Transdisciplinary Strategic Cluster Hire Program

Updated 6:35 p.m. November 22, 2025

Background

The Office of the Provost and the Office of Research and Partnerships invite proposals for strategic faculty cluster hires. These proposals should align with the university’s strategic imperatives and academic success goals. Proposals should address one or more of the five strategic research initiatives:

• National Security in Space
• Promise of Fusion Energy
• AI-Driven Health Care Innovation
• Future of Sustainable Mining and Critical Minerals
• Environmental Systems, Arid Lands Agriculture and Water

To be successful, these cluster hire proposals will bring multiple colleges together to drive convergence through transdisciplinary research.  By bringing top talent to the university cluster hires are intended to have a transformational impact, one that can catapult a particular area into a top 5 nationally ranked program, retain top 5 ranked programs, bring in new resources and sponsored research dollars, attract top level students at the undergraduate and graduate level, and attract opportunities for philanthropy, e.g., named postdoctoral fellowships or endowed chairs. Proposals for cluster hires that involve hires at different faculty ranks are encouraged. 

Our goal is to add 20 new faculty members per year across the five research clusters, totaling 100 new faculty hires over five years.

Funding

Start-up costs: The Office for Research and Partnerships (ORP) will provide 50% of the start-up expenses, up to a maximum of $4M annually, with the participating colleges sharing the remaining 50%. This support will be made available through ORP and its affiliated university-wide centers and institutes. 

Salary support: The Office of the Provost covers 50% of the salary for the first two years, up to a maximum of $2M annually, while the colleges fund the other half of the salary. Beginning in year three, the colleges assume full salary responsibility. The funding is made possible through the Provost's Investment Fund.

Submission

Applications will be submitted through the Office of the Provost using Arizona Cultivate. Proposals may be submitted by any college with letters of support from the partnering college(s). Deans and department heads are encouraged to collaborate in developing proposals to ensure alignment across units and to strengthen the overall submission. Total faculty allotment per college per hire will depend on the needs of the cluster to ensure the most impactful research experience.

Timeline

The cluster hire funding opportunity is available on a rolling basis throughout the year, though colleges are encouraged to submit proposals early to align with budget planning and recruitment cycles.

SUBMIT PROPOSAL

Submission Materials

Proposals should not exceed 5 pages (Times New Roman, 12 Point font) and address the following questions:

Strategic Research Priorities  

• How does this proposal contribute to the goal of building research, scholarship and creative activity to enable the success of the university’s strategic priorities? Specifically, your proposal should address how the cluster will contribute significantly to our strategic research initiatives at the intersection of the verticals and cross-cutting foundational horizontals.  
• How is this research area at U of A currently positioned strategically within the national arena (e.g., provide comparative existing faculty strengths and achievements that can be built on, and where the gaps to reach national pre-eminence are).
• Describe the outcomes that can be expected from the proposed cluster hires, such as a contribution to a potential area of strength within the university that can result in national prominence, or the potential to move a currently existing or new program within the university into a top 5 nationally ranked program. Provide comparative data if possible, using tools such as Academic Analytics department metrics, to demonstrate the need.  

Convergence 

• Describe what academic disciplines are included in this cluster, and how bringing faculty from across multiple disciplines is fundamental to the success of the strategic research initiatives. Describe in detail how you envision this cluster working together across discipline-specific boundaries in additive ways. Specifically, describe how the cluster integrates faculty in the fine arts, humanities, social sciences, design, professional programs as well as STEM disciplines.
• Identify at least one existing university-wide Center or Institute within Research & Partnerships where the faculty members will have membership. Ensure that when developing the cluster there is a sufficient percentage of the appointment allocated for convergence and center/institute activities; describe how you will support this in your proposal. 

Teaching and Mentoring

• How will this proposed hire(s) contribute to strengthening undergraduate research opportunities and graduate education at U of A? Do the hires in the cluster enhance the ability to attract and mentor top graduate students? How will this cluster contribute to the undergraduate mission of the university?

Funding

• What opportunities does this cluster bring for enhancing the university’s ability to successfully compete for major sponsored research grants from the federal government, the private sector, and/or foundations and private philanthropies?    

Community Impact

• What if any, is the impact on the region, of these proposed hires? How, if at all, does the cluster contribute to the land grant mission of the university?

Anticipated Needs

• Provide a short description of the anticipated needs of the cluster, from office and lab space to computational capabilities, to instrumentation and equipment. Include anticipated salaries (based on national recruitment data and departmental standards) of the intended positions and the likely startup needs of the cluster. Incorporate the resources that the College/Department brings to the table, including faculty lines, salary, etc. and clearly delineate the needs from the Provost and ORP. Insert a simple budget table documenting these needs.
• If you have a location for offices/labs identified, incorporate that information into the proposal. If you do not have a location, how do you plan to ensure that the cluster hires have capacity to work together to ensure cluster success?

Recruitment

• How does the cluster hire plan identify leading senior candidates in the field of research? Have you already identified top talent you intend to recruit? Have you engaged in active recruitment for these positions in the past (e.g., inviting potential candidates to give a guest lecture on campus or visit campus to engage with faculty at U of A)? Are there existing labs with strong postdoctoral candidates that may make strong assistant professor hires? Or recently promoted Associate Professors that may be interested in moving post tenure? Ultimately, document where you plan to recruit and how you will recruit for this cluster hire.

Recruitment Process

Follow standard faculty recruitment protocols, ensuring all existing procedures for recruiting and hiring faculty are observed.

Hiring committees must include representatives from each of the relevant colleges/departments of the cluster and at least one member of the leadership from an ORP Center or Institute. Additional guidance will be provided to hiring committees on best practices for ensuring successful cluster hires.