University of California Institute to fund IT collaboration between faculty

Black Issues in Higher Education, Dec 16, 2004 by Ronald Roach

IRVINE, CALIF.

The California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Cal(IT)2), a collaborative venture of the University of California at Irvine and the University of California at San Diego, will administer a new $300,000 prize to promote information technology collaboration among its faculty. The Nicholas Foundation Prize for Cross-Disciplinary Research, endowed with a grant from Broadcom Corp. co-founder and co-chairman Henry Nicholas, will recognize "high-risk/high-yield" pilot research investigations. This is the first year in a multi-year program, with future levels of funding to be determined each year depending upon the quantity and quality of entrants, according to officials. First-year winners will be announced in January.

"The establishment of this prize is a logical step as we build our partnership in the areas of telecommunications and information technology," Nicholas said in announcing the award. "I expect to see more collaboration with our colleagues at UCI in the months and years ahead."

The Cal-(IT)2 organization will issue a call for proposals, with teams of two or more tenure-track faculty members eligible for the prize. Funded proposals can start work after January 2005.