Research_development Knowpia

Research development (RD) is a set of strategic, proactive, catalytic, and capacity-building activities designed to facilitate individual faculty members, teams of researchers, and central research administrations in attracting extramural research funding, creating relationships, and developing and implementing strategies that increase institutional competitiveness.^[1]^[2] These activities are typically practiced at universities, but are also in use at a variety of other research institutions.^[3]

Research development includes a diverse set of dynamic activities that vary by institution. These activities include initiating and nurturing partnerships, networks, and alliances between and among faculty at their institutions and funding agencies; and designing and implementing strategic services for their faculty and researcher constituents (such as workshops, trainings, program officer visits, proposal editing, PR communications, funding opportunity searches and dissemination, budget preparation, forms and submission assistance, research team building, and administering campus limited submission reviews).^[4]

Research development professionals initiate and nurture critical partnerships and alliances throughout the institutional research enterprise and between institutions and with their external stakeholders. With the goal of enabling competitive individual and team research and facilitating research excellence, research development professionals build and implement strategic services and collaborative resources that span across disciplinary and administrative barriers within their organizations and nothing beyond.^[5]

Research development differs significantly from university development (institutional fundraising or advancement) in that RD is not aimed at attracting contributions or donations. Rather, RD strengthens research programs and proposals to make them more competitive for extramural contracts and grants from governmental, private and non-profit funding agencies. Similarly, RD should not be confused with research and development (R&D) which refers to investments in (often) corporate scientific and technological research that leads to new products and applications.

Recent contractions in the availability of public and private research funding have intensified competition for fewer resources among universities. This trend has amplified the need for research development assistance and interventions at universities in order to enhance research excellence and competitiveness.^[6] These services have not traditionally been offered through university-sponsored research and projects offices that administer the submission of grant proposals and research funds management. In response to these challenges, research development is increasingly becoming a standard practice at universities,^[2]^[5] particularly research universities (defined, by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, as universities that place a high priority on research and rely heavily on extramural funding).^[7]

According to the US-based National Organization of Research Development Professionals (NORDP), there are currently over 800 research development professionals employed at over 300 institutions (colleges/universities, teaching/not-for-profit hospitals, independent not-for-profit research organizations, national laboratories, research organizations wholly organized and administered by a college or university, consortia of colleges and universities, associations/societies with individual or institutional members predominantly from colleges and universities) across the United States and several foreign countries.^[8]

Activities edit

Strategic Research Advancement

Collaborate to identify areas of institutional research priorities
Strategic Planning Support (information to leadership about opportunities/strengths/weaknesses)
Advise VP/VC for Research on issues related to research
Serve as VPs/VCs for Research representative to university community and external visitors
Manage or contribute to decisions regarding internal funding
Provide research areas development support to include such things as formal partnerships with external entities or facilitating faculty participation
Interactions with political leaders related to research initiatives at your institution
Industry collaboration and partnerships
Liaison with funding agencies about direction of future research funding initiatives
Bringing Program Managers to Campus or taking/introducing Faculty to Program Managers
Assisting with Sponsor Site visits
Coordinating/Managing the limited submission process

Communication of Research and Research Opportunities

Manage marketing of research, e.g. annual reports, research magazine, web page development/coordination, identifying institutional priorities
Raise profile of university strengths that add to visibility or impact of university with external funding sources
Providing proposal/award information related metrics to deans/chairs/faculty
Website support e.g. grant opportunities and proposal development
Collect and disseminate funding information to faculty and administrators
Conducting Grant Writing Workshops on your campus or regionally

Enhancement of Collaboration/Team Science

Convene and coordinate multi-disciplinary interest groups
Catalyze new cross-disciplinary research initiatives
Sponsoring catalytic research events, e.g. research mini-symposia
Develop and/or coordinate resources and tools to promote collaboration
Provide guidance and expertise for building and fostering connections and teams
Maintain faculty expertise database and other collaboration web tools
Facilitating collaborations between investigators at your own institution
Facilitating collaborations between investigators at other institutions
Manage the institution's Research Networking Tool

Proposal Support Functions Assisting faculty to find funding opportunities

Liaison with funding agencies during proposal development process
Newsletters/Listserv announcements of funding opportunities
Maintain a file of successful proposals
Assisting faculty navigate through administrative structures within your institution
Proposal Development Support for large, center-like awards
Proposal Development Support for individual investigator awards
Project Management (coordinating milestones, internal deadlines, meetings, e-mail reminders, etc.)
Grant Writing of Technical/Scientific portions of Application
Grant Writing of Evaluation portions of Application
Grant Writing of Resources portions of Application
Grant Writing of Administrative portions of Application
Grant Writing of Timeline portions of Application
Grant Writing of Communications portions of Application
Grant Writing of Outreach portions of Application
Developing Budgets and budget justifications for application
Handling Letters of Support/Biosketches/COI/Compliance/
Developing Diversity Sections for Grant Proposals
Developing RCR education Sections for Grant Proposals
Coordinating/Finding Collaborating institutions for a proposal
Suggesting collaborating scientists for a proposal
Editing proposal drafts
Manage requests for cost sharing
Coordinating pre-submission peer reviews of proposal drafts
Manage "Red Team" reviewers or external review process
Proposal Submission Support (copying, mailing, pdf generation, etc.)
Coordinating Core Facility information
Assist with Just in Time or additional information requests from sponsor after proposal submission
Assist with post-award set-up of project to get it off the ground and/or communicate with collaborators post-award.
Analyze proposal reviews and provide feedback to investigators or other institutional officials

NORDP National Organization of Research Development Professionals edit

The National Organization of Research Development Professionals (NORDP) was established in 2010 as part of a grassroots movement to build a peer community of research development professionals. The organization grew from an informal network of over 100 individuals engaged in research development activities at universities and research institutions across the United States. The central goals of NORDP are to serve these professionals, by providing a formal organization to support their professional development, to enhance institutional research competitiveness, and to catalyze new research and institutional collaborations.^[9]

References edit

^ What is Research Development? The National Organization of Research Development Professionals. http://www.nordp.org/what-is-research-development-
^ ^a ^b Budescu, G. and Walker, B.L.E. 2012. Social Scientists and Research Development: What Do Research Development Professionals Do? American Sociological Association, Footnotes, February 2012, p. 3; http://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/footnotes_feb12_final_2.pdf
^ National Organization of Research Development Professionals 2017 brochure. http://www.nordp.org/assets/brochures/nordp-brochure-2017.pdf
^ "Home". nordp.org.
^ ^a ^b Levin, J. 2011. The Emergence of the Research-Development Professional. Chronicle of Higher Education, March 27, 2011. http://chronicle.com/article/The-Emergence-of-the/126906/
^ Mason, E. and L. Learned. 2006. The Role of “Development” in a Research Administration Office. J. Res. Admin. 37(1): 23-34.
^ The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. http://classifications.carnegiefoundation.org/
^ National Organization of Research Development Professionals. http://www.nordp.org/assets/brochures/nordp-brochure-2017.pdf
^ NORDP. http://nordp.org/index.php