Turning discovery into real-world impact

About RTA

The Research Translation AcceLUrator (RTA) is Lehigh’s campus-wide initiative to help faculty move research beyond publication into practical outcomes—new partnerships, prototypes, commercialization pathways, policy influence, community impact, or startups. RTA is supported by a four-year, $6M National Science Foundation (NSF) Accelerating Research Translation (ART) award, building Lehigh’s capacity for research translation across all five colleges.

Why it matters

At Lehigh, you don’t have to choose between rigorous scholarship and meaningful impact. RTA helps faculty:

  • Build traction early without reinventing the wheel
  • Strengthen proposals with credible translation and implementation plans
  • Expand partnerships with industry, government, nonprofits, and communities
  • Accelerate pathways to impact while protecting faculty time and effort

What RTA offers faculty

  1. Catalytic funding and structured opportunities. RTA supports Seed Translational Research Project grants and related opportunities that help faculty de-risk ideas, build interdisciplinary teams, and advance work toward external investment and real-world adoption.
  2. Strategic translation support. Practical guidance to navigate and choose among translation pathways, including:
    • Partner engagement and stakeholder strategy
    • Commercialization and venture pathways
    • Licensing/industry collaboration routes
    • Societal impact and implementation approaches
  3. Skill-building. Access to training and resources that build the cross-cutting capabilities teams need to translate research effectively—communication, stakeholder engagement, collaboration, and implementation thinking.
  4. Community, network, and visibility. A growing community of faculty and collaborators engaged in translation work, plus opportunities to showcase research, connect with mentors and partners, and build momentum around applied outcomes.
  5. Student engagement and team capacity. Opportunities to involve doctoral, graduate, and undergraduate students in meaningful translation work—strengthening research outcomes while supporting student professional development.

RTA helps faculty move faster from idea to impact—with resources, structure, and a collaborative ecosystem designed to make translational work more achievable, more visible, and more rewarding.

Learn more / connect
Contact: John Coulter, Associate Vice Provost for Research Translation | Email: jc0i@lehigh.edu