PROVIDENCE – The University of Rhode Island and Johnson & Wales University announced late Monday that they received a $270,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Higher Education Challenge research grant to support food systems research initiatives.
The universities said the grant will create a joint Food Research Faculty Research Fellowship program to build up multipdisciplinary research experiences for faculty and undergraduates at both institutions to support in-depth exploration of complex challenges surrounding the global food system.
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As part of the fellowship program, JWU and URI faculty will be invited to submit proposals for research projects that are either one year or two years in length. Throughout the project term, the institutions will grant at least eight faculty research fellowships that will provide 40 undergraduates with research experiences, URI and JWU said.
Also, research teams, the universities said, will create food systems curriculum modules to help spur innovation and scholarships within higher education, industries and at the community level. Jason Evans, JWU College of Food Innovation & Technology dean, said in a statement that the partnership will facilitate multi-institution research efforts that fruit “real solutions to the problems that plague our regional food system.”
“From the social sciences to agro-ecology, aquaculture, culinary science and food entrepreneurship, new ideas from all disciplines will be required to create a food system that is more resilient and more beneficial to our communities,” Evans said.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
