Universities embarking on Grand Challenge efforts are traversing new terrain — they are making commitments about research deliverables rather than simply committing to invest in efforts related to a particular subject matter. As the first university to develop a campus-wide SMART goal-oriented Grand Challenge program, UCLA is the natural choice to serve as the convener of the community. Those universities that have entered this space were informally consulting with others regarding effective strategies, but there was recognition that the entire community would benefit from a more formal structure for identifying and sharing “what works.” This led to a new Community of Practice for University-Led Grand Challenges. At an October 2017 workshop at UCLA, community members discussed what they wanted from the Community of Practice—it aims to provide peer support to leaders of university Grand Challenge programs, and to accelerate the adoption of Grand Challenge approaches at more universities supported by cross-sector partnerships. As of today, the Community of Practice now has a virtual home using Google tools and is open for new members. For those interested in joining, please visit https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/universitygcs.
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UCLA Grand Challenges leads workshop on University-Led Grand Challenge Community of Practice UCLA Grand Challenges Happenings, Oct. 9, 2017
