Introduction

Our Defining Vision: The NeXT Center Initiative (Network for eXcellence in Translational research) will be UC Irvine’s translational research hub where the social and behavioral sciences are the X — the bridge where discoveries across disciplines meet human needs and achieve real-world impact.

The defining challenges of our time, in science, technology, health, governance, and culture, cannot be solved by any single discipline or sector. Their success depends on the X-factor of the human dimension: how people think, behave, and act within complex systems.

This X-factor is not simply additive; it is the mediating mechanism through which discoveries achieve and accelerate their impact.

Founded on this truth, the NeXT Center Initiative places social science at the crossroads of disciplines, ensuring that discoveries from across UC Irvine achieve real-world impact, and that our community partners can accelerate the positive social change that is central to their missions.