What We're Solving For: The CONNECT Initiative

How to Connect Scientists to Collaborate Better

Putting scientists together IRL makes meeting all the other challenges more possible and more likely. Whether it's better communication or deeper collaboration, it's all made easier if it starts with connection and collegiality and even some fun. ‍

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WHY CONNECT?

Creating social spaces for research scientists from multiple disciplines and institutions to connect in creative ways, to collaborate, and to become communities will help them solve for every other challenge.

Be Connected

Elevating in-person gatherings as a priority, offering seed funds to convenings and events

Be Collaborative

Structuring pathways to collaboration, with purposeful outcome-driven workshops

Be Community

Supporting the bonds of community by supporting their local priorities and people

CONNECTING NATIONALLY, ENGAGING LOCALLY

Gathering Community, Generating Momentum

There is no substitute for the value of in-person gathering to foster creativity and community. In 2026 our focus will be sponsoring and supporting local gatherings for national effect.

The seeds of Solving For Science were planted in 2021 in a beautiful place where immunology researchers had gathered with their families to commiserate about the crisis of COVID-19 and to powerfully regroup around the challenges and opportunities that resulted from it.

In 2026 SolvingFor plans to seed, sponsor and support a robust set of regional gatherings of scientists, locally organized and led, to carry forward the work of making science better and scale it deep.

Let us know if you want to help lead, organize, host, or just help in any region or institution where there's at least one other person who wants to do it with you....

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Credit: Gabe Murphy

THE CONNECT WORKSHOP

Building a Bigger Vision, Together

Sometimes it's about the work itself; sometimes it's about HOW we work. Either way, people in a room is better than seeing people in a Zoom (though we'll take that over anonymity and lurkers) to actually work through existing challenges and to find ways to collaborate with creativity when surrounded by silos.

At USCF Parnassus in 2025, we convened the directors of the Parnassus Institutes to consider interdisciplinary and cross-department collaborations and infrastructure planning in new ways.

At a Future of Immunology conference in 2024, we gathered around a whiteboard filled with brainstormed ideas and implemented several projects that could make science better.

Look for us IRL in 2026 and join us!