Don’t miss your opportunity to learn from and network with the largest gathering of research development professionals anywhere – register for the 2016 NORDP Conference today at http://www.nordp.org/conferences. Nearly 300 RD professionals already are registered! A new Conference Cameo from one of them, Nathan Meier, is posted below.
Who: Nathan Meier, Director of Research Strategy, Office of Research and Economic Development
Where: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Number of years in research development: 13
Length of NORDP membership: 5 years
Number of NORDP conferences attended: 3
I have been “doing” research development since 2003, when I joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) as a proposal writer specialist. Over time, my portfolio h
as grown to include a range of responsibilities that I enjoy but that I am careful to ensure supplement rather than supplant my core skill set, which has proposal writing at its center. This is important because I believe most research development efforts will be wasted if we cannot ensure faculty have the support necessary to develop high quality, well-written grant proposals.
On any given day, you may find me facilitating external review, managing internal seed grant programs, supporting selection processes for limited submission competitions, organizing workshops or retreats to help catalyze interdisciplinary connections or to help faculty network with external partners, linking faculty with UNL’s proposal development staff, assisting with a faculty award nomination, facilitating a faculty development initiative, or working on something entirely new. Like so many of you, what I love most about my job is the fact that no two days are ever alike!
I subscribed to the NORDP listserv several years ago and became a member in 2011. I attended the conference in Austin, attended and presented at NORDP in Portland, and helped with abstract review and marketing leading up to and presented at the meeting last year in Bethesda. What I enjoy most about the annual conferences is the sense of community that has evolved over time. Finally, it seems, there is a professional home for those of us who do this type of work.
This year, I am really interested to see how the focus on creativity and innovation coalesces during the May meeting. As you think about registering for the conference in Orlando, I encourage you to consider inviting a colleague to attend, too. Since there is such a wealth of information shared each year, I have found that one of the best ways to maximize the time spent at the annual meeting is to ensure at least one other individual with whom I work also participates so we can discuss new ideas and approaches once we are back in the office.
We hope to see you at the 2016 NORDP Research Development Conference, which will be held May 23-25 in Orlando, FL. For more information about the conference program or to register, visit http://www.nordp.org/conferences. Follow @NORDP_official on Twitter for all the latest 2016 Conference updates.
If you’d like to be featured in a Conference Cameo, let us know at rdconf@nordp.org.
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