Collaborate & Innovate

UC Forward is a re-imagining of what a university experience should be. It is a one-of-a-kind learning opportunity – pairing students and faculty of diverse majors in trans-disciplinary teams to collaborate with outside experts,  in solving today's problems and developing tomorrow’s workforce in unique and relevant ways. We pose the question, "Why wait to change the world if you don't have to?"

While UC Forward offers courses, it is not a traditional program in the academic sense. It is an initiative that promotes opportunities for University of Cincinnati students to put what they're learning into action while they're learning it and in doing so, develop intangible skills through collaboration, team leadership and project management that you just don't get from lectures.

All UC Forward collaborations tackle real-world issues - some tangible, some not - that may include problems in health care, the environment, poverty, sustainable development, or even difficult theoretical or philosophical questions in art, photography, or literature. Whatever the experience, UC Forward courses put students in the driver's seat and pair them with experts in their fields to guide them as they solve real and relevant questions that require solutions unbounded by a single discipline.

UC Forward enthusiastically welcomes students from all majors, minors, and academic disciplines.

Benefits

In UC Forward, you will:

  • Be introduced to the creative process of research, innovation and cross-disciplinary teamwork needed to address specific, real-world problems.
  • Learn techniques that foster innovation, generate ideas, test models and quickly get to solutions.

Ready to dive in?

  1. Take the Inquiry to Innovation course. The course is offered in multiple sections each fall and spring, each with a different focus and problem. In every section, you will learn and practice techniques to stimulate creativity and innovation.
  2. Read what students have to say about Inquiry to Innovation.
  3. Complete a UC Forward Certificate for added polish and prestige
  4. Talk to program director Frank Russell