NORDP 2018 Annual Research Development Conference

Concurrent Session 4
Wednesday, May 9, 2018, 10:30–11:30 a.m.

Proposals Like It's 2019: Writing and Illustrating Grant Proposals for the Information Age

Room: Potomac I  •  Pillar: RD Fundamentals

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Presenters

  • Tobin Spratte, Arizona State University
  • Michael Northrop, Arizona State University
  • Jessica Brassard, Michigan Technological University

Description

The Internet has transformed human communication and as a result, the way we see and interpret information. We now have quick, easy access to more information than ever before, which has forced people to prioritize what they need and want to read or watch. Attention spans are virtually non-existent. Tolerance for lengthy, disorganized discourse is at an all-time low. Regardless of agency regulations and formal processes, decision-makers, such as program officers and review panelists, read only what they need to make decisions. Putting their eyes to a page doesn’t guarantee understanding or interest.

Whether we like it or not, this limited, laconic style of communication is the future—even in academia. Readers no longer want infinite pages of endless text. Industry and foundation proposals are already moving towards tight page limits and word counts; most expect graphics; some require videos; all want clear, concise project descriptions. These are signals for research development professionals to take the lead and guide faculty into the future by teaching them how to explain their ideas and enhance their arguments without sacrificing their science.

NORDP attendees will learn the communication strategies needed to persuade these busy, twenty-first-century decision-makers that their proposed research project should be funded. These include:

  • how to help faculty clearly make their case in a short time and with limited space
  • how an industry approach to crafting proposals can be adapted for academia to increase your organization’s win rate
  • how design principles can and should guide proposal layout
  • how well-made graphics, tables, and figures can enhance proposals
  • how an industry approach to crafting proposals can be adapted for academia to increase your organization’s win rate
  • how quality writers and graphic designers can give your research development team a competitive edge

Connecting the Research Lifecycle: How Organizational Collaboration and Intelligent Systems Can Deliver

Room: Potomac II  •  Pillar: LDRD

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Presenters

  • Theo Bosnak, Digital Science & Research Solutions
  • Anne Maglia, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Kelsey Rosell, Digital Science & Research Solutions

Description

For every research administrator and institutional leader, the holy grail is simple: Give me one source that provides a comprehensive overview of the research landscape. Show me the evolution of an idea from the time a grant is available to the final results of the research that the grant funded. Provide me with impact indicators. Make it intuitive and give me the ability to look at other institutions. Help me explore my research portfolio to validate strengths and guide the faculty member to new and novel areas of research or collaborators.

While that description of a perfect solution may have made you laugh, it’s closer to becoming a reality. Digital Science has worked with research administrators, researchers, librarians, and other leaders to understand what they are looking for when defining and evaluating success, and has created a new research insights platform that moves toward solving the “idea to impact conundrum.”

We will present use cases and insights using a new analytical platform, Dimensions. Dimensions pulls together grants, publication, patents, clinical trials, policy citations, datasets, researchers, and their affiliations to provide a more comprehensive view of what happens to research once it is funded. Research development officers can now guide and counsel Provosts, Deans and Financial officers with comprehensive and accurate analyses of research funding and productivity information to inform strategies that will increase the institution’s share of the funding wallet.

In this session, we’ll explore what this new approach means for today’s research administrators. We’ll discuss how research organizations can inform the development of short and long-term strategy based on the data available. Bring your use cases!

Attendees will leave the session with ideas for how this connected approach could deliver new opportunities for their organizations.


The Value of RD: Stories of How Attending a NORDP Conference Led to Strategic Partnerships

Room: Potomac III  •  Pillar: Professional Development

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Presenters

  • Domarina Oshana, Gateway for Cancer Research
  • Kimberly Eck, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
  • Eileen Murphy, Rutger University Foundation

Description

Whenever we submit the paperwork to attend a conference, we are asked to provide justification as to how our institutions will benefit from our attendance. Plus, taking three or more days out of the office can sometimes seem like an insurmountable challenge. Simply learning more about the research development profession or developing network contacts, while good, are not always sufficient to convince management and ourselves of the benefits of attending conferences like NORDP.

This panel will present three examples of how attendance at a NORDP conference led to strategic research partnerships. Through these examples, the panel discuss generalizable methods for initiating and nurturing partnerships. The panel will contribute to the conference theme of “Resilience in a Shifting Research Landscape” by demonstrating how research development professionals encourage and empower researchers to mobilize around a funding mechanism, convene and coordinate an interest group, and participate in networking events. Examples:

  1. Grant Funding for Research. A panel discussion at a NORDP conference led to networking between two research development professionals, one from a state university and the other from a nonprofit grant making institution. Learn how this relationship resulted in a multi-year, multi-center, international research grant.
  2. Strategic Research Collaboration. Lunch at a NORDP conference with fellow research development professionals generated a fantastic conversation across a wide range of topics. Learn how a random seating arrangement at lunch turned into a multi-year research collaboration.
  3. Career Advancement. Strolling through the Idea Showcase at a NORDP conference an employer searching for their new Director of Research Development met their future hire. Learn how a brief introduction turned into a new career opportunity.

The panel will close with lessons learned and an opportunity for discussion with participants.


Driving Faculty Recognition Efforts & Results: Analytics, Mentoring, and Culture Change

Room: Potomac IV  •  Pillar: Other Topics

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Presenters

  • Jeff Agnoli, The Ohio State University
  • Rich Healy, Academic Analytics
  • Liz Lange, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  • Nathan Meier, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  • Marnie Rhoads, Duke University

Description

An important component of building a culture of faculty excellence and strengthening our institutional reputation is through a robust faculty recognition program. This session will examine and discuss both quantitative and qualitative tools and approaches that support faculty nominations for national awards and recognitions. On the quantitative side, Academic Analytics has developed a tool with the ability to analyze national awards and award winners’ characteristics, identify local faculty displaying similar metrics of research activity, and identify nominees for national awards. The Ohio State University, Duke University, and other institutions have been leveraging this report to enhance their efforts to target faculty members for certain prestigious recognitions and to strengthen existing faculty award portfolios. Working with the issues from a qualitative perspective, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has made concerted efforts to build a culture that values and recognizes awards through communications efforts, targeted faculty outreach and mentoring, and other approaches to increase faculty networks and competitiveness. In each case, these efforts have resulted in an overall increase in total number of institutional award nominations submitted and enhanced attention from academic leadership while raising the visibility of the faculty as a whole. Join us to find out more about building a culture of excellence!


From Seed to Harvest: Desgining, Monitoring and Improving Internal Funding Programs

Room: Potomac VI  •  Pillar: Funding Programs

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Presenters

  • Kathryn Partlow, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
  • Daniel Campbell, Old Dominion University
  • David Bond, Rochester Institute of Technology
  • Carl Batt, Cornell University

Description

Are you interested in the growth stages of internal funding programs? Seed funding can be a powerful tool to help catalyze scholarship at our institutions and position individuals and teams to be competitive for external funding. This session will examine various strategies for designing, monitoring and then improving seed funding programs. The presenters will draw on their experiences to discuss the entire seed funding life cycle. For designing, we will discuss gaining institutional buy-in, developing an RFP to drive return on investment, and considering goals for monitoring outcomes. For monitoring, we will discuss the time investment required, share tools and templates for collecting data, and demonstrate tangible and intangible benefits from seed funding. For improving, we will discuss how the feedback from monitoring can support continuous improvement for current programs and drive future design of new programs. The discussion will be based on qualitative and quantitative analyses from our institutions along with a review of multiple programs across the country. We will provide time for attendees to share best practices used at their institutions. We will discuss as a group how to ensure robust return on investment from internal seed funding programs. Ultimately, this session will enable attendees to efficiently design, monitor and improve seed grant programs that are resilient and adjust to the needs of our faculty, office and university.


Collaborating with Your Library to Jump Start Grand Challenges, Characterize Your Impact and Write Your Next Proposal

Room: Tidewater 2  •  Pillar: Other Topics

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Presenters

  • Caitlin Bakker, University of Minnesota
  • Jan Fransen, University of Minnesota
  • Linda Galloway, Elsevier
  • Sarah DuCloux-Potter, University of Minnesota

Description

In times of uncertainty, resilience is often built by utilizing new approaches and engaging new partners. Working together, research development professionals can be even more effective when they team up with librarians. Librarians bring a deep understanding of the scholarly communications across a broad swath of disciplines. This is complemented by a skill set rooted in research information gathering and analytics, data structure, and publication data, including an understanding of the potential uses and limitations of these data, as well as sources, and tools for analysis and presentation.

This panel, featuring members of both the library and the research office at the University of Minnesota, will explore the value of this collaborative approach, with the goal of inspiring attendees to partner to increase research productivity. Panelists will discuss how their own partnership has evolved over the years through specific examples, including department and college-level initiatives, coordination with other offices and stakeholders to demonstrate the impact and increase the reach of research.