TC²: True Co-equal x Transformative Collaborations seeks to stimulate, guide, and support interdisciplinary projects between graduate programs. This project will provide opportunities and resources to graduate students and faculty mentors dedicated to pushing the boundaries and inherent limitations of discrete academic fields to develop the collaborative relationships – and resulting skills – of fully interdisciplinary research.
The goals of the project include:
- Generating opportunities for students to explore and articulate interdisciplinary approaches to research interests
- Transcending discipline silos
- Supporting projects that are fully co-equal and collaborative
- Building sustainable interdisciplinary communities
The components of the project include:
- Funding teams of two graduate students from disparate fields
- Support for one faculty mentor from each of the student’s programs
- Completion of projects could include individual or co-authored papers, joint presentations, multimodal documentation of the project, or other creative methods of making the work legible to a diverse audience
Interdisciplinary research will expand students’ understanding of the applications of their work, enrich their experience, and broaden their ability to engage across fields. Rather than simply telling students to “work across disciplines,” TC² guides students through the process of developing compelling, relevant, and achievable interdisciplinary projects.
Current project timeline:
Teams must be comprised of students from different departments.
October 27: Generative Workshop
November 15: Application deadline
December 2023: Finalist teams announced; awarded $2000; Team Faculty Mentors named & funded
April 2024: Finalist Showcase & grand prize ($10,000) awarded
Finalist presentations could be:
- A fully collaborative conference paper/poster
- Presentations of two tandem projects
- Proposal or proof of concept for a pilot collaborative project
With generous support from Pitt’s Seed Projects, we hope this initial pilot year of TC² leads to expansion and extends for years to come.
