Online registration closes this Saturday, May 14, for the 2016 NORDP Conference! Will you be joining us? Register at http://www.nordp.org/conferences, and enjoy this week’s featured Conference Cameo!
Who: Andrés Hernández, PhD, Research Development Officer
Where: University of California, Merced
Number of years in research development: 1
Length of NORDP membership: This is my first year as a NORDP member.
Number of NORDP conferences attended: 0
My interest in research development began during my undergraduate studies when I 
received the opportunity to participate in a city-funded project, but working as a postdoctoral research scientist at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden is ultimately what led me to the field. My responsibilities included the writing, reviewing, and editing of grant proposals involving research teams from multiple institutions; identifying potential sources of funding; and developing research ideas into fundable proposals. I wrote two proposals that were funded and was a contributor to a third successful proposal. This is when the ‘light bulb’ went on and I knew that research development was a profession.
I entered the profession in May 2015 at UC Merced. My position is broad-based. On paper, my job includes: identifying proposal opportunities, developing proposals, finding potential collaborators for faculty, working on diverse proposals, coordinating proposals with multiple investigators and sub-awards, and implementing University policies and procedures. Of course, there are many important responsibilities which don’t fall into the ‘on paper’ category. I first learned about NORDP from UC Merced’s Director of Research Development Services, Susan Carter. I joined NORDP in February, and this year’s conference will be my first NORDP conference.
I’m looking forward to obtaining new skills at the conference that I can implement at UC Merced. Many RD professionals I’ve met thus far are NORDP members, and they have provided additional points of contact with whom they’ve met through NORDP. At the conference, I’m looking forward to meeting people, networking and making quality, mutually beneficial connections. My advice to other attendees is to come to the conference with an open mind. Don’t limit yourself to sessions that are specific to your position. Meet and get to know people as people, not just as work-partners. Work on establishing long-lasting, mutually-beneficial relationships that will benefit both yourself and your institution!
We hope to see you at the 2016 NORDP Research Development Conference, which will be held May 23-25 in Orlando, FL. Follow @NORDP_official on Twitter for all the latest 2016 Conference updates.
NORDP News 