ART: STRIDE - Stimulating Translation of Research via Intentional Development and Ecosystem

Discoveries and innovations from universities’ foundational research in science and engineering have been the cornerstone for advancements in the nation’s health, prosperity, and welfare. To translate such innovations into economic and societal benefits, university faculty, scholar, and students will need skillsets different from their academic training and supports often scarce in most universities. Clemson University has seen strong, steady growth in sponsored research in the past decade; its pace of research translation, however, has remained at a lower level. This project, titled Stimulating Translation of Research via Intentional Development and Ecosystem (STRIDE), will broadly engage Clemson University stakeholders to identify the limiting factors and a path toward significant transformation in the university’s research translation capacity, in line with the university’s land grant commitment. STRIDE’s goals include: bootstrapping a roadmap to grow the university’s research translation support infrastructure in the technology transfer office, colleges, and innovation center; empower faculty and students to pursue research translation and create research translation support entities across the institution; provide financial and other support to seed translational research projects with high potential for impactful translation. STRIDE will develop training programs and engagement activities across all colleges to support its education, research, economic, and societal missions. STRIDE will also bring the region’s innovation ecosystem closer than ever through joint program developments and streamlined support through stages of innovation. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility considerations will guide STRIDE from intake of participants and innovation projects to translation outcomes. STRIDE will be closely aligned with the Clemson Elevate university strategic initiatives to multiply its impacts. STRIDE will significantly enhance the scale and pace of translation of ideas and knowledge into tangible products, services, tools, and methods that will ultimately create lasting economic and/or societal impacts through creation of the next generation workforce and university support framework for research translation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.