Friday’s security-focused symposium will bring together researchers from across George Mason University and top government agencies to tackle security issues ranging from food to cyber.
Sponsoring research that takes on tough issues facing society is at the heart of the Provost’s Multidisciplinary Security Symposium. After last year’s health-care focused symposium, the Provost’s Office funded 14 projects with $500,000 in seed grants.
“I encourage interdisciplinary innovators to submit multidisciplinary proposals to this seed grant competition,” said S. David Wu, Mason provost. “The proposals are not limited to the topics of health or security and all proposals will be vetted through a competitive peer review process. A number of the proposals will be awarded seed grants to pursue their research.”
The deans from the Volgenau School of Engineering, the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, and the School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs are co-chairing the daylong event.
The multidisciplinary approach can lead to new insight into old or emerging problems.
“Investigators from different disciplines approach research in various ways and have distinctive perspectives, and when these researchers collaborate to solve the important and complex multifaceted problems facing society, such as in the broad area of security, innovative solutions are often found that would not be possible with traditional disciplinary approaches,” said Ken Ball, dean of the Volgenau School of Engineering.
And while Mason faculty are making new connections at the symposium, they’re also drawing upon experts from outside the university, said Kevin Avruch, dean of the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution.
“The symposium will provide an opportunity for the many faculty working on aspects of security, including human security, across the university to learn about each other’s work, at the same time that it invites experts from outside Mason, particularly potential funders or supporters of this work, to become acquainted with the rich intellectual capital, innovative research, and energy, that distinguishes our research community,” Avruch said. “One hope is that faculty, who become aware of shared research interest, and the parallel interest of funders, will constitute multi-disciplinary teams to pursue new opportunities.”
Creating new avenues for problem-solving should be a priority of universities, said Mark Rozell, acting dean of Mason’s School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs.
“Security problems are multifaceted and complex and require the insights of diverse disciplinary perspectives,” Rozell said. “This symposium is a showcase for an emerging ethic of encouraging and supporting cross-disciplinary collaboration at Mason.”