Welcome to the Spring 2013 edition of GradImpact,
the University of Delaware's Graduate and
Professional Education newsletter. This edition
highlights collaborative research partnerships and interdisciplinary
programs on the UD campus. The global
growth in interdisciplinary research has been embraced
and encouraged by both federal and private funding
agencies, and this has facilitated the proliferation of
centers and institutes designed to improve quality of life
by leveraging expertise from diverse disciplines. UD
currently has more than 70 active centers, many of which
incorporate researchers, educators and policymakers
from different departments, colleges and industry.
Along with centers and institutes, there has been
growth in interdisciplinary academic degree programs.
Some programs, like the interdisciplinary program in
Biomechanics and Movement Science, have precipitated
the development of centers, namely, the Center for
Biomedical Engineering Research. In other instances,
highly active and successful centers such as the Disaster
Research Center have precipitated the development of
interdisciplinary graduate programs. The graduate program
in Disaster Science and Management grew from the need
to train individuals with expertise in both the social and
scientific aspects of preparing for and responding to
catastrophic emergencies.
Interdisciplinary graduate programs attract students
from highly diverse fields and provide them with the
opportunity to make unique contributions to specific
problems while simultaneously learning from a wide
spectrum of disciplines. As a result, students learn to
incorporate new perspectives into their work, and to
communicate effectively with policymakers, engineers,
health care workers, educators, sociologists and others.
Successful interdisciplinary programs benefit from the
participation of strong academic departments and from
faculty willing to develop and engage in interdisciplinary
education and research. The Office of Graduate and
Professional Education looks forward to facilitating efforts
to strengthen current programs, and to working with
faculty and administrators to develop new programs that
will prepare our next generation of leaders in academics,
industry and public service.
