The Office of Research is pleased to announce that a Request for Proposals (RFP) has been issued for a new Office of Research funded Center of Excellence. A Letter of Intent (LOI) must be submitted no later than COB June 12, 2026. Go HERE for the RFP.

Centers of Excellence

Tulane University Centers of Excellence

 

The Office of Research is please to announce a Request for Proposals for a competition for an additional Tulane Research Centers of Excellence award.

The Request for Proposals (RFP) provides the details and requirements for application, funding, review, and reporting. The highest quality application will be awarded $200,000 per year for three years. The Office of Research will provide $100,000 per year with additional matching funding required from the Schools/TNBRC with faculty participating in the Center.

The timeline for the Centers of Excellence competition follows:

TIMELINE:

Program Announcement                         May 15, 2026
Letter of Intent (LOI) due                        June 12, 2026

Notify finalist (for Full Application)        June 29, 2026
Full Application due                                  August 31, 2026

Award notification                                    September 21, 2026
Funding begins                                          October 15, 2026

 

TCE-MPS - Tulane Center of Excellence for Microphysiological Systems

Co-Director - Michael Moore, PhD, Tulane School of Science and Engineering

Co-Director - Heddwen Brooks, PhD, Tulane School of Medicine

TIIDHS – Tulane Institute for Integrated Data and Health Sciences

https://medicine.tulane.edu/tiidhs

Director – Hong-Wen Deng, PhD, Tulane School of Medicine

TU:CEAI – Tulane Center for Community-Engaged Artificial Intelligence 

https://tulanecs.github.io/tuceai/

Director – Aron Culotta, PhD, Tulane School of Science and Engineering

TCESPM—Tulane Center of Excellence in Sex-Based Precision Medicine

https://cespm.tulane.edu/

Director – Franck Mauvais-Jarvis, MD, PhD, Tulane School of Medicine

TPHI – Tulane Personalized Health Institute

https://tphi.tulane.edu/

Director – Lu Qi, PhD, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine

CEERID – Tulane Center of Excellence for Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Disease Research

Director – Patricia Kissinger, PhD, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine

 

The Tulane Centers of Excellence were selected and funded based on their plans for and ability to bring together faculty from various Tulane schools and units to foster collaborative research. Collaborative or convergence research was identified by the National Science Foundation as one of “10 Big Ideas.” It defines a means for solving vexing research problems, in particular, complex problems focusing on societal needs. It entails integrating knowledge, methods, and expertise from different disciplines and forming novel frameworks to catalyze scientific discovery and innovation.

A distinct characteristic of convergence research, in contrast to other forms of multidisciplinary research, is that from the inception, the convergence paradigm intentionally brings together intellectually diverse researchers and stakeholders to frame the research questions, develop effective ways of communicating across disciplines and sectors, adopt common frameworks for their solution, and, when appropriate, develop a new scientific vocabulary. Research teams practicing convergence aim at developing sustainable relationships that may not only create solutions to the problem that engendered the collaboration, but also develop novel ways of framing related research questions and open new research vistas.

Please contact Assistant Vice President for Research, Gail Louis, glouis@tulane.edu if you have questions about the Centers of Excellence.