UIC Institute for Equitable Health Data Science Research soliciting applications for new UIC East-West Interdisciplinary Bootcamp

The UIC Institute for Equitable Health Data Science Research is soliciting applications from faculty to attend a formative one week multi-disciplinary bootcamp August 12th-16th. Applications are due by May 20th. This facilitated bootcamp aims to initiate and jumpstart new collaborations between the UIC East and West campus, with researchers you may not have met before, and which will be aligned with the research themes of the institute. No prior experience with such collaborations is required. The bootcamp, inspired by similar efforts at NIH/NSF, will include professional facilitation to help learn discipline-specific approaches, information about UIC resources and access to seed funding, a structured introduction to team science and overcoming pitfalls in interdisciplinary collaboration, and structured individualized mentorship and feedback from experienced researchers on proposal ideas and approaches, throughout the week.

Upon successful completion of the bootcamp, teams will submit a proposal for seed funding from the institute. The seed funding will then help the teams produce preliminary results for federal or foundation funding, with the goal to submit for federal/foundation funding at most one year later, with continued mentorship from the institute. All bootcamp attendees will become members of the institute. The institute will commit resources to continued mentoring and logistic support for submissions from the teams formed through the bootcamp.

Participants will be selected for this year’s bootcamp and informed by May 24th. Due to the highly interactive nature of the bootcamp, partial attendance will not be allowed. Participants are required to attend the meeting in its entirety (Mon through Fri, 9am - 5pm), with very few exceptions (e.g., clinicians w/ clinic duty willing to lightly help a data science team target the NSF Smart and Connected Health program). The Institute directors will work with division chiefs for faculty clinic release time, as necessary. All faculty on the Chicago campus are eligible to participate this year. Applications are due by May 20th, using this form:

Application form

For questions or clarification, please contact: iehdsr@uic.edu