Award: $65,000
About: This project will create a studio that brings together teams of students from science, engineering, humanities and education to develop video games based on principals of evolutionary science.
Principal investigators: Barrie Robison, Biological Sciences; Terrence Soule, Computer Science; Jodie Nicotra, English; Diane Kelly-Riley, English; Brian Cleveley, Virtual Technology and Design; Cassidy Hall; Doceo Center; George Tanner, Idaho Entrepreneurs; Denise Bennett, Journalism and Mass Media.

Theory, Practice and Social Aspects of Reproducible Science

Award: $40,000
About: This project will use research, education and outreach to promote the practice of reproducible research and to inform research practices by advancing a theory of nonreproducibility.
Principal investigators: Berna Devezer, Business; Erkan O. Buzbas, Statistical Science; Bert Baumgaertner, Philosophy; Annie Gaines, Library.

Visualizing Science

Award: $40,000
About: This project will pair UI artists and visual designers with UI scientists to visualize their scientific research, resulting in a professional exhibition, catalogue, education program and relationships for further art and science collaborations.
Principal investigators: Sally Machlis, Art and Design; Roger Rowley, University Galleries.

For the 2015-16 inaugural year of the Vandal Ideas Project, the VIP committee reviewed proposals with an eye for those that seemed most innovative, feasible and likely either to have a lasting impact within the university or to position UI to have an impact on a topic of regional or national relevance. President Chuck Staben made final decisions, based on committee recommendations.

VIP grant recipients were:

Center for Digital Inquiry and Learning (CDIL): Building Capacity Through Collaboration

Award: $80,000
About: The CDIL will provide space, technology and support to help faculty develop new understandings and techniques for analyzing data, understanding and interpreting the resulting information and knowledge, and distributing these understandings in ways that take advantage of digital connectedness.
Principal investigators: Devin Becker, Library; Stacey Camp, Department of Culture, Society and Justice; Patricia Hart, Journalism and Mass Media; Ben Hunter, Library; Rochelle Smith, Library; Adam Sowards, History.

Hydrodynamic Simulator for Brain Therapeutic Development

Award: $75,000
About: This project will create an anatomically realistic 3D model and computer visualization system of the fluid spaces that surround the brain and spinal cord, a region occupied by the cerebrospinal fluid. This model will help researchers and clinicians understand solute transport within the cerebrospinal fluid system and ways to use it for delivery of therapeutics to the central nervous system to treat neurological disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer’s disease, brain cancer and others.
Principal investigators: Bryn Martin, Biological Engineering; Brian Cleveley, Virtual Technology and Design; Tao Xing, Mechanical Engineering

2015-16 Faculty Gathering Videos