The distinguishing element of the 1U4U Initiative is rapid distribution of seed funding to grassroots, multi-disciplinary faculty/student teams to initiate innovative projects that are not subject to traditional peer review.
Funded project spotlights

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The Gender-Based Violence Consortium
The Gender-Based Violence Consortium’s vision is to increase public recognition of and deepen public knowledge about this type of violence through research innovation and collaboration, creation of research communities, and enhanced educational efforts.
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Artivism for Earth: expressions of loss and hope
The Artivism4Earth project culminated its premiere on April 22, 2021 with the Artivism for Earth: Expressions of Loss and Hope program. This event is primarily set at the Natural History Museum of Utah on the campus of the University of Utah. The Museum cares for a collection of more than 1.6 million specimens and objects that document our planet's history with a mission to illuminate the natural world and the place of humans within it. Communicating science and serving as a venue where diverse perspectives can come together to understand critical topics like climate change is a critical mission.
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Marking a path: Sustainability and the arts
Finding long-term solutions to complex problems is not just about the destination. It’s about marking the path for others to follow so they can discover the next solution. Named after the human-made piles of stones found at trail markers around the world, “Cairns” is a new art residency at the University of Utah will mark the progress made as we strive for sustainability.
About 1U4U projects
Each project must include three faculty members from at least two different colleges and must include both academic affairs and health sciences. Each project must consist of new work and a new team--and not be based on a previously
shared external award.
The initiative seeks projects aimed at campus, education, engagement, research and scholarship.
The goal is to stimulate collaborations, supported by joint incentive seed funding from the senior vice presidents (health sciences and academic affairs) and associated deans and administrative units, aimed at these objectives:
Cultivate One U partnerships across campus and within our communities
Enable innovative, collaborative education and training
Address social and scientific/engineering problems too deep and complex to be solved by any single discipline
Stimulate early, high-risk approaches that would not attract support from traditional government or foundation funding sources
Engage young researchers and scholars in multidisciplinary partnerships
Facilitate discussion and collaboration among scholars interested in the same challenges who might not meet otherwise