Today, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Arizona State University announced a five-year partnership, the AAAS + ASU Collaborative. Together, the institutions will elevate and amplify strategies and practices that advance scientific excellence and enable a boldly inclusive scientific enterprise serving society.
In its first phase, the Collaborative includes a joint prize, an invitation for the ASU STEMM community to join AAAS as Elemental Members, and events in Washington, D.C., addressing policy-relevant science topics.
“Focusing science and scientific advances on the challenges we face is essential to the advancement of society,” said ASU President Michael Crow. “This collaboration will help us do that and can become a model for how we thoughtfully advance science to impact public policy for the benefit of all people.”
As part of this partnership, ASU has developed a prize with AAAS and the society’s flagship peer-reviewed journal, Science, to be given to early-career researchers whose work is solutions focused. The scientific community contributes novel findings that inform society’s most pressing problems, and the future will require even more innovative research — intentionally designed with the needs and values of different communities at the forefront.
The ASU-Science Prize for Transformational Research — which will open for submissions in May 2025 — will be awarded to a researcher who uses new methods to identify problems and produce findings with clear impacts on policy. Prizewinning work could inform issues ranging from human health to educational outcomes to beneficial uses of artificial intelligence.
“We are thrilled to be partnering in the AAAS + ASU Collaborative, which will pioneer innovative approaches to research and community building," said Sally C. Morton, executive vice president of ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise. "Most exciting of all is the development of a prize that will empower the next generation of scientists to create tangible benefits for society, fostering a thriving people, a thriving society and a thriving planet.”
Another component of the Collaborative includes ASU inviting its STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine) community of faculty, students and staff to become AAAS members. The long-term vision of AAAS is to mobilize scientists and engineers across the globe to ignite, enable and celebrate scientific excellence and science-informed decisions and actions. For that reason, Elemental Members from ASU will create cohorts around science communication, science policy, and early-career development and networking to deepen engagement, and they will help inform future membership activities.
AAAS and ASU will also partner on events in the nation’s capital that focus on the intersection of science and society. The first, anticipated this spring, will examine the national security implications of energy systems and transitions.
On a broader scale, the new Collaborative exemplifies a high-level, mission-focused model for how AAAS partners with higher education institutions. It reflects the spirit of the Vision for American Science and Technology, a task force chaired by AAAS CEO Sudip Parikh and including President Crow that will be unveiled at an event in Washington, D.C., in February 2025. VAST recognizes that a key differentiator and driver of innovation across the American scientific enterprise is the strong connection among government, industry, universities and scientific societies. Universities play a vital role in advancing scientific excellence and must remain healthy, strong and committed to transparency, especially as trust in institutions continues to decline.
“This partnership reinforces the interconnected nature of the S&T ecosystem and why cross-sector engagement matters for the strength of the global scientific community to benefit the country, and ultimately, the world,” said Parikh. “Imagine what we can accomplish when we’re all working together on a bigger mission.”