University of Central Florida
AC-10: Support for Research

UCF’s Faculty Cluster Initiative, first introduced in 2014, is designed to foster the development of strong, transdisciplinary academic teams focused on solving tomorrow’s most challenging societal problems. Six faculty clusters were selected in this program’s inaugural year, renewable energy, coastal systems, and energy conversion and propulsion. The Office of the Provost provides 100 percent of the faculty line and 65 percent of the start‐up costs. The colleges, departments, and institutes are expected to cover the remaining 35 percent of the start‐up costs for these positions. -Sustainable Coastal Systems This broad-based research and development cluster will integrate science and social needs to address coastal issues and train students in conservation and resource management. It also will transform thinking beyond disciplinary limits and investigate new challenges for the coming century, such as understanding complex local, national and international problems related to anthropogenic and natural changes in coastal systems. The threats and challenges Florida faces are the same that coastal communities around the world face. The solutions, methodologies, and technologies developed at UCF will have immediate application to other geographic locations, with the potential to be statewide and national models for how coastal states should address future environmental and economic challenges and growth opportunities. UCF Colleges Involved in Sustainable Coastal Systems: *College of Business Administration *College of Engineering and Computer Science *College of Health and Public Affairs *College of Sciences -Sustainable Energy Systems As a university-wide, multidisciplinary team of faculty and students, the Resilient, Intelligent and Sustainable Energy Systems (RISES) cluster commits itself to transformative and collaborative research in resilient, intelligent and sustainable energy systems. Through partnerships among university, utility and government stakeholders, we aim to facilitate deployment and integration of renewable energy resources, as well as provide innovative solutions that make electricity grids self-organizing, efficient and resilient. The cluster focuses on holistic analysis, design, development and deployment of distributed renewable energy resources (PV systems in particular), advanced information, communication, control, and optimization technologies, along with supporting economic and management policies. Through meeting these technical goals, we can reliably integrate renewable resources, achieve better power quality and best use markets to enable customers to make intelligent and environmentally conscientious decisions. UCF Colleges and Centers Involved in Sustainable Energy Systems: *College of Business Administration *College of Engineering and Computer Science *College of Health and Public Affairs *College of Optics and Photonics *Florida Solar Energy Center -Energy Conversion and Propulsion The production of electricity from intermittent renewable sources, such as solar, is cost-competitive with fossil-fuel-generated electricity, and alternatively powered transportation (e.g., biomass-derived fuels, electricity, and hydrogen) are rapidly gaining acceptance. Materials research for catalytic production and storage of energy is essential for increased market penetration of renewable energy sources. This cluster is designed to transform UCF into a nationally and internationally recognized leader in energy-related research, specifically in the discovery and application of materials for catalysis. The cluster objectives align quite closely with the strategic priorities of the departments, colleges, centers and the university. Energy research is critical in slowing growth in carbon emissions without slowing economic growth. Within the past few years, increases in carbon emissions are now less than the rate of economic growth, due in large part to new renewable energy sources coming online. UCF Colleges and Centers Involved in Energy Conversion and Propulsion: *College of Engineering and Computer Science *College of Sciences *Florida Solar Energy Center *NanoScience Technology Center

UCF’s Faculty Cluster Initiative, first introduced in 2014, is designed to foster the development of strong, transdisciplinary academic teams focused on solving tomorrow’s most challenging societal problems. The transdisciplinary research combines and builds from discipline-specific theories, concepts, and methods for a comprehensive understanding of the problem being examined and generates readily translatable solutions to the problem.The strength of this initiative comes from faculty depth, the ability to translate depth across disciplines and the collaboration among deans, directors, chairs and faculty members in every college across campus. In our inaugural year, we received 43 pre‐proposals, demonstrating innovative faculty‐led teaching and research from across our university. Of those proposals, six clusters were funded and allocated 33 new faculty lines: – Cyber Security and Privacy – Energy Conversion and Propulsion – Genomics and Bioinformatics – Prosthetic Interfaces – Renewable Energy Systems – Sustainable Coastal Systems The Office of the Provost provides 100 percent of the faculty line and 65 percent of the start‐up costs. The colleges, departments, and institutes are expected to cover the remaining 35 percent of the start‐up costs for these positions. To continue strengthening our faculty and advancing unique areas of excellence, we are announcing the Faculty Cluster Initiative 2.0 and anticipate two to four new clusters will be selected for the 2017-18 academic year.