding research administration to support their scholarly agenda. Increased financial support for research and improved physical infrastructure will drive innovative research both within and across schools. To foster academic distinction and further support faculty in reaching their goals, we will facilitate nominations for major external prizes, create infrastructure to help faculty successfully compete for grant funding, and create new internal awards to facilitate cutting-edge work. We will enhance a culture of appreciation and value for all our scholarly work and will grow the global visibility and reputation of our research, scholarship, and creative practice.
We will also set aside funds so that, in the coming years, we can proactively engage with emerging opportunities and incentivize faculty to advance existing and new fields of study. We will establish an internal competition to which any group of faculty members or programs can apply for support to grow and develop major collaborative initiatives. With these advancements, we will be positioned to have an even greater positive impact in the future.