As outlined in his 2026 State of the University address, the president’s strategy is driven by a relentless pursuit of excellence across academics, healthcare and athletics. It includes six focus areas:
- A signature undergraduate experience.
- Investment in people, the heart of the university.
- Nurturing transformative research.
- Building highly reputed colleges and programs.
- Ensuring operational excellence.
- The development and execution of “Big Ideas.”
Under President Bellamkonda’s leadership and with the active partnership of senior leaders, faculty, staff, and industry and philanthropic partners, Ohio State is already in pursuit of a number of key new initiatives that will further establish the university as an academic powerhouse providing an extraordinary experience to every person who learns at, works at or visits one of our campuses.
New initiatives
BuildX
BuildX empowers student founders to move through every stage of the startup process, from idea exploration to building a company and investor readiness. BuildX combines real-world startup practices, rapid experimentation and mentorship from experienced founders, operators and investors. The initiative aims to launch 100 investable student startups annually by 2030 and to increase investment in Ohio and grow the startup ecosystem. BuildX involves new three-credit-hour courses that emphasize relentless execution, rapid iteration, and real market feedback. Each summer, a cohort of the university’s most promising student-led startups will participate in the BuildX Accelerator. Teams spend the summer building together in Columbus, receiving funding, dedicated workspace, and intensive support from experienced founders, operators, and investors.
Google hub
Ohio State has established a strategic partnership with Google to accelerate transformational research and development and offer new opportunities for the university’s signature student experience. One of the largest foundational partnerships between Google and any university in the U.S, the collaboration will accelerate research in a range of fields, from biomedical engineering to earth sciences to the humanities, through access to premier AI models, high-powered computing capabilities, and collaboration with Google's DeepMind. Google will equip Ohio State students with workforce-ready technical skills and internship opportunities while helping the university will modernize campus operations. The Innovation Hub, a dedicated physical and virtual space co-supported by Google and Onix, will be located on Ohio State’s Innovation District. At the hub, researchers, staff, and students will have access to hands-on AI prototyping support, specialized training workshops, and collaborative project spaces.
AI Fluency
Ohio State is leading a bold, groundbreaking initiative to integrate artificial intelligence into the undergraduate educational experience. The initiative will ensure that every Ohio State student, beginning with the class of 2029, will graduate being AI fluent – fluent in their field of study, and fluent in the application of AI in that field. Year Two of the university’s AI Fluency initiative includes dozens of new and current courses that specifically center on AI, and the Drake Institute for Teaching and Learning continues to expand its AI Fluency support resources for instructors at all levels.
Transformative Research Fund
Ohio State will invest up to $1 million in five bold, high-potential research concepts that are too early, too interdisciplinary, or too novel for traditional funding sources in their current form. This fund will allow Ohio State researchers to unlock breakthrough discoveries by empowering them to pursue ideas that challenge conventions and potentially create entirely new fields of inquiry. It will also position Ohio State as a national leader in transformative research while advancing solutions to society's most complex challenges. The initiative will build a pipeline of competitive, large-scale funding opportunities for federal agencies, foundations, industry partners, and philanthropy.