#NORDP2019 starts Monday, April 29, in Providence, RI. Keep checking back here at the blog and on our Twitter feed (@NORDP_official) for conference updates.
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Who: Sarah E. Robertson, PhD, Director, Office of Sponsored Projects and Research
Where: University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
Number of years in research development: 5
Length of NORDP membership: 3
Number of NORDP conferences attended: 2
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?: Scientist – I was fascinated with the natural world and microscopes.
When I’m talking about my research development career, I’m never quite sure where to start. Like so many others I’ve met through NORDP, I stuck my toe into the water of research development while in previous positions. After finding NORDP and spending time with the other amazing members, I’ve found that our identities as research development professionals coalesce.
As the go-to reviewer for the applications and articles of my grad school classmates at Penn, I found that I loved reading about various areas of research, not focusing just on my protein of interest. After graduation, I found my way to the American Association for Cancer Research where I wore many hats, including grant writer and review committee administrator. I then went on to another cancer research foundation to manage their grant portfolio. In this role, I did everything from RFA creation to peer review to awarded grant oversight. Having those close experiences with grant applications made me fall in love with the early phase of research: the time when a PI can dream about what they want to do and how to do it. It also allowed me to continue to have broad exposure to many types of research.
However, after serving in a Program Officer/Sponsored Research Officer role for many years, I became frustrated with seeing good science go unfunded—especially when it went unfunded for errors I could have fixed! I also wanted to be able to talk with the researchers more often, so I decided to move back to academia where I could directly help PIs improve their applications. University of the Sciences in Philadelphia has fulfilled my desire to build strong relationships with my faculty and has exposed me to even more areas of research.
As USciences is a PUI, my office is small and we provide both research administration and research development services. The NORDP annual meeting has been a great resource for me to build our trainings and tools. Since I do not devote all my time to research development, it has been invaluable to have that time to focus, learn new skills, network and bring back different ideas to try with applicants. Everyone I have met through NORDP has been extremely generous with their time and knowledge. I strongly encourage attendees to go to the networking dinners and other events where you can meet someone new. You never know what you will learn next!
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We hope to see you at the Conference, which will be held April 29 – May 1, 2019, at the Omni Providence Hotel in Providence, RI. For more information about the conference program, visit http://www.nordp.org/conferences. Follow @NORDP_official on Twitter for all the latest #NORDP2019 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.
He also is a research affiliate at MIT.
hospitality industry, followed by directing customs brokerage services for U.S. importers. In the early part of the millennium, I returned to the university as a non-traditional student to earn an MBA and an M.A. in Spanish, in part because my spouse accepted a tenure-track position at Texas Tech University. As I was contemplating the next chapter in my professional career, a position was serendipitously announced – as a research associate for a Department of Education-funded program that was working to internationalize curriculum to serve faculty, students, and the U.S. trade community. This position merged my newly acquired academic skill set with my business experience in international trade. From there, I was hooked. I was fortunate to have a great faculty mentor who took the time to introduce me to and help me navigate both the research and funding environments, while the college supported my professional development through attendance at various grant writing and research workshops. As the Rawls College enhanced its focus on the importance of obtaining grant funding, I was promoted to my current position of Director of Grants and Outreach.
Manager of the Research Office. Over the years, I have developed strong leadership skills which have enabled me to build a solid record of success in guiding my team to meet its objectives. I have contributed significantly towards maintaining the Politecnico’s outstanding record of success in research fundraising (particularly from EU calls). Under my leadership, the Politecnico has become the most successful research university in Italy. Currently, I am Chair of the Vision 2020 Network Advisory Board and Secretary of NCURA Region VIII.
“Day to day, what does inclusion look like at your institution?”
Providence Waterplace Park and Riverwalk
RISD Museum
Northwestern. Where did the time go? These years included 16+ years doing R&D at Dow Chemical, 9 years as a professor at Taylor University, and 5 years in the College of Engineering Office of Research at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).
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