Achieving the goal of One University outlined in President Ronald J. Daniels' Ten by Twenty vision for Johns Hopkins' future will require fresh, innovative ideas. So the president is asking everyone at the university to weigh in using the new Idea Lab online crowdsourcing website, which launched today.
The Ten by Twenty Challenge will provide up to $20,000 to implement the best ideas submitted by JHU faculty, staff, or students on the theme of One University. Ideas should improve how Johns Hopkins collaborates in education, research, service, or any other aspect of university mission and life. The challenge offers another opportunity—along with the Ten by Twenty progress report released today—to continue the conversation about how the university can achieve its vision for the future.
The Ten by Twenty Challenge and the Diversity Innovation Grants are the first two initiatives in the Idea Lab. The site will be a platform for a variety of projects that ask the community for new ideas, project proposals, and grant requests. Everyone with a JHED ID can sign in, submit ideas in response to specific challenges, and comment and vote on ideas posted by others.
"The Idea Lab will be home to crowdsourcing initiatives from all corners of Johns Hopkins, harnessing your remarkable talent and collaboration to strengthen our university and our impact in the world," Daniels said in a message to the university community today. "The Idea Lab reflects the way in which smart ideas travel across our university, growing and unleashing an avalanche of creativity."
The Idea Lab was inspired by the Applied Physics Laboratory's Ignition Grants, which use community discussion and voting to direct seed funding grants. Since 2010, the APL Ignition Grants program has attracted 3,800 participants to propose, discuss, and vote on more than 750 ideas.
Each challenge in the Idea Lab will have its own rules. Individuals that submit ideas may be asked for a timeline, budget, metrics to measure success, or other information. Participants are encouraged to provide enough details so that others can understand and assess the merits of an idea, and to use titles that get to the heart of the idea while avoiding technical jargon.
There is no limit on the number of ideas that one person can submit, and anonymous ideas and comments are not allowed.
The Ten by Twenty Challenge is open to the entire university community, and the Diversity Innovation Grant program is open to students, faculty, and staff from the university and the health system. Both challenges continue until April 21.
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