NORDP 2018 Conference Cameo: Monica F. Vidal

#NORDP2018 starts Monday, May 7 in Arlington, VA. Keep checking back here at the blog and on our Twitter feed (@NORDP_official) for live conference updates. Register here: http://www.nordp.org/conferences.
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Who: Monica F. Vidal, Ph.D., Research Development Specialist
Where: Stanford University
Number of years in research development: 7
Length of NORDP membership: 2
Number of NORDP conferences attended: 1
What is the most interesting place you’ve visited? Antelope Canyon in Arizona

When I was a kid I wanted to be a scientist. I earned my PhD from the University of Graz, Austria in Biophysics and then came to the United States for my postdoc at University of California Irvine. During that time, I realized I enjoyed the process of looking for funding opportunities and writing research grants. Around the same time, I moved back to Spain and started a new position at the University of Barcelona. At that time, I didn’t know I was doing research development, but my main tasks were looking for new funding opportunities and helping to build large research proposals to submit to the European Commission. Those research projects had 3 to 10 partners – sometimes even more! – from different countries. It was hard but definitely a lot of fun!

In 2014, my family and I came back to the USA. I started working at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University in 2015. I work with junior faculty and postdocs, finding new opportunities and helping with proposal development. In addition, I focus on strategic proposals which can lead to larger interdisciplinary projects.

I was introduced to NORDP in 2016 through Dr. Michael Helms, Director of the Stanford Research Development Office. I joined the organization and last year I attended my first conference. Although I am able to apply a lot of what I learned at the European Commission to my current job, I am still learning new processes and policies related to sponsors. I have used many of the resources on the NORDP website as well as the listserv. I find it very useful! I look forward to attending this year’s conference, meeting old colleagues from last year, networking with other research development professionals, and learning new strategies and practices.

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We hope to see you at the Conference, which will be held May 7-9, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA.  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 #NORDP2018 updates.

NORDP fosters a culture of inclusive excellence by actively promoting and supporting diversity, inclusion and equity in all its forms to expand our worldview, enrich our work, and elevate our profession.