University of Rochester
Bridging Fellowships
2013 Bridging Fellowship Memo
The University of Rochester Bridging Fellowship
Program releases faculty from departmental obligations for one semester to
allow them to move to another department of the University to learn aspects of another discipline. Bridging Fellowships
enable faculty to develop new approaches to research and performance; stimulate the formation of new interdepartmental and
intercollegiate collaborations; make it possible for faculty to develop new
courses for a broader student base; and stimulate better integration of
curricula within and
between schools. Over the past
three decades, the program has allowed Eastman faculty to study in Arts, Sciences & Engineering and at the Simon
School; Simon School faculty to study at the Medical Center; and AS&E faculty to
study at Eastman, the Simon School, and the Medical Center.
To date, 66 faculty
members have been selected as Bridging Fellows.
Bridging fellowships are distinct from academic leaves, and holding a Bridging Fellowship does not affect subsequent consideration for them. The dean’s or director’s office of each school generally solicits applications once a year. Completed applications require the approval of the applicant’s chair before being submitted to the dean for final approval.
Mark
Bocko, Professor of Electrical Engineering (left), and David Headlam, Associate Professor of Music Theory at the Eastman School. Rochester Review story.
Professor
Adam Frank, a theoretical physicist
in the Department of Physics and Astronomy who specializes in Astrophysics and
Plasma Physics, spent a semester with
colleagues in the Department of Religion and Classics, where he explored the
nature of religion and the nature of science as different ways of understanding
the place of humans in the universe. The result is Adam’s new book, The Constant Fire, published spring 2011 to enthusiastic reviews.
URCS Vision Group- Computer
Vision, Robotics, Psychophysics and Virtual Reality at the University of
Rochester- Through
a bridging fellowship we have Profs. Hayhoe and Ballard working jointly in the
Center for Visual Science and the Computer Science Department, and Professor
Kutulakos has a joint appointment with Dermatology and Computer Science. We
expect soon to be using computer vision techniques in conjunction with speech,
language, and dialog understanding projects at URCS.
Professor Yongli Gao, Department of Physics and Astronomy Condensed Matter experimentalists, bridging fellowship to the Department of Biomedical Engineering enabled him
to pursue a new research direction in experimental biophysics, in particular
biological membranes and their interactions with enzymes, proteins, peptides,
drugs, sterols and other organic entities.