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Innovative Research Program

The Innovative Research Program is designed to stimulate a creative research environment within CIRES and to encourage synergy between disciplines and research colleagues. The intent is to provide an uncomplicated mechanism for supporting small research efforts that can quickly provide concept viability or rule out further consideration. The program encourages novel, unconventional or fundamental research that might otherwise be difficult to fund. Funded projects are inventive, sometimes opportunistic, and do not necessarily have an immediate practical application or guarantee of success. This program supports pilot or exploratory studies, which may provide rapid results. Activities are not tightly restricted and can range from instrument development, lab testing, and field observations to model advancement.

CIRES-wide competitions are conducted each year to foster an innovative research environment where risk taking is allowed and even encouraged. Winners are selected by an interdisciplinary team and results are presented the following year at a poster reception.

For more information about the the Innovative Research Program, contact Suzanne van Drunick (303-492-1227, suzanne.vandrunick@colorado.edu).


Project Awards Announced for 2008
Cloudy with a chance of bacteria? Read about how bacteria affect the weather and other project winners of the 10th annual Innovative Research Program competition.

2009 Committee

Anne Sheehan, Chair
Robert Sievers
Graham Feingold
Suzanne van Drunick, ex officio