Tufts has recently joined Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), an organization with the mission to advance national priorities in science, health and education. To achieve this goal, they have assembled a consortium of over 150 colleges and universities. ORAU has many benefits for consortium members, including the ability to develop partnerships with consortium members and to identify subject matter experts in topics such as public health and healthcare, K-12 STEM education, technology products and solutions (particularly around energy), workforce development, environmental services, radiation safety and health physics training, epidemiology and exposure science, and assessments and evaluations.

Additionally, ORAU offers the following grant programs for members:

1. Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards. This program awards $5,000 from ORAU (with a required $5,000 institutional match) to full-time assistant professors within two years of their tenure track appointment at the time of application. ORAU limits the disciplines eligible, and currently, these include engineering and applied science; life sciences; mathematics/computer sciences; physical sciences; policy, management or education; augmented reality in the workplace; and supply chain innovation. Please note that this program is a limited submission and will be announced in advance of the FY2025 deadline via InfoReady.
    
2. ORAU-Directed Research and Development Grants. This program supports collaboration between ORAU researchers and faculty at member universities. Projects are led by ORAU subject matter experts. To participate in this program, faculty should submit a collaboration request that outlines the scope of the proposed effort. Please note that all collaboration requests to be matched with an ORAU researcher must be submitted through the OVPR. Please contact limitedsubmissions@tufts.edu for more information.
    
3. Innovation Partnerships Program. This program, currently being restructured, has the goal of building stronger relationships between university members and ORAU subject matter experts. FY2024 grant focus areas are 1) climate and environment, 2) health equity, and 3) future of the STEM workforce (please see link for details on each focus area). Applications should focus on focused workshops or conferences that highlight Tufts’ strategic STEM research and education growth areas and where collaborations with other member universities would add value, and especially events that can bring more thought leadership in building a national strategy for STEM education and workforce development. Members can apply for up to $4,000 to support such events. Please note that this program is a limited submission, and two applications from Tufts are allowed; as such, this program will be announced via InfoReady in the near future. Please contact limitedsubmissions@tufts.edu.

To engage with ORAU and make use of the benefits this partnership brings to Tufts, please contact limitedsubmissions@tufts.edu or Amy Gantt (amy.gantt@tufts.edu), and we will work with you and the ORAU Councilor (Bernard Arulanandam) to facilitate partnerships and applications.