CECS Communities Program

The CECS Communities program is intended to support the formation and building of larger research teams on the UM-Dearborn campus by providing funding and support. The goal is to:

• Gather and mobilize groups of faculty by shared expertise or a shared research/scholarship goal
• Make visible the CECS faculty knowledge and talent
• Complement (not replace) the proposed university-wide MCubed Communities program

The program provides seed funding for teams in support of developing communities around either expertise or research themes. The goal is to provide faculty the basic resources needed to support building a critical mass of activity and prepare teams to pursue planning grants and/or larger funding opportunities.

• Teams receive $500 per "equivalent" faculty member. For example, if a faculty member allocates 25% of their "total commitment" to a particular team, the team will receive a $125 incentive.
• Minimum of 4 "equivalent" faculty members are required to receive funds and a team can receive a maximum of $5000 per year.
• No fiscal contribution by the faculty is required
• Funding can be used for shared workshops, materials, and/or course development
• Existing teams that are already receiving CECS funding in support of their activities (e.g., DAIR, Cyber Security) are not eligible for CECS Communities resources.

The goal is to provide faculty resources in support of building a critical mass of activity that will prepare teams to pursue planning grants and/or larger funding opportunities.

• Provides insight into CECS strengths based on faculty-driven activities centered on either expertise or research interests
• Fosters the formation and building of teams that enables pursuit of larger funding opportunities
• Guides future CECS investments into programs based on collaborative success

In general, there are two types of CECS Communities:

• Expertise Community: A community of faculty with similar expertise, skills, methodologies, or tools. Members can be from the same department, span multiple departments, or represent multiple units on campus.
• Theme Community: A community of faculty committed to uniting their diverse skills and knowledge to address challenges that require a large-scale approach. Members will span multiple departments (at a minimum) and likely multiple units on campus.

If you are struggling to determine whether you are forming a Expertise-based or Theme-based community, don't fret. Pick the one you think is best and move on!

The ultimate goal is to develop faculty-driven research communities, regardless of how their activities are characterized or labeled. 

CECS faculty members may participate in as many Communities as they wish (according to the availability of their time). However, they may only allocate their funding contribution to a maximum of 4 Communities. 

• Groups of faculty may be from either the same or different departments, the same or different UM-Dearborn units
• Each faculty member may commit up to 100% of their funding contribution to teams formed around either expertise or research/scholarly interests. Faculty may select up to 4 teams to allocate their funding contribution toward (minimum team funding commitment is 25%).
• Faculty participation in CECS Communities does not affect their ability to participate in MCubed Communities (when launched in the first quarter of 2020) or the MCubed program.

Faculty members form teams on the CECS Communities website. 

The team leader supplies:

• Title for the community
• Brief description of the team's intended focus​​
• Picture or drawing that is representative of the community focus and activities
• Current membership list

Other collaborators can be added to the group, there is no minimum or maximum size limit.