One of the very nice aspects of our scientific life at the Krasnow Institute are the informal talks that occur pretty much every day. I took this late afternoon photo yesterday. It looks like our Adaptive Systems Laboratory group under Professor Ken De Jong are getting together.
As Director, one of the great joys of my job is to learn a bit about all of the research that goes on here. And it’s quite a span, ranging from origin of life to origin of the 2008 financial crisis.
It’s here. Enjoy!
We’re in the middle of Fall here and the DC area is really almost at its very best. Here’s a view of the new laboratory wing of the Institute with the glass cube great room concealed behind a carpet of tulip poplar yellows. Roberts Road in the foreground represents the eastern boundary of the campus which extends far to the west of the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study.
Tomorrow’s regular Monday seminar here at Krasnow is my annual report on the state of the institute. To telegraph, we face four main challenges going forward:
First, we have to position the Institute to adapt to what will surely be a changing federal R&D environment in the near future.
Second, we need to build on our critical mass of tenure-line faculty members. Both of our academic departments need to grow to adequately support their programs and to use our new research infrastructure effectively.
Third, we need to think internationally, both in terms of future scientific collaborations, but also in terms of funding of our scientific research.
And finally, we need to continue to actively fund raise from our stakeholders and donors to support Phase III and the synergies that will come from having all of our faculty, students and staff under one roof.
I’m looking forward to my talk…
That is if I can manage to get to JFK in weather that’s certainly less than perfect. Plans for the week include a Neurotech Conference, some networking meetings with technology folks and a talk at the University of Helsinki.
Last time I was in Finland was in 1975 (remember the Helsinki Accords)? Actually learned how to drive a manual shift on Finnish roads courtesy of my Dad’s largesse. I imagine it’s changed a lot since the Cold War.
Just some “catnip” to get our folks excited. On the right hand side of the rendering is our current great room. Phase III will include our Center for Social Complexity and two new centers along with collaboration space, faculty offices and an auditorium.
Phase II, the new laboratory wing, is off the rendering to the right.
We are now actively preparing the Institute for Hurricane Irene. For our staff and students:
As we get ready this week for the return of our students and the beginning of another academic year, it’s useful to take a bit of time for some perspective on what lies ahead here at the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study…..
In terms of research, the Institute’s full complement of wet labs are now on-line and, together with our faculty, constitute a critical mass to move the experimental aspects of our neuroscience inquiries forward. We are well-funded, we have imaginative scientists and students, and we can ask the next level of questions. This is propitious for high-risk, high-payoff experimental science.
At the same time, we are engaging with students at all levels of higher-education, through our programs. The quality and quantity of our students continues to increase. This is both a function of commitment and support for graduate education from the central administration here at Mason, but also of some recent private gifts, which ensure our ability to attract and train the very brightest.
We are also committed to enhancing undergraduate education here at Mason as part of the University’s Quality Enhancement Program, Students as Scholars. Embedding undergraduate student scholarship within an institute for advanced study represents an “out-of-the-box” approach to improving learning outcomes, particularly in STEM fields.
We are also getting traction on our Krasnow Phase III project (stay tuned for images) which will expand our computational social sciences programs beyond what they are now, and, at the same time, bring them under the central roof of the Krasnow Institute facility. My hope is to raise approximately $14M in new gifts over the next year or so, to bring Phase III into being.
We are also moving ahead full-speed into two new arenas for the Institute: executive education and international initiatives. In some cases, we’ll combine the two. The goal is to broaden the Institute for Advanced Study’s research and education portfolio. We’ll work closely with other academic units here at Mason and our long-term external partners in these efforts.
It’s an exciting time to be serving as institute director and chief academic unit officer. I’m looking forward to a great year.
Is interviewed by Slate’s William Saletan, here. Crow has a vision for the modern public research university that is quite interesting. I’m particularly intrigued by his notion of trans-disciplinary institutes–it would be enjoyable to have him visit Krasnow.
As Institute Director, the Science Retreat is one of the most enjoyable parts of my job. I get to learn about everyone’s work–and these days at Krasnow, that spans from the fall of Lehman Brothers to the effect of anti-psychotic class drugs on the alpha-7 nicotinic receptor in brains.
Discoverers and Discoveries 