Federal Partnerships

The mission of the University manifests itself in multiple and diverse ways that extend beyond the classroom experience. In many ways, federal resources have benefited the University, financially enabled students to attend Georgetown, and assisted in fulfilling our mission beyond the campus. Partnerships with federal agencies have assisted in extending our vision and breadth of services to the global community while enhancing Georgetown’s commitment to academic excellence through teaching, research, and proactive engagement in the world and the issues of the day. Among the University divisions, centers and programs that engage the University and the federal government are those listed below:

  • Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS) is the only academic institution in the U.S. devoted solely to the study of the modern Arab world. The Center was established as an integral part of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, the oldest school of international affairs in the U.S. The Center is supported, in part, by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education under Title VI of the Higher Education Act.
  • Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies (CERES) provides multi-disciplinary training in the politics, societies and cultures of the area stretching from Central Europe to the Pacific and from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas. Drawing on Georgetown University’s resources in a variety of fields, CERES seeks to combine rigorous education in scholarly disciplines with attention to the cultural, historical and political complexity of this vast area. The Center is supported, in part, by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education under Title VI of the Higher Education Act.
  • Center for Intercultural Education and Development (CIED) designs and administers international programs aimed at improving the quality of life of socio-economically disadvantaged people. CIED also manages the English Language Fellows program for the Department of State and has managed exchanges for the Department’s Middle East Partnerships Initiatives.
  • C.W. Bill Young Marrow Donor Program supports Department of Defense volunteer marrow donors aged 18 through 60. The program’s center coordinates all the medical and logistic support for DoD personnel who volunteer for the possibility of donating marrow.
  • G.U. Office of Sponsored Programs provides assistance to faculty members in identifying funding sources and supplies application forms and guidelines; establishes and implements University research policies governing the conduct of and accountability for sponsored activities; interprets and implements government regulations related to grants and contracts; assists in budget and proposal preparation; reviews and approves all grant and contract proposals to outside agencies; negotiates awards contractually on behalf of the University; and conducts informational grant-related seminars and workshops.
  • G.U. Kennedy Institute of Ethics is a teaching and research center offering ethical perspectives on major policy issues. The Institute also houses the world’s most extensive library of literature in the field, the National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature; produces bibliographic citations relating to bioethics for the online databases of the National Library of Medicine; and conducts regular seminars and courses in bioethics.
  • National Capital Language Resource Center (NCLRC) is a joint project of Georgetown University, The George Washington University, and the Center for Applied Linguistics. Since 1990, the NCLRC has focused on testing, learning strategies, materials development, and dissemination of information on both commonly and less commonly taught languages.
  • G.U. Office of International Programs fosters the international character of the University by promoting, supporting, and developing a wide range of international and intercultural educational opportunities for members of the Georgetown community. In conjunction with the University’s Center for Social Justice, Research, Training and Service, OIP is establishing innovative community-based learning programs abroad.
  • Center for the Study of Learning (CSL) uses neuroscience research to help identify avenues for effective education and remediation for a variety of cognitive skills. CSL is supported by NIH’s National Institute for Child Health and Human Development.
  • Imaging Science and Information Systems (ISIS) Center is home to over 80 faculty and staff whose activities can be grouped into many areas, such as: Computer-aided Interventions and Medical Robotics (US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command grant) and Computer-aided Diagnosis and Imaging (NIH/NCI grant).
  • Institute for Reproductive Health (IRH), with an initial 6-year grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), worked with public sector programs, non-governmental organizations, and faith-based groups to strengthen their capacity to offer fertility awareness-based, or natural, methods (primarily the Billings Ovulation Method and the Symptothermal Method); streamlined service delivery protocols; and studied the effect of a variety of training, communication and counseling strategies.In a subsequent 5-year USAID grant, IRH tested a management information system for fertility awareness-based methods, determined the safety of these methods for maternal health and pregnancy outcomes, developed and studied the efficacy of the Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM), tested strategies for community-based services, and focused on adolescent fertility awareness.
  • Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center is the only comprehensive cancer center (as designated by the National Cancer Institute) in the Washington, DC area, and one of just 40 in the entire country. Established in 1970, what began as a small clinic treating cancer patients has grown into a state-of-the-art cancer center housing more than 240,000 square feet of clinic and research space.
  • Fluorescence-Activated Sensing Technology (FAST) was developed by Georgetown researchers as a sensitive method for detecting the presence of any microorganism (such as bacteria or virus) in an infection, contamination or otherwise that affect human and animal health. The method involves the hybridization of a probe and target DNA to create a recognition site for a strand-specific enzyme (endonuclease) that cleaves the probe into two pieces leaving the target DNA intact. Laser-induced fluorescence coupled with capillary electrophoresis is then used to measure the probe cleavage products. The target DNA can then act as a template for fresh probe and the process of hybridization, cleavage and dissociation repeats.
  • Center for Clinical Bioethics (CCB) is a University-based ethics resource for those who shape and give health care. Committed to the dynamic interplay between theory and practice, experience and reflection, center scholars bring expertise in clinical practice, philosophy, theology, law and basic science to the ethical challenges that arise in the care of particular patients.CCB is affiliated with the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, the National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature, the President’s Council, and the NIH Clinical Center’s Department of Bioethics.
  • Georgetown Center for Trauma and the Community (CTC) is focused on improving the mental health of low-income women and their families in the Washington, DC area who have been exposed to very stressful and traumatic events, like physical and sexual assault and abuse, life-threatening accidents, violent loss, and immigration-related trauma. The CTC is housed in the Department of Psychiatry at Georgetown’s School of Medicine and sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health.