2019 Western/Southern Section Meeting

Research Development (RD)

The Research Development (RD) certificate is designed for specialists who work with researchers to improve the number, size and quality of their grant proposals, and who participate in the development of strategies and practices to enhance and expand the institution’s research agenda. The certificate’s aims are:

  1. To support new and ongoing initiatives that will grow the institution’s position in sponsored research
  2. To provide strategic direction and expert support for the institutional research enterprise
  3. To develop investigator capacity to submit more and better individual proposals
  4. To improve the success rate of proposals submitted by the institution, especially those targeted to larger, more complex grant programs
Two (2) half-day workshop and seven (7) concurrent sessions (four (4) required sessions; three (3) elective sessions)

Workshop

WS4: Fundamentals of Research Development

Date and Time: Sunday, March 10, 2019 - 9:00am to 12:30pm

Content level: Basic

This is a required workshop for the new certificate in Research Development, intended for individuals with three years or fewer in research administration or for more experienced research administrators transitioning to roles in research development. Research development provides strategic, proactive, catalytic and capacity-building activities that serve the research enterprise at large by supporting individual investigators, teams of researchers, and central research administration in attracting extramural research funding. Research development also fosters relationships and develops and implements strategies that increase institutional competitiveness and innovation. To give a big and broad picture of research development, topics will include the role of the research development professional, how research development complements and differs from research administration, developing individual and institutional grant capacity, understanding and applying institutional strategies to enhance the overall research portfolio, orienting investigators to the research environment and research development, an overview of proposal components and the agency review process and providing leadership and support for large-scale, collaborative proposals.

Learning objectives:

Identify the emerging role of research development and research development professionals in building institutional and individual capacity and growing the research portfolio.

Apply these strategies in the participant's home institution to increase grant capacity and proposal success.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Marjorie Piechowski, PhD, Emerita Director, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Required Workshop

WS6: Strategic Planning for Institutional and Individual Research Development

Date and Time: Sunday, March 10, 2019 - 1:30pm to 5:00pm

Content level: Basic

Development of a comprehensive strategic plan. Participants will acquire the knowledge and skills to effectively develop a strategic plan for their organization.

Learning objectives:

  1. Identify and discuss the distinct components of a strategic plan.
  2. Formulate a strategic plan.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Janet Villarmia, MBA, ML, Executive Director, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Required Concurrent Session

T104: Developing Cross-Disciplinary, Large-Scale or Complex Grant Proposals

Date and Time: Tuesday, March 12, 2019 - 9:30am to 10:45am

Content level: Intermediate

As the complexity of today's most pressing research requires collaboration and team science, grant proposals have become more complex to plan and coordinate. This session will present strategies to manage the proposal process and help investigators prepare competitive large-scale, collaborative grant proposals, which differ in many ways from individual research grants. The speaker will describe typical proposal components, provide examples of complex, large-scale proposals from many funding agencies, and consider the organizational challenges of these proposals. Other topics will include advice on organizing research teams, assigning responsibilities for developing the proposal narrative and budget, reviewing and editing proposal narratives, and submitting the final proposal package. Audience participation and questions are highly encouraged.

Learning objectives:

  1. Describe challenges and list strategies that will enhance the development of complex, large-scale, multi-disciplinary grant proposals.
  2. Define interdisciplinary research, team science and collaboration and understand the increased emphasis on team science and collaboration in grant programs.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Marjorie Piechowski, PhD, Emerita Director, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Now that Christmas is around the corner I just want to remind you that the a Rubik's Cube is the best gift for any occasion which can be easily solved with the online tutorial .

T302: Proposal Development: Overview and Proposal Components

Date and Time: Tuesday, March 12, 2019 - 2:15pm to 3:30pm

Content level: Basic

Grants Training 101 presents the overall basics for new grant or research administrators. It focuses on grant and research definitions, the grant life-cycle to include pre-award, award and post-award phases. The training will also identify various types of funding agencies and various funding opportunity sites. A budget will also be created with various scenarios to show affect on the F&A.

Learning objectives:

  1. Understand the Grant LifeCycle process.
  2. Develop a budget from beginning to end.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Tracy Jones, CRA, Grants Administrator, Georgia Institute of Technology

W102: Developing Investigator Capacity for Enhanced Grant Success

Date and Time: Wednesday, March 13, 2019 - 9:15am to 10:30am

Content level: Intermediate

Many investigators are well prepared to conduct research but not as prepared or skilled in planning strategic support for their research career. This session will present an array of strategies and tools to work with investigators at all career levels to enhance their approach to successful research support. Included will be individual strategic plans for research, facilitating contact with program officers, the role of the agency review process and how to become a reviewer, examples of workshops to build investigator capacity, and challenges to researchers at different career levels. Tools will include a template for an individual strategic funding plan and several assessments of grant readiness and research capacity. Audience discussion and sharing will be encouraged.

Learning objectives:

  1. Understand and describe specific challenges to investigators at different career levels in pursuing external funding.
  2. Provide effective strategies and support to develop and enhance investigator capacity for grant success.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Marjorie Piechowski, PhD, Emerita Director, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Christmas is around the corner and the best gift for any occasion is a Rubik's Cube which can be easily solved with this easy tutorial .

Elective Concurrent Session

M401: Clear as Mud - Understanding and Interpreting Sponsor Guidelines

Date and Time: Monday, March 11, 2019 - 3:45pm to 5:00pm

Content level: Basic

Reviewing proposal guidelines is a fundamental part of our job and one of the first things we do on being notified of a proposal. But with programs and sponsors becoming more complex, this is an area that can trip us all up. Join us for a "basic" or "back to basics" primer for one of our fundamental duties.

Learning objectives:

  1. Develop a feel for how to thoroughly, but quickly review guidelines and catch all the important information that hides.
  2. Increase your comfort level for interpreting and applying guidelines.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Shayne Sims, Assistant Director, Texas Tech University

T101: Feast or Famine: Pre Award Strategies to Keeping PIs (Principal Investigators) on Track

Date and Time: Tuesday, March 12, 2019 - 9:30am to 10:45am

Content level: Basic

Departmental level research administrators present their strategies for reorganizing and maintaining order in pre award administration including web tools, communication chains, using templates, and going paperless…and more!

Learning objectives:

  1. Identify several best practices for organizing and encouraging multiple team members in the pre award administration area.
  2. Evaluate tools developed and used by the presenters to maximize efficiency and output by their research administrator teams and faculty.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Amy Thomas, JD, Director of Research Programs, Auburn University College of Sciences & Mathematics

W202: Ready, Set, Go

Date and Time: Wednesday, March 13, 2019 - 10:45am to 12:00pm

Content level: Basic

The difference between successful proposals and a re-submission often hinges upon information that can be gleaned in a phone call or visit with an agency sponsor. Yet it is often difficult to get PIs to make these calls. This session helps administrators prepare for assisting PIs with early sponsor contact, to include preliminary research on the program, potential questions to ask, and what to avoid.

Learning objectives:

  1. Critically evaluate programs and identify appropriate questions for sponsors.
  2. Prepare PIs for successful conference calls or visits with sponsors.

Prerequisites: None

Speaker(s):

Charna Howson, MA, Director, Sponsored Programs, Appalachian State University