Author: michael thompson

#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: Gwynne Grasberger, Director, Research Strategic Planning
Where: Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
Number of years in research development: 2
Length of NORDP membership: 1
Number of NORDP conferences attended: 2018 will be my first one!

My tenure with Drexel started in 2015. I was new to the administrative side of higher education and research development, however I am no stranger to Business Development, Capture and Proposal Management, and the goal of winning awards. Formerly as a Public Sector Management Consultant for more than 15 years, our role was to gather intelligence and build relationships to identify potential leads and qualifications for funding opportunities; develop knowledge and skills in marketing, strategy, proposal development, finance, pricing, contracts, project management, and human resources; and respond to solicitations. I find the proposal development process particularly rewarding because of its compactness and focus – seeing one thing through from germination to fruition.

As a new member of NORDP, this will be my first NORDP conference. In a workshop I attended in 2015 at another professional organization’s conference, staff from Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Research Administration Services introduced me to NORDP. Still new in my role at the time, I did not join because I was building my background knowledge in all aspects of research administration. Since then, much has changed. Last year, I moved into my current role as Director, Research Strategic Planning with a focus on nurturing younger researchers and giving all researchers the support they need to present their ideas and work to maximum effect. Seeking professional development opportunities beyond research administration, NORDP rose back to the top when my Senior Vice Provost for Research shared the link to the conference.

I am most excited to participate in the pre-conference short course, Foundations of Research Development: An Introduction.

Definitely looking forward to learning from and connecting with peers to help build my network of support in research development.

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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.

#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: Ellen Freeman, Assistant Director of Research & Policy
Where: College of Education & Human Development, University of Minnesota
Number of years in research development: 8
Length of NORDP membership: 6
Number of NORDP conferences attended: 4
How do you unwind? Books, wine, and a finely-tuned sense of humor

While in grad school, I worked in my university’s sponsored projects office doing odd jobs. My old roommate’s uncle was the director there, and he thought I’d be good at the work. I loved the environment and the connection with research, and I quickly found myself with a semi-useful master’s degree in journalism, good communication skills, and a good working knowledge of university research grants.  That turned out to be the perfect recipe for a career in research development, and I’ve been straddling the divide between pre-award work and RD for 13 years now.

I am the assistant director for research for one college in a large, decentralized research university. Our college comprises everything from kinesiology to social work to developmental psychology, so there’s no one-size-fits-all RD program that we can implement that will meet everyone’s needs. Some faculty have a strong background in external funding, while others have never written a grant proposal.  With such a broad range of investigators, many things just don’t scale. I find and tailor strategies that work for specific units and groups, and implement them with our collegiate grant coordinators. I’m also working on establishing a university-wide professional network of staff interested in research development.

I first got involved with NORDP when Peggy Sundermeyer recommended that I and a few other U of MN grant staff attend. I actually first met my colleague Anna Brailovsky at the 2012 NORDP conference! I love getting new ideas at the conferences and figuring out how I can bring them home and make them useful for my investigators. I always return energized and reassured that there are others out there dealing with the same problems that I am.

My recommendation for NORDP attendees is to remember that no one has it all figured out and that RD is infinitely customizable to their own unique situation. You don’t need to be putting on a fully-structured workshop series that receives rave reviews from faculty in order to be an RD professional. You just need to be committed to finding something that works for you and your institution and willing to give it a try.

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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.

Update from NIH: Perspectives on Extramural Scientists and Science

Michael Lauer, M.D., is the Deputy Director for Extramural Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where he serves as the principal scientific leader and advisor to the Director of the NIH on all matters relating to the substance, quality, and effectiveness of the NIH extramural research program and administration. Dr. Lauer will review recent extramural research developments and priorities, including the resilience of the biomedical research workforce and the performance of the biomedical research enterprise. 

Dr. Lauer received education and training at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Albany Medical College, Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, and the NHLBI’s Framingham Heart Study. He spent 14 years at Cleveland Clinic as Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Biostatistics. During his tenure at the Clinic, he led a federally funded internationally renowned clinical epidemiology program that applied big data from large-scale electronic health platforms to questions regarding the diagnosis and management of cardiovascular disease. From 2007 to 2015 he served as a Division Director at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), where promoted efforts to leverage big data infrastructure to enable high-efficiency population and clinical research and efforts to adopt a research funding culture that reflected data-driven policy. He has received numerous awards including the NIH Equal Employment Opportunity Award of the Year and the Arthur S. Flemming Award for Exceptional Federal Service in recognition of his efforts to grow a culture of learning and accountability.

Dr. Michael Lauer will be the late morning plenary speaker for the 10^th Annual NORDP Research Development Conference on May 9. 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. Follow @NORDP_official on Twitter for all the latest #NORDP2018 updates.

Dear Colleagues,

We are five weeks away from the start of our 10^th annual conference, May 7-9, 2018, at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, in Arlington, Virginia.

It has been a privilege to help organize this conference with a large group of volunteers who have worked with us on communications, pre-conference workshops, reviewing abstracts, securing speakers, and completing the myriad of details that go into organizing our annual NORDP gathering.

Your response has been tremendous and we currently have more than 500 people registered to attend! This represents 57% of NORDP members, a significant number when you consider the industry average of 20% for association conference attendance.  NORDP has quickly become the forum where Research Development (RD) professionals find critical mass within their community to share ideas and resources, professional development, mentoring, and cutting-edge presentations and speakers in the burgeoning profession of RD.

Our membership numbers reflect this trend as well. From fewer than 100 members in 2009 to approximately 700 in 2017, we currently have 880 Active Members!

It’s not too late to register for NORDP 2018 – please visit our website to register online.

For those of you who are already registered, here are a few things you can do to prepare for the conference:

• Download the free NORDP 2018 Mobile Conference App by ATTENDIFY from your app store*, create your profile, and browse the conference sessions to create a personalized schedule;

• Register for the Monday April 9, 1:30 pm EDT, NORDP Webinar on Getting Ready for NORDP 2018;

• Sign-Up to join a Networking Dinner on May 7 and May 8, volunteer as a Scribe during a conference session on May 8 or May 9, and lead or join a morning Run/Walk or Bike excursion;

• Our hotel block at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City at Reagan National Airport is almost full. See here for nearby hotel options;

• Login to the Members Only section of nordp.org to find the 2018 Conference – Hotel Room Sharing Forum if you would like to find a roommate to save on your hotel accommodations. Shared rooms are billed at $249/night plus tax (single occupancy is $239/night plus tax).

If you have any questions, suggestions or concerns about the upcoming conference, feel free to contact us rdconf@nordp.org.

We are looking forward to seeing you in Arlington in May!

Best regards,

Karen Eck, Ph.D.
NORDP Conference Co-Chair
Assistant Vice President for Research
Office of Research
Old Dominion University

Kari Whittenberger-Keith, Ph.D.
NORDP Conference Co-Chair
Research Development
Office of Sponsored Programs
Co-Director, Responsible Conduct of Research
Office of Research
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

* To download ATTENDIFY, go to your app store, and search for and download the ATTENDIFY app. Then search for “NORDP 2018” and click on “Join.” After you create your profile, you’ll be connected to your fellow conference attendees and able to receive push notifications about happenings and updates during the conference, locate sessions and rooms, find information on sponsors and speakers, and create your personal schedule. Give it a try on your smartphone or tablet, and get ready for NORDP 2018!

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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 #NORDP2018updates.

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.

#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: Dana Desonie, Proposal Manager
Where: Arizona State University
Number of years in research development: 3+
Length of NORDP membership: 3
Number of NORDP conferences attended: 2
What is the most interesting place you’ve visited? The bottom of the ocean in the research submersible Alvin.

The road to a career in research development rarely does run smooth.

In the beginning – that is, sophomore year of high school – there was the awe I experienced when I discovered that people actually understood the geologic processes that created Yosemite. I fell even more deeply in love when I discovered plate tectonics in my first college geology class. Unfortunately, later field courses revealed that my passion for science and the outdoors was not enough for me to be able to locate myself on a topographic map (my life might be very different if we’d had GPS in cell phones!). So I decided to take my interests on board a ship, where satellite navigation could tell us where we were, and I became a geological oceanographer.

My doctoral and postdoctoral work brought me great opportunities to travel – Brazil, the Yucatan, the Azores, the Galapagos, and the Marquesas – and I loved it! My most exciting science moment was when our team discovered the Lucky Strike hydrothermal vent site, the third known vent field in the Atlantic. But the further along I got in research, the narrower my focus became. I was still most interested in large-scale scientific processes, and my friends told me that I wrote great letters. So, of course, I became a science writer!

For many years, I freelanced as a science writer, editor, and lesson developer. One of my main clients was Arizona State University (ASU), where I edited research proposals. I also wrote about environmental concerns, including a set of books for grades 6-12, Our Fragile Planet. When the freelance life felt too isolating, I joined ASU’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability as a grant editor, a job that integrated environmental issues, science writing, and editing. My favorite part of my current position as proposal manager is helping young faculty navigate the crazy world of federal funding. That, and cutting wordy narratives in half!

I joined NORDP in my second year at ASU. The greatest benefit I received from my first conference in 2016 was getting to know the other RD professionals from ASU. Those contacts have made my daily work so much friendlier and easier. At my second conference, we took it further and networked with our counterparts from the two other Arizona universities. After each conference, I’ve brought back valuable lessons to my co-workers that enrich our ability to do our work well.

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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.

#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: M.S. (Peg) AtKisson
Where: AtKisson Training Group
Number of years in research development: 18
Length of NORDP membership: 9 (I think)
Number of NORDP conferences attended: 8 or 9 (I forget)
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Actor, then attorney. Now have a job requiring both skills.

I started working in research development before it had a name. I started as a contract grant writer, in part because of my PhD qualifying exam at Tufts University. The exam consisted of a mock grant proposal and defense, and one person on my committee, that person who never likes anything, said it was the best he’d ever seen. Fast forward a few years later to a meeting where my dissertation advisor’s best friend heard the associate provost for research say in a meeting that it would be great to have someone who could write well and had a broad understanding of science, which resulted in a phone call to ask, “What’s Peg doing?” Convoluted, yes? Like most people who entered early into RD, I came through a convoluted path.

Our office at Tufts grew organically, with success breeding more work and my eventual transition from contractor to staff, and positions being created for the contractors I’d needed to hire. We focused on large proposals, but also provided training, funding searches, support for individual faculty, larger strategy—all the things that now seem standard for RD offices, but which so many of us created individually because these were what our faculty and administrations needed from us. NORDP formed about the time I left Tufts to work for a grant training company, and I joined the following year. I wish NORDP had existed when we started doing RD work at Tufts, and I have enjoyed being a contributing member.

NORDP conferences always feel like coming home. I always learn something, and I’ve made not only great professional connections, but also good friends. RD professionals are some of the most creative, collaborative, and kind people on the planet. I always find the meeting energizing and leave with new ideas and new connections.

If you haven’t attended a NORDP conference before, be prepared for something a little different, and talk with people, talk with people, talk with people!

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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.

#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: Augusta Isley, Proposal Manager
Where: Ball State University (Muncie, Indiana)
Number of years in research development: 8
Length of NORDP membership: 3
Number of NORDP conferences attended: 1
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? A paleontologist

Like most, I started my career in RD completely by accident. I got ‘in’ as a website development / techie GA for our Sponsored Programs Office (now SPA). Upon graduation, I was (thankfully) hired in SPA full-time as a research information coordinator (RIC). My duties were website development, education and outreach development, managing our electronic resources, and finding funding for faculty. But really I wanted to do everything my director would allow and asked an annoying amount of questions to anyone who would answer me. Having no background in RD or sponsored projects, it was a whole new world of information! Not to mention, SPA was full of knowledgeable overachievers like myself!

After 4 years as RIC, and a second Masters degree, I was eager for more responsibility and a challenge. When a pre-award proposal manager (PM) position came open, complete with data management and software responsibilities, it was a perfect match!

In my current role as a PM, I am tasked with honing faculty research agendas, narrative & budget development, along with managing our eRA system solution(s) and reporting tasks. As expected of overachievers, I manage to get into ‘other duties’ such as outreach & education, event planning, some light IT work around the office, and community engagement. I am also the Green Funding Specialist serving the University’s Council on the Environment.

I was terrified of the leap from hands-on techie to research administration professional but have learned so much about myself personally and professionally in this role; so much more than just patience and how to craft an effective email! Every day is something new; I truly love helping faculty conceptualize their agendas into fundable project ideas and realize their goals. Icing on the cake, as a Muncie native, it’s inspiring to see the development of many meaningful and lasting collaborations between faculty, staff, students, and my hometown.

I joined NORDP and attended my first conference in 2015 after a pre-pre-award colleague at IUPUI once told me “These are my people!” After the first conference I completely understood what she meant – I was filled with a sense of belonging akin to when I first found SPA. More importantly, I returned to BSU with a renewed sense of purpose for the research development aspect of my position. I’m looking forward to that same renewal at the 2018 conference and chatting with newly found colleagues!

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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.