Oak Ridge Center for Advanced Studies (ORCAS)
The Oak Ridge Center for Advanced Studies (ORCAS) is a think and do consortium of research universities, government, industry, and non-governmental organizations that focuses on critical issues with strong science and technology content.
ORAU is partnering with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to support ORCAS as it explores major scientific and socioeconomic issues and influences policy. Other founding members of ORCAS include the Battelle Memorial Institute, Duke University, Florida State University, Georgia Tech, North Carolina State University, the University of Tennessee, the University of Virginia, Vanderbilt University, and Virginia Tech.
Founding Director Paul Gilman, who most recently served the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Research and Development, brings a diverse scientific and policy making background to ORCAS.
ORCAS approaches problems broadly, taking into account their scientific, technical, economic, social, and policy dimensions to develop research and integrated strategies for addressing those challenges.
Recent ORCAS initiatives have included workshops on climate change, the globalization of the university, and methods for improving K-12 science and math literacy.
ORNL provides ORCAS with offices and meeting facilities in a new building shared with ORNL's Joint Institute for Computational Sciences. ORAU provides the support staff and infrastructure the group uses for day-to-day operations. In addition, ORAU supports ORCAS by managing a summer internship program for the group.
You can learn more by visiting the official ORCAS Web site at http://orcas.orau.org/.