The “Thought Summits” of the Center for Data Science for Enterprise and Society is a new initiative aimed at developing inter- and intra- institutional transdisciplinary collaborations in line with the Center’s mission.

We envision the “Thought Summits” as a one week-long conference hosted at Cornell’s main campus, where a core of Cornell faculty can interact with about 20 external experts and leaders from academia, government, industry, and/or non-profit organizations.

The “Thought Summits” could be viewed as a first step towards multi-institutional, large-scale, external funding opportunities that merge methodological innovations in data science with real-word applications.

Who may apply

1. All Cornell University faculty are invited to apply. Ideally, proposals will be from teams of three or more PIs, representing at least three different departments. A faculty member can participate on at most one proposal.
2. Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research initiatives are especially encouraged.

Proposal Process

Please submit the below materials using the submission form. Unfortunately, we cannot accept incomplete or late submissions. The following materials should be submitted:

• Contact Information for all PIs and Collaborators
• Project Proposal (two-page maximum, single spaced, 12 pt. font, Times New Roman) including an explicit subsection on how the suggested “Thought Summit” currently or potentially promotes diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
• Tentative list of potential external participants (should include peer academic institutions, NGO’s, government organizations, and industry)
• Proposed set of weeks for the thought summit (provide 3 options from June 1, 2024 – December 31, 2025)
• Budget outline
• CVs for all PI’s (two-page, NSF biosketch style format) or a link to a personal website.

Funding and Terms

Funding Level	Details
$30,000-40,000.	The funds are mainly intended to help cover travel expenses and accommodation for the external speakers, as well as other event expenses (food, conference space, etc). No salary, summer salary, or funds for research assistantship shall be included in the budget.

Key Dates

• Submission open: Friday, September 29
• Submission deadline: Friday, October 27
• Notification to applicants: Wednesday, November 15
• Program start date: Academic year 2023-2024.

Criteria for Thought Summits

Funding determinations will be assessed based on the criteria below. Please consider addressing these questions in your proposal.

1. How does the theme for the summit merge methodological innovations in data science with real-word applications?
2. How is the project necessarily inter- and/or trans-disciplinary?
3. What is the mechanism you will use to record notes and outcomes from the sessions (potentially allocating some budget to support this)? 
4. What is the intended follow-up for this project to obtain future funds, especially plans to submit to large-scale funding opportunities?
5. Describe the project’s potential contributions to DEI goals.
6. Provide a tentative list of Cornell and external participants.

All projects must be relevant to advancing and/or applying data science as a field.

Award Recipients
Will be notified by November 15.

The host/award recipient of the event is responsible for the planning and logistics of the Thought Summits. This includes travel arrangements, hotel reservations, lecture room reservations, receptions and any other event logistics.

The final date of the Thought Summit will be selected from the choices provided by the applicant and in collaboration with the award recipients and the Center.

The Center for Data Science for Enterprise and Society will help promote the Thought Summit via the center’s website, e-list, affiliated departments, and social media.

For questions concerning your proposal, please contact info@datasciencecenter.cornell.edu