By Donald Gilpin

Princeton University professors and their peers at five historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) will be undertaking research collaborations funded by Princeton University through its new Princeton Alliance for Collaborative Research and Innovation (PACRI).

Announced last week, the groundbreaking program, in partnership with the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), will link up Princeton researchers with researchers from Howard University, Jackson State University, Prairie View A&M University, Spelman College, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore with teams of Princeton-HBCU researchers invited to submit proposals by June 30, 2022.

“We highly value partnerships at Princeton, whether they are with other academic institutions, industry, governments, or nonprofits,” said Princeton University Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Vice Dean for Innovation and PACRI Co-Leader Rodney Priestley, as quoted in a Princeton University press release. “We believe that these collaborations enable Princeton researchers and innovators to achieve things that we cannot achieve alone.”

Princeton’s Dean for Research and Professor in Engineering and Applied Science and Chemical and Biological Engineering Pablo Debenedetti noted, “Collaboration is a powerful force for new ideas and creativity in research and scholarship. By creating a mechanism that encourages faculty from Princeton and HBCUs to work together, we hope to spark the creation of new teams of researchers that bring together people with different perspectives, experiences, and expertise. The potential to generate new knowledge and discoveries across a wide range of disciplines is very exciting.”

PACRI Co-Leader Tod Hamilton, associate professor of sociology and acting director of the Office of Population Research at Princeton, emphasized the importance of research collaborations that cross disciplinary and institutional boundaries.  “We all benefit from initiatives that facilitate the exchange of ideas and remove barriers to innovation,” he said.

Hamilton went on to note that the new program will provide funding far beyond the STEM disciplines. “A commitment to the liberal arts is at the core of Princeton University’s mission,” he said. “Advancing scholarship in the humanities and social sciences is a critical goal of the new alliance.”

UNCF Senior Director of National STEM Programs and Initiatives Chad Womack expressed his enthusiasm for the collaboration with Princeton. “PACRI will provide much-needed funding to help establish sustainable research collaborations between Princeton and HBCU faculty across a variety of HBCU campuses,” he said. “We’re proud to partner with the PACRI team at Princeton to support engagement with leadership and faculty and to assist in the selection of HBCU campuses and then proposals via the RFP (request for proposal) process.”

U.S. Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman, who represents Princeton’s 12th Congressional District, added her approval of the alliance. “I’m very excited about the potential of collaborative projects between Princeton University researchers and their HBCU partners,” she said.  She went on to praise Princeton University for its leadership in STEM, social sciences, and the humanities and to suggest that these collaborations “will no doubt produce extraordinary benefits to all collaborating institutions and the nation as a whole.”

Priestley, known for past successes in transforming research into beneficial innovation, expressed his hope that collaborations formed through the alliance would create new intellectual property and spinoffs. “These could be powerful pathways for PACRI-fueled collaborations to have a positive impact on society,” he said.

Priestley noted that “innovation fund” programs, which enable new partnerships and scholarship, are popular with Princeton faculty. “In some cases researchers have been able to establish foundational work that could then attract greater funding. I am looking forward to seeing what will come out of these teams.”