The Governing Knowledge Commons project, a novel research collaborative led by law professors at Pitt, New York University, and Villanova, recently received a National Science Foundation award to support efforts to build a Research Coordination Network (RCN) in the field known as knowledge commons.
The three leaders, who are co-Principal Investigators on the NSF grant, are Michael Madison, Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Brett Frischmann, the Charles Widger Endowed University Professor in Law, Business and Economics, at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, and Katherine Jo Strandburg, the Alfred B. Engelberg Professor of Law at NYU Law,
Knowledge commons refer to organizations and communities that create and share a wide range of intellectual and cultural resources, including medical and health data, privacy and cybersecurity information, and critical scientific knowledge relating to climate and the environment. This NSF-funded project will extend existing research, supporting a new Research Coordination Network (RCN) designed to build a research community to advance the work systematically and scientifically.
This RCN, funded by a $350,000 grant, will assemble researchers from around the world and from law, the social and behavioral sciences, computer science, and engineering, allowing them to coordinate, integrate, and communicate research across multiple disciplinary and organizational boundaries.
The project, which will take place over three years, will facilitate a series of focused working conferences, each organized around a specific subject matter, as well as a capstone convergence conference bringing the entire network and its research together.
“It’s an exciting time for knowledge commons research. IP law focuses on exclusive property rights. We’re focused on the power of collaboration. I’m thrilled by the recognition by the NSF and what these resources offer to the future of the field and to the future of technology policy,” says Madison.
Read the formal abstract here.