Interdisciplinary Faculty Initiative

 

In the fall of 2007, President Mary Sue Coleman announced plans to hire 100 junior faculty committed to interdisciplinary teaching and research.

From 2008-2011, 101 new positions were approved, spread across 25 interdisciplinary teams or “clusters.” These teams draw on the knowledge and perspectives of several disciplines, using new research techniques to explore complex problems in human health, environmental sustainability, and the alleviation of poverty. In emerging fields such as digital environments in the humanities and learning from massive datasets, groups of junior faculty are deepening our understanding of the world.

Visit the Interdisciplinary Faculty Initiative website

With 70 percent of the interdisciplinary positions filled, new faculty members are contributing to the education of U-M students by developing new cross-disciplinary courses, engaging undergraduates and graduate students in their research programs, supporting activities such as journal clubs and seminar series, and mentoring students at all levels.

The approved clusters are:

Adolescent Substance Use and Abuse
Medical School
School of Public Health
School of Social Work

Computational Media for Interactive Systems
Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
College of Engineering
Stamps School of Art and Design
School of Music, Theatre, and Dance

Data Mining, Learning, and Discovery with Massive Datasets
College of Engineering
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts Four positions

Digital Environments
School of Information
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Distributed Health Technologies
College of Engineering
School of Dentistry
Medical School

Diversity and Complexity of Biological Networks
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Medical School
School of Public Health

Energy Storage
College of Engineering
College of Literature, Science and the Arts
School of Natural Resources and Environment

Environment, Information, and Sustainable Development: The Asia-Africa Nexus
School of Information
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
School of Natural Resources and Environment

Financial Markets
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Law School
Ford School of Public Policy
Ross School of Business

Genes, Environment and Behavior
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Medical School

Global Change: Cryosphere and Sea-Level Impacts
College of Engineering
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Global HIV/AIDS
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Medical School
School of Nursing

The Mediterranean Perspective on Global History and Culture
Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Microbial Ecology: Relationships to Human and Environmental Health
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Medical School
School of Public Health

Multiscale Cell Mechanics
College of Engineering
Medical School Five positions

Petascale Computing
College of Engineering
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Rehabilitation Robotics
College of Engineering
Medical School
School of Kinesiology

Reproductive Sciences
College of Engineering
Medical School

Social Science and Energy
College of Literature, Science and the Arts
Ford School of Public Policy

Sustainable Built Environments
Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
College of Engineering
School of Natural Resources and Environment

Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Impacts: Integrated Assessment and Modeling
College of Engineering
School of Natural Resources and Environment

Sustainable Food Systems Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
Ross School of Business
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
School of Natural Resources and Environment
School of Public Health

Sustainability and Behavior
Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
School of Natural Resources and Environment
School of Public Policy

Urban Studies: Social Inequality and the Prospects of Equity and Sustainability in Southeastern Michigan
Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
School of Social Work