F
Acronyms and Definitions
| AI | artificial intelligence |
| ARPA-E | Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, a U.S. DOE program |
| CERC | Convergent Engineering Research Center |
| CRISPR | clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats |
| DARPA | Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency |
| DOE | U.S. Department of Energy |
| ERC | Engineering Research Center |
| EU | European Union |
| GCSP | Grand Challenges Scholars Program |
| GRA | Georgia Research Alliance |
| I-ARPA | Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity |
| I-CORPS | Innovation-Corps, a U.S. National Science Foundation program |
| IP | intellectual property |
| IT | information technology |
| NAE | National Academy of Engineering |
| NGA | National Governors Association |
| NRC | National Research Council |
| NSF | National Science Foundation |
| PI | principal investigator |
| R&D | research and development |
| RD&I | research, development, and innovation |
| RFP | request for proposal |
| TRL | technology readiness level |
Convergence
An approach to problem solving that integrates knowledge, tools, and ways of thinking from life and health sciences, physical, mathematical, and computational sciences, social sciences, and engineering disciplines.
Convergent engineering
A deeply collaborative, team-based engineering approach for defining and solving important and complex societal problems. All necessary technical and social science disciplines, skills, and capabilities are brought together to address a specific research opportunity. It is distinguished by resolutely using best team-research and value-creation practices to rapidly and efficiently integrate the unique contributions of individual members and develop valuable and innovative solutions for society.
Deep collaboration
Intense intellectual interaction of research team members to continuously refine common research goals and strategies.
Interdisciplinary
Involves the integration of perspectives, concepts, theories, and methods from two or more disciplines or fields to address the problem.
Multidisciplinary
The sequential or additive combination of ideas or methods drawn from two or more disciplines or fields to address the focal problem.
Team research
Research conducted by more than one individual in an interdependent fashion, including research conducted by small teams and larger groups. Includes all traditional natural and social science fields, as well as engineering.
Transdisciplinary
Entails not only the integration of discipline-specific approaches, but also the extension of these approaches to generate fundamentally new conceptual frameworks, hypotheses, theories, models, and methodological applications that transcend their disciplinary origins.
Value creation
The learning and creating activity whose goal is the development of new, sustainable value for society, whether as notable new research results or as marketplace innovations.
Value proposition
A review and analysis of the needs, competition, and value (i.e., benefits per costs) that an organization can deliver to its prospective customers and other stakeholders within and outside the organization.
