PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (June 22, 2020) – While the ongoing COVID-19 crisis has halted research and hampered collaboration at many institutions, Prairie View A&M University is developing new approaches to safely share their faculty’s interdisciplinary research expertise.

Research and Innovation has launched two weekly virtual training sessions entitled Research-Data Blitz and the Research & Innovation Training Institute (RITI).

“We are committed to elevating our research community through innovative and state-of-the-art initiatives in support of faculty, students, and staff to develop and enhance research and innovation activities and increase the visibility of the PVAMU research enterprise,” said Vice President of Research and Development Magesh Rajan, Ph.D.

So far, faculty have covered grand research challenges, such as COVID-19, water access, cybersecurity, and low resource farming.

“Data Blitz, which is held every Wednesday from 3-4 p.m., offers PVAMU faculty a convenient opportunity to showcase and share their research, creative, and scholarly activities with the PVAMU community,” said Ramaswamy Krishnamoorthi, Ph.D., director of Research Advancement.

RITI, on the other hand, is held every Monday from 1-2 p.m. It serves as an opportunity for faculty to enhance their capabilities for research proposal development, network, and gain additional professional skills.

“By offering RITI via a virtual platform, we are increasing access to essential information that supports researchers in their endeavors to write and submit successful external research funding proposals. We are also building an ecosystem that encourages multidisciplinary collaboration,” said Karen Cotton, manager of Research and Innovation Marketing and Communications. “It helps to eliminate some of the physical and geographical barriers to accessing learning opportunities, and provides opportunities for our faculty to meet and learn both about one another and about the work happening in the ‘lab next door.’”

For security reasons, faculty and researchers who want to participate need to request access to the sessions, which are available to view on the YouTube channel, PVAMU Research.

The sessions have proven to be highly successful, averaging 50-55 participants every week. And, with a nearly endless variety of research topics to be discussed, there’s no end in sight for this exciting new initiative.

For more information, or to receive secure login information for the weekly online sessions, email research@pvamu.edu.