Good-to-Great Grants recipients announced

The Ohio State University has selected nine proposals for Good-to-Great Grant Program support. Sponsored by the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA), Good-to-Great Grants provide substantial strategic investment for up to five years to tenure-initiating units that identify aspirational targets and a proposed path to ascending to new heights of excellence.

Units were encouraged to draw upon the many assets of Ohio State; create partnerships across departments, colleges and disciplines; consider their faculty on all campuses; engage with centers and institutes; collaborate with external communities; advance Ohio State’s Shared Values; and identify national and international opportunities.

A faculty advisory committee, led by Janet M. Box-Steffensmeier, Distinguished University Professor and the Vernal G. Riffe Professor in the Department of Political Science, oversaw review of the 59 proposals submitted this year. Approximately 600 reviews were conducted by more than 60 faculty members during the process.

Good-to-Great Grants support the university’s goal of continuously improving academic, administrative and operational excellence as outlined in its Academic Plan. The proposals selected demonstrated significant vision and collaboration, and will be prime targets for future investment, including through philanthropic support. In applying for funding, units reflected on current assets, outlined a vision for excellence and described how additional strategic investment would enable their transition from good to great.

“I am grateful for the units that shared their best ideas for creating partnerships across departments, colleges and disciplines at Ohio State,” said Melissa Gilliam, executive vice president and provost. “I am excited about what lies ahead during the coming years as these Good-to-Great Grants come to fruition.”

Funding will begin in the 2023-2024 academic year.

2023 Good-to-Great Grant Program recipients:

Department of Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology (College of Medicine) – Center for Biomolecular Structure and Function
This new center will foster interdisciplinary connections and expand protein research across the university by serving as a hub for collaborative research at Ohio State. By housing state-of-the-art instrumentation and making protein purification and characterization accessible to all faculty, the center will extend the benefits of structural studies and biochemical characterization to a broader segment of the university’s research community, strengthening cross-disciplinary interactions.

Department of Food Science and Technology (College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences) – Food Innovation and Technology Transfer Laboratory: Supporting Entrepreneurs, Promoting Small Businesses, and Educating the Workforce
The grant will elevate and transform the department’s industry partnerships, classroom capabilities and research operations by developing the Food Innovation and Technology Transfer Laboratory (FITT Lab). Funding will strengthen the department’s extension and outreach, education and research programs by adding one faculty and two staff positions and updating infrastructure to be cutting-edge. Creating the FITT Lab, a teaching kitchen, and an entrepreneur training and support program will provide a central location and programming for students, businesses and entrepreneurs.

Department of Geography (College of Arts and Sciences) and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (College of Engineering) – Growing Ohio State’s Meteorology Research, Education and Outreach: A High Impact Investment
Investment in a mobile weather radar unit will provide critical research and teaching infrastructure, including meteorology-related field research and as an experiential learning educational tool. The grant will also support funding for two new faculty members, strengthening partnerships between the two departments and across the university.

Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures (College of Arts and Sciences) – Establishing a Center for the Study of Germanic Cultures and the Environment
The creation of this new center will build on the department’s strengths in the environmental humanities and have a far-reaching impact, enabling significant opportunities for research and teaching collaborations with other centers and programs at Ohio State. The grant will also enable the development of workshops, conferences, postdoc and graduate student recruitment grants, graduate student internships and library creation.

Moritz College of Law, Department of Computer Science and Engineering (College of Engineering), Institute for Cybersecurity and Digital Trust, and the Translational Data Analytics Institute – JusticeTech @OSU: Law + CSE Fellowship & Capstone Program
This initiative will create an impactful interdisciplinary program to bolster teaching, research and student training in the legal technology domain at Ohio State. By establishing the JusticeTech Fellowship and Capstone Program, Ohio State will ignite projects that promote ethical artificial intelligence applications in the legal system, evaluate the cybersecurity of legal technology tools and expand access to justice. 

Department of Physics (College of Arts and Sciences) – Advancing Physics from Good to Great
This investment in faculty hiring will focus on two rising national priorities: advancing space station privatization and developing U.S. chip/semiconductor manufacturing technology expertise. Additionally, collaborations among new faculty and colleagues in mechanical and aerospace engineering and astronomy will connect research, build new connections and leverage resources.

Department of Political Science (College of Arts and Sciences) – Sociopolitical Analysis and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence is a critical topic for the future of social sciences, and this initiative will enhance graduate training through new coursework and interdisciplinary research projects at the intersection of social science and computer science. While adding new faculty with related expertise, the project will focus on the integration and enhancement of expertise and student learning across multiple units regarding the politics and social impact of artificial intelligence.

Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies (College of Arts and Sciences) – The Center for Feminist Research, Education and Engagement (The FREE Center)
Creating the FREE Center will enable the department to deepen and broaden its community engagement by sustaining collaborative interdisciplinary research and teaching partnerships among its core faculty, affiliated faculty, students and community partners. Additionally, the center will elevate the department’s distinction and mobilize faculty across Ohio State to be on the leading edge of community-engaged scholarship.

College of Public Health, Department of Anthropology (College of Arts and Sciences), Department of Sociology (College of Arts and Sciences) – Ohio State Health and Environment Modeling – HEALMOD
This proposal establishes a community of scholars dedicated to convergence research and education on human health and environmental sustainability. HEALMOD will provide a thought space and education hub for faculty, research scientists, postdoctoral scholars, and undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in using quantitative frameworks to investigate pressing global problems while training the next-generation workforce.