The University announced the launch of the Nexus Awards in an email to affiliates on Feb. 17. The awards provide $15 million in support of faculty-led proposals for research, courses and convenings at the University’s new academic building at 555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C.
University officials wrote in the broadcast about the University’s vision for the new academic building.
“Our new location at 555 Penn opens this fall and is designed to bring together all divisions of our university, fostering meaningful academic work and collaborations, serving as a convening space for national and global dialogue, and extending the impact of our research and policy expertise in the public square,” they wrote.
Funding provided by the Nexus Awards will allow faculty to conduct research and cross-disciplinary projects that will contribute to the University’s expanded presence in Washington, D.C.
In an email to The News-Letter, Assistant Vice President for Media Relations and News J.B. Bird provided background information on the inspiration behind the Nexus Awards.
“Two previous university awards — the Johns Hopkins Catalyst and Discovery Awards — suggested the power of providing critical funding for faculty to follow bracing avenues of research,” he wrote. “The Nexus awards expands on this, providing funds for research — as well as for teaching and convening — to forge cross-disciplinary projects designed to animate our expanded presence in D.C.”
The Nexus Awards are open to all of the University’s academic disciplines. Faculty applying for research awards may request up to $300,000 for an award term of up to two years. Those applying for teaching awards may request up to $25,000, and convening teams may request up to $100,000 for an award term of up to one year. Applications are open now through March 30.
The University also plans to maintain an open call for rapid-response research that addresses emerging topics and events both nationally and internationally. Rapid-response award applications will open on Sept. 1.
Sophomore Will Polen, an International Studies major, expressed his excitement for the Nexus Awards and the University’s increased presence in Washington, D.C. in an email to The News-Letter.
“The Nexus Awards are another great step in binding Hopkins’ undergrad with [the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)],” he wrote. “I have the pleasure to be in a foreign policy class this semester that occasionally meets at SAIS, and I'm blown away by our presence there. Any opportunity to take advantage of it, especially through research that lets students directly interact with faculty in D.C., is amazing.
In an email to The News-Letter, senior Owen Welsh echoed Polen’s sentiments.
“It can be hard for [International Studies] students to get a foot in the door in D.C. because Georgetown usually has better connections,“ he wrote. “This could be a way for kids to meet new people and get hired from said connections.”
Bird stressed that the University’s expansion in Washington, D.C. will provide a wide array of opportunities to a variety of Hopkins students.
“There will be many great opportunities for students to take advantage of this new home base in D.C. — from Peabody students’ giving performances to undergraduate students’ spending an immersive semester in D.C. taking courses, conducting policy-based research and participating in internships,” he wrote. “ We are confident this greatly enhanced presence in D.C. will add tremendous value to the Hopkins student experience.”
