For the second consecutive year, senior leaders from the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the College of Engineering and the Sam M. Walton College of Business brought faculty members together to discuss research collaboration across campus.
Sandra Eksioglu, associate dean for research in the College of Engineering, Jean-Francois Meullenet, director of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station for the U of A System Division of Agriculture, and Brian Fugate, the associate dean for graduate programs and research for Walton College, hosted a workshop on April 18 for some 40 faculty members to discuss research opportunities specifically in:
- Digital Agriculture
- Biosensing
- Food Supply Chain
- Robotics in Agriculture
- Environmental Sustainability
- Health & Nutrition
“I firmly believe that collaboration drives innovation,” said Eksioglu. “This workshop served as a platform for faculty from across campus—including engineering, business, and agriculture—to come together and identify novel, high-impact research opportunities that address pressing societal challenges. Our next step is to provide seed funding to help these interdisciplinary teams transform their ideas into competitive proposals for external funding.”
Faculty presented a brief overview of their shared areas of research focus. Then participants broke out into small groups to ask questions, discover complementary expertise and brainstorm opportunities to optimize their work.
“Interdisciplinary research is critical to solving the complex issues facing agriculture, and we are thrilled by the interest shown by the faculty from these three colleges to join forces to bring innovation to food, agriculture and the environment,” Meullenet said.
“Our workshops brought faculty from business, agriculture, and engineering together to solve tough problems,” Fugate added. “The seed grants let the teams test their ideas and create real impact. This is how strong research partnerships begin.”
Research teams resulting from the workshop will have the opportunity to submit proposals for internal seed funding from the experiment station and the three colleges. Their submission deadline is May 15, 2025.
The initiative has three goals:
- Establish new research collaborations among faculty in different colleges.
- Assist researchers in developing proof-of-concept research outcomes that have strong potential for securing future external funding.
- Grow expertise in relevant areas identified in the workshop.
Selected research projects will begin on July 1 and will conclude the following year on June 30. Grants from last year’s collaborative research will be wrapping up in June of this year.
