CONSORTIA “WHITE PAPER” Conclusions, Benefits, Issues Ulf Bockenholt and Margaret Graham

A Little History When Dean Ross came to McGill in 2001, he pushed for the formation of three interdisciplinary "consortia" within the school that related to areas of strategic importance to the school, and high interest in the community at large: healthcare, innovation and international. Pursuing these consortia has offered a chance to experiment with cross-disciplinary activity beyond the scope of current "areas". Previous set of slides summarizes current status and projected priorities of “Health” and “Innovation” Today: benefits, issues, and next steps

CONCLUSIONS FOM Consortia have been useful in –enhancing the FOM profile –facilitating collaborative research that spans multiple disciplines –attracting research funds –increasing research productivity and visibility –creating initiatives on education and “knowledge transfer” Different stages in building consortia –require different conditions –have different benefits (immediate and long-term) Issues include incentives, focus and growth, communication.

BENEFITS Research: –Community and networking –More complex problems, less niche focus Infrastructure –Better (shared) use and availability of resources like space and administrative support –Easier to attract financial support Teaching –Student involvement, Course development, new degrees Knowledge transfer –Easier to put science into everyday practice and to disseminate research Visibility and Recognition

ISSUES Importance of “Knowledge Transfer”, “Research”, “Teaching” and “Visibility” Mechanisms for Student Involvement Support Incentive system for participating faculty Leadership More consortia?