{"id":238882,"date":"2025-12-17T07:01:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T12:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=238882"},"modified":"2025-12-17T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T15:00:00","slug":"different-continents-similar-dedication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/12\/different-continents-similar-dedication\/","title":{"rendered":"Different Continents, Similar Dedication"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Regardless of\u00a0hemisphere\u00a0or continent, universities\u00a0around the world are facing unprecedented challenges to research.\u00a0Two UConn leaders\u00a0explored those hurdles and much more\u00a0at an international gathering\u00a0held in Johannesburg, South Africa.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">This year\u2019s\u00a0Universitas 21 (U21) Global Research and Senior Leadership meeting\u00a0brought together\u00a0partner institutions\u00a0from all over the globe for honest discussions about\u00a0hurdles\u00a0in academia.\u00a0It was held from Nov. 5-7 at the University of Johannesburg.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Lindsay DiStefano, UConn\u2019s interim\u00a0Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship,\u00a0and Ngozi Taffe, associate vice president for Global Affairs\u00a0made the trek to South Africa.\u00a0The summit explored the role that universities play as global anchors in an evolving world, especially against a backdrop of geopolitical fragmentation and growing skepticism toward research and higher education.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cWe learned that despite international borders, our roles are not unique,\u201d says DiStefano. \u201cAlong with our peers, UConn has identified ways to raise public trust in our research institutions, and we share a responsibility to be conduits of societal progress.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">U21 is devoted to making positive impacts at societal and institutional levels, as well as enabling personal career development and growth. Fellow American partners in the consortium include major R-1 research institutions the University of Maryland, University of Illinois, and University of California-Davis. There are a total of 30 members, spanning Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, North America, South America, and Africa.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cBy being in this consortium\u00a0of top universities from around the world, UConn is positioned to partner with top scholars to engage in cutting edge research and projects,\u201d says Ngozi\u00a0Taffe, UConn\u2019s associate vice president for global affairs. \u201cBeyond access to research collaborations, as a U21 member, our students are able to engage in academic exchange programs with any of our members.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">DiStefano\u00a0co-led a discussion on regaining trust and served on\u00a0a\u00a0panel exploring the value of research into nature.\u00a0She and Ngozi met with a wide range of delegates and leaders,\u00a0learning strategies to drive UConn\u2019s international reputation as\u00a0a\u00a0powerhouse\u00a0in research and innovation.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The UConn faction\u00a0collaborated on best practices to swing the tide\u00a0back in favor of investing in research, DiStefano says, including strategies that UConn\u2019s Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) are\u00a0utilizing. Beginning last spring, the OVPR has been actively pushing resources to UConn researchers,\u00a0such as\u00a0workshops to help faculty members advocate for themselves in a challenging landscape.\u00a0Other outreach\u00a0efforts include an Impact website\u00a0and\u00a0a frequently\u00a0updated FAQ page\u00a0on the main UConn research site\u00a0that tracks\u00a0legislation and other policies that\u00a0impact\u00a0University research.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two UConn senior leaders attended an international summit in Johannesburg, learning that peer universities all over the globe are facing familiar challenges to research and higher education. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":238889,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[88,2467,2076,2235],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2381],"class_list":["post-238882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-affairs","category-global-cultures-perspectives","category-research","category-today-homepage"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-07 04:42:11","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238882"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":239388,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238882\/revisions\/239388"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/238889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238882"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=238882"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=238882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}