OII Home : About OII : Initiatives

Interdisciplinary Graduate Groups

In order to seed new scholarly collaborations, The Graduate School has created a mechanism for appointing faculty and outside experts to “interdisciplinary graduate groups.”   Membership in a graduate group does not confer any privileges related to advising graduate students or serving on examination committees, but simply recognizes an individual’s intellectual interest and expertise in an area of specialization deemed "emergent" at the University of Minnesota in terms of research, education, and/or training. 

The basis for membership is evidence of intellectual interest and expertise in the area as reflected in grants, fellowships, publications, conference participation, and/or graduate teaching, among other scholarly and professional activities.   UofM faculty, as well as experts in emerging fields who are located outside the University of Minnesota, may be appointed to membership in these interdisciplinary graduate groups. 

The Dean of The Graduate School has the authority to designate graduate groups and to appoint an interim leadership team to evaluate the credentials of prospective members and recommend appointments for membership.  Beyond recommending appointments and coordinating the activities of the group, leadership teams are also responsible for preparing an annual report to The Graduate School on the group’s activities.  Interdisciplinary graduate groups are subject to annual renewal based on their continuing intellectual vitality.   

The purpose of interdisciplinary graduate groups is to seed and support the development of research, educational, and training activities, including but not limited to, the development of proposals for formal programs of graduate study at the University of Minnesota.  Following the formation and establishment of a graduate group, The Graduate School will consider requests for seed funding from the group’s leadership team.  The purpose of this funding is to support the development of educational and training activities that extend the benefits of clusters of expertise across disciplinary lines to Graduate School students interested in emerging fields of knowledge.  Funding proposals are considered on a rolling basis throughout the academic year.

Proposing an Interdisciplinary Graduate Group; Requesting Funding for Group Activities

Call for the Formation of New Interdisciplinary Graduate Groups (pdf)