Collaborative research: epiic: create: creating research enterprises adapted for the teaching environment

National University received a $400,000 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084), effective September 1, 2025 through August 31, 2028. The award supports the CREATE (Creating Research Enterprises Adapted for the Teaching Environment) collaborative initiative, a cohort of four teaching-focused institutions serving undergraduate and non-traditional students. The project addresses systemic barriers that emerging research institutions face when engaging with regional innovation ecosystems, including fragmented campus partnerships, limited external awareness of institutional capabilities, and insufficient policies governing use-inspired research and technology transfer.

The deliverables include: (1) comprehensive institutional assessments to identify each cohort member's position within its regional innovation ecosystem and growth potential; (2) development of a centralized partnership engagement strategy with clear entry points and pathways for external relationships; (3) establishment of institutional structures, policies, and procedures to support use-inspired research and tech-transfer initiatives while integrating industry partnerships into faculty research, teaching, and student mentorship; and (4) national dissemination of policies, procedures, and best practices tailored for teaching institutions through established networks. These outputs are designed to build sustained institutional capacity for regional innovation engagement while extending the project's impact across the higher education sector.

Abstract

Creating research enterprises adapted for the teaching environment (create) is a cohort of four teaching-focused institutions that serve undergraduate and/or non-traditional students. Like many emerging research institutions (eris), create cohort members have faced common challenges to interacting with regional innovation systems that include a lack of coordination among the offices on each campus that facilitate external partnerships, poor understanding among potential partners of the institutions? Capabilities, and a lack of institutional policies and procedures around issues related to use-inspired research. In this project, the create cohort will work collaboratively to address these issues, helping each institution build and sustain capacity to engage with its regional innovation ecosystem. The proposed effort will pursue the following goals: identifying each create cohort institution?s place in its regional innovation ecosystem by assessing its current positions, better understanding its potential for growth, and adapting best practices from peer and regional institutions; developing a strategy to effectively engage a broad network of external partners by creating a clear entry point or ?front door? And defining pathways to help launch, sustain, and coordinate external relationships. This project will also build institutional structure and culture to support use-inspired research and tech-transfer initiatives by mitigating barriers, creating support structures, and strengthening policies and procedures for faculty members to incorporate industry partnerships into their research, teaching, and mentorship of students. The create cohort will also disseminate its findings through national networks to share policies, procedures, and best practices that are right-sized for teaching institutions, extending the impact of the project. 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.- subawards are not planned for this award.