Tag: Peer Mentoring Groups

NEW AI in RD Peer Mentoring Group Forming!

Peer Mentoring Group (PMG) Conveners: Sujatha Koduvayur, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; and Brooke Gowl, Appalachian State University

The AI in RD Peer Mentoring Group (PMG) is now being launched to provide a vehicle for supporting NORDP members interested in using artificial intelligence (AI) in their research development (RD) practice, such as instructing researchers on how to securely and efficiently incorporate AI in their work. 

The 2025 NORDP Conference included several sessions that addressed the use of AI in RD. AI, when used judiciously, can significantly impact research endeavors by strengthening the practice of RD. Currently, RD professionals are using AI to perform targeted grant searches; assist with proposal development by creating summaries, checklists, and other resources from notice of funding opportunities (NOFOs) and other solicitation guidelines; and support team science practices by creating ideation meeting summaries and identifying potential collaborators. Having a PMG to disseminate these practices, learn from each other, and jointly find better and more efficient ways to leverage AI tools in our work directly aligns with NORDP’s mission to advance RD as a profession.

The AI in RD PMG will share current practices and explore new ways to:

  • include AI in our RD daily practice, 
  • learn about privacy and ethical concerns,
  • discuss program director-invited presentations on AI applications, 
  • design and develop faculty resources on best practices for AI-assisted grantwriting, 
  • converse about other AI-related topics in RD. 

The PMG will invite external experts for guest lectures in addition to the discussion of case studies encountered by PMG members who currently use AI in their daily tasks.

NORDP Members can view and join PMGs via the WisdomShare Platform or you can email Sujatha Koduvayur or Brooke Gowl to learn more about and get involved with the new AI in RD PMG. Questions about the WisdomShare platform can be directed to mentorprogram@nordp.org.

NORDP Members interested in learning more about all eight active PMGs, including AI in RD, can join the 2025-2026 Peer Mentoring Group Kickoff on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, from 1:00–2:00 PM Eastern.

Register for the PMG Kickoff here!

In addition to the new AI in RD PMG, the following seven PMGs are also currently active:

  • AI in RD: exploring the use of AI in research development workflow and applications
  • Career & Professional Development: exploring how to become more efficient and effective in our roles    
  • Coaching & RD: developing and implementing coaching as part of the research development (RD) skillset
  • Collaboration & Team Science: building collaborations and interdisciplinary research programs
  • Faculty Development: supporting RD professionals who perform faculty development through programming and workshops
  • Leadership & Management: leading in both official and unofficial capacities
  • Proposal Development & Project Management for Research: Supporting proposal development for faculty grant seeking and leveraging project management tools and methodologies to enhance efficiency and success in securing extramural funding
  • Strategic Planning & Advancement: guiding policy and planning for enhanced research and scholarship

Announcing the new Faculty Development Peer Mentoring Group (PMG)

By Matthew Schwartz (UMass Chan Medical School) 

I am thrilled to announce the launch of a new NORDP Faculty Development Peer Mentoring Group (PMG). This new PMG is designed to support NORDP members who are dedicated to enhancing faculty research success through holistic professional development programming. This new PMG provides a platform for RD professionals to discuss, share resources, and offer feedback on the design, development, implementation, facilitation, and evaluation of faculty development workshops and other programming.

Faculty development is a critical aspect of research success, as it equips faculty with the skills, knowledge, and support they need to excel in their research careers. RD professionals play a key role in designing and delivering these programs, which can include everything from workshops on grant writing and research team management to training in leadership, mentoring, addressing conflict, and fostering wellbeing.

Using the peer mentoring model, the Faculty Development PMG’s goals are to:
  • Create a collaborative space where RD professionals can exchange ideas and resources related to faculty development programming.
  • Enhance the quality and impact of faculty development programs by sharing best practices and evidence-based approaches.
  • Provide feedback and support for RD professionals who are responsible for faculty development initiatives at their institutions.
  • Foster a community of practice focused on improving faculty research success through effective professional development.

The Faculty Development PMG is for any NORDP members who are involved in or interested in the creation, facilitation, and evaluation of faculty development programs. We invite all NORDP members to join the Faculty Development PMG and contribute to this exciting new initiative. Whether you are an experienced RD professional or new to the field, your insights and experiences are valuable. Whether you are looking to refine existing programs or develop new initiatives, this PMG offers a valuable opportunity to learn from and collaborate with your peers.

NORDP Members can view and join PMGs via the WisdomShare Platform and / or you can email Matthew Schwartz to learn more about and get involved with the new Faculty Development PMG.

NORDP Members interested in learning more about all seven active PMGs can join the 2024-2025 Peer Mentoring Group Kickoff on Tuesday, September 24, 2024 from 1:00 – 2:00 PM Eastern.

Register for the PMG Kickoff here!
The following seven PMGs are currently active:
  • Career & Professional Development: exploring how to become more efficient and effective in our roles    
  • Coaching & RD: developing and implementing coaching as part of the research development (RD) skillset
  • Collaboration & Team Science: building collaborations and interdisciplinary research programs
  • Faculty Development: supporting RD professionals who perform faculty development through programming and workshops
  • Leadership & Management: leading in both official and unofficial capacities
  • Proposal Development & Project Management for Research: Supporting proposal development for faculty grant seeking and leveraging project management tools and methodologies to enhance efficiency and success in securing extramural funding
  • Strategic Planning & Advancement: guiding policy and planning for enhanced research and scholarship

Join the new Proposal Development & Project Management for Research Peer Mentoring Group (PMG) at NORDP

PMG Co-conveners: 
Sonya Craig, New York University Langone Medical Center
Anna Ortynska, University of Kentucky
Denise Wright, Emory University

We are excited to introduce a new theme to our Proposal Development Peer Mentoring Group (PMG) at NORDP— Project Management.  This addition is designed to meet the professional needs of project managers, fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing within the research development (RD) community.

At the heart of our Proposal Development & Project Management for Research (PD&PM) PMG is the goal to build a robust community of RD professionals focused on advancing their capabilities through collaboration and shared experiences. This group serves as a dynamic platform for discussing challenges, exchanging best practices, and discovering innovative management and RD strategies.

Members of the PMG can look forward to the following engaging activities: 

Virtual Meetups – regular sessions to discuss current challenges, share success stories, and explore effective proposal development and project management tools. These meetups offer a forum for real-time interaction and support among peers. Meeting topics will be shared in advance, so that you can attend the sessions that are of most interest to you. 

Resource Sharing – allows participants access to a collective repository of tools, templates, and case studies. These resources are intended to enhance practical knowledge and application, equipping members with the materials needed to succeed.

The PD&PM PMG represents an exciting new avenue for professional growth and community building within NORDP. By joining, you’ll be stepping into a collaborative environment where every member plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of project management in research development while learning about best practices of proposal development. This initiative is not just about managing projects—it’s about building leaders and forging a path to greater effectiveness and impact in the research community.

If you’re a NORDP member passionate about project management and/or proposal development and willing to contribute to a community of like-minded professionals, this PMG is for you. 

Join us in this journey of growth and collaboration!   We invite you to join us to learn more by attending the upcoming PMG Kickoff on Sept 24 — registration is now open.

2024-5 Peer Mentoring Group Kickoff

When: Tuesday, September 24, 2024, 1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern

Who: Any NORDP members who are interested in learning more about Peer Mentoring Groups (PMGs).

What: The NORDP Mentoring Committee’s Peer Mentoring Groups (PMGs) provide an ideal platform for NORDP colleagues to share ideas and learn from each other. 

Registration:  Register for the PMG Kickoff here to get the zoom link!! 

Cultivating Significance: The Importance of Developing a Network of Mentors in Proposal Development

Contributors: Proposal Development Peer Mentoring Groups (PMG) Co-conveners — Sonya Craig, New York University, Grossman School of Medicine and Lindsay Ridpath, University of Arizona

The Proposal Development field is growing as proposals become more complex and as the competitiveness for obtaining research funding continues. Academic success is not achievable through the efforts of a solitary individual; the era of lone geniuses thriving in academia has passed, emphasizing the collaborative nature of contemporary academics that thrives on teamwork, be that with other investigators or with research development (RD) professionals.

To help RD professionals build a network of support, NORDP initiated the peer mentoring groups (PMGs) in 2019, out of what was then the Community of Practice Groups. As David Widmer stated for an earlier blog post about the PMGs: “We are never fully developed by a single mentor. If you think about your broader network, it’s clear that you are being mentored by multiple people.” Jan Abramson said PMGs developed “from a discussion about member needs, the importance of building a network of mentors, and making sure anyone who requests a mentor has one.” A driving factor in PMGs is NORDP members’ needs. Christina Howard, David Widmer, Jan Abramson, Kathy Partlow, Faye Farmer, Katie Shoaf, and other members of NORDP’s Mentoring Committee, are the brains behind the PMGs, orchestrating the programming that has proven to be a valuable resource for many. The Proposal Development PMG is one of six active groups.

Proposal development can be summarized as the process of advising, writing, editing, coordinating, and compiling grant applications. The RD specialist can have many roles within proposal development, including as an educator, a project manager, a writer/editor/illustrator, or an advisor and advocate. Many proposal development professionals give guidance on and coordinate writing of grant components (including budgets, letters of support, and research strategies), manage grants libraries and other institutional resources, and coordinate and manage peer or “Red Team” reviews. 

The proposal/research development role has evolved over the last decade, leading to major growth in proposal development specialists in university settings. Now, innovations in generative Artificial Intelligence and graphic design have the potential to transform both proposal development and proposal evaluation, meaning that the roles of RD professionals are likely to change in the near future. Likewise, complex proposals and transformational initiatives, like ARPA-H, are transitioning grant writing from a solo experience to one requiring strategic planning from a group. Industry support in research is also increasing, as more government agencies are including industry participation in their proposals. Some examples of this are the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) and Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) programs, and the US Economic Development Association’s (EDA) Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (Tech Hubs). Companies like Amazon are increasingly offering research awards (Amazon Research Awards) to test solutions. Industry understands the value academic research brings and is increasingly interested in research collaborations rather than developing an internal R&D arm. 

By connecting with colleagues at other universities through our Proposal Development PMG, members are able to stay abreast of how other institutions are negotiating these new developments as they arise. Our PMG has active members from all over the US, in the medical, engineering, social science, and humanities fields. Some members are in leadership roles within their institutions working in large RD offices, while on the other extreme, we have colleagues who are independent consultants who work from home. We both joined the PMG for different reasons: Sonya was working within an academic unit as the sole grant writer and wanted to grow her RD professional network; whereas Lindsay joined the PMG as a Foundation Relations professional with the goal of cultivating connections and gaining a comprehensive understanding of the research enterprise. Whatever your office size or job classification, if you have an interest in discussing proposal development best practices and challenges, we invite you to join us for an informal conversation the first Tuesday of every month at 1 pm ET. See this site within WisdomShare for more information, or direct any questions by emailing the Mentoring Committee at mentorprogram@nordp.org.

Tools & Tips on Wisdom Share for Mentoring

By Mentoring Committee Leadership

The Mentoring Committee held a Tools & Tips (TNT) information session in July on how to utilize the Wisdom Share platform to enrich your mentoring experience. In case you missed it, you can find the recording in the LMS library or the slides here. Our main goal was to answer some of the most commonly asked questions from the NORDP community about the Wisdom Share, web-based software introduced in 2021 to modernize and expedite the Mentor-Mentee matching process in order to accommodate growth of the NORDP mentoring program.

A graphic that shows a brief history of the NORDP Mentoring Committee’s Matching Program. The years 2012-2014 are shown to the left as having been performed with manual mathes. An arrow starting at the bottom of the graphic and swooping upward to the right shows the years 2016 through 2023 with the number of mentoring matches made growing year over year.

Brief history of the NORDP Mentoring Committee’s Matching Program.

Aided by the Wisdom Share algorithm, the Mentoring Committee has been able to significantly increase the number and complexity of the services we provide since its inception in 2011. A NORDP member now has access to three different types of mentoring programs:

  • 1:1 Mentor-Mentee dyads. The match program runs from July to June annually.
  • 1: 3 Mentor-Mentee cohorts. The match program runs from July, 2023 to June, 2024.
  • Eight different Peer Mentoring Groups (PMGs) led by Conveners where the discussions are member-driven. The NORDP members can elect to sign up for multiple PMGs within the Wisdom Share platform. Each PMG Convener will regularly send out meeting information.

We are currently preparing to launch our annual PMG Kickoff on Tuesday, October 10, at 1pm ET / noon CT / 11pm MT / 10am PT — mark your calendar! The registration information will be available soon through the Member Clicks email. At the PMG Kickoff, you will have an opportunity to meet this year’s PMG Conveners, get contact information, and ask questions. We want to thank all the PMG conveners for keeping us organized going forward — we look forward to seeing everyone!

  • Career & Professional Development
  • Coaching and RD
  • Communication (currently inactive)
  • Collaboration & Team Science
  • Leadership & Management
  • Mentorship (currently inactive)
  • Proposal Development
  • Strategic Planning & Advancement

NEW Coaching & RD Peer Mentoring Group (PMG) Forming

PMG Organizers: Don Takehara, Jet LeBlanc, Joanna Downer, Paula Carney, & M. S. (Peg) AtKisson.

The 2022 NORDP Conference included multiple sessions that addressed the discipline of coaching and how it can be used in research development (RD), including faculty research career development, research leadership development, and research team engagement.

The Coaching & RD Peer Mentoring Group (PMG) is now being launched to provide a vehicle for supporting NORDP members interested in coaching.

Coaching fits a broader collection of skills in the RD skillset to further faculty research career development and reflects the dynamic nature of the RD profession. Coaching is a powerful process that encompasses a distinct set of competencies. The International Coaching Federation defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” Coaching often unlocks previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity, and leadership. Trained coaches can engage individual faculty to address research career and research leadership development, facilitate research team engagement, and promote development of research leaders. 

Using the peer mentoring model, the Coaching & RD PMG’s goals are to: 

  • Enable members to explore coaching as part of the RD skillset 
  • Develop programs to offer coaching as an RD service at the institutional level
  • Assess coaching as a contributor to faculty and organizational research attainment
  • Provide a setting for accountability and continuous improvement for RDs interested in coaching in research development

The Coaching & RD PMG is for NORDP members who may be curious about becoming a coach to add to their RD skillset, interested in adding coaching to an institution’s faculty research career, research leadership development, or research team engagement programs, as well as other opportunities for RD professionals that may benefit from inclusion of coaching.

NORDP Members can view and join PMGs via the WisdomShare Platform.

NORDP members interested in learning more about all eight active PMGs can do so at the 2023 Peer Mentoring Group (PMG) Orientation on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, noon-1:30 pm Eastern.  

Register Here

2022-2023 PMGs:

  1. Career & Professional Development: exploring how to become more efficient and effective in our roles
  2. Coaching & RD: developing and implementing coaching as part of the research development (RD) skillset
  3. Communication: promoting awareness of RD opportunities and publicizing research
  4. Collaboration and Team Science: building collaborations and interdisciplinary research programs
  5. Leadership & Management: leading in both official and unofficial capacities
  6. Mentorship Training: discussing and supporting mentoring best practices for mentors and mentees
  7. Proposal Development: supporting faculty grant seeking and increasing extramural funding
  8. Strategic Planning & Advancement: guiding policy and planning for enhanced research and scholarship

Collaboration and Team Science Peer Mentoring Group:  What Does it Take to Foster Strong, Impactful Collaborations?

By Jeremy Steinbacher (Syracuse University) and Leah Gorman (Oregon State University)

We are seeing new opportunities for transdisciplinary teams to develop proposals that cross disciplinary boundaries to increase the societal impact of research. Our institutions are excited by these opportunities, thinking creatively about how they might nurture environments that foster transdisciplinary work, and looking to research development (RD) professionals to help spark and facilitate these collaborations. For many members of the NORDP Collaboration and Team Science Peer Mentoring Group (CTS PMG), the skill set needed to do this work has not traditionally been a central part of our professional training. In addition, our institutions may not be familiar with how other institutions are approaching this work. Combined, the lack of both training and institutional knowledge leaves many RD professionals with the feeling that we are constantly  reinventing the wheel when facilitating team science. The CTS PMG seeks to address this challenge by offering an opportunity for RD professionals to share best practices and develop strategies toward creating working knowledge of team science at our institutions. 

Below, we address some common questions about the CTS PMG and the work we have engaged in over the last year.

How is a peer mentoring group different from other types of professional development environments you might use to build skills for fostering collaboration and team science?

All of us have access to a variety of professional development opportunities through our employers, professional societies, and educational institutions. Many of these are highly-structured workshops and classes with a designated leader/instructor and, for the most part, strangers as co-participants. On the other hand, the PMG environment offers several characteristics that provide a distinct learning experience. 

First, the PMGs do not have a single, defined topic at the outset; rather, the material is flexible to the needs, experience, and interests of group members. Though the CTS PMG set a schedule of topics for monthly meetings early in the year, we remained flexible to accommodate new topics as the group evolved. 

Additionally, unlike a workshop, class, or a traditional dyadic mentoring relationship, a PMG benefits from a range of perspectives, rather than training on a single approach. Every facilitator brings a different style and the open nature of discussions encourages input from all participants regardless of experience level. Importantly, the setting of ground rules by the group itself early in the meeting cycle helps create a psychologically safe environment where it is ok to be vulnerable. This helps members recognize and express the limits of their knowledge, knowing that the other participants are there to support each other’s growth. 

PMGs also offer the chance to build relationships with other NORDP members beyond the annual conference experiences and the more structured learning opportunities.

What did we learn about collaboration and team science this year? 

The CTS PMG discussed a wide variety of topics over the last year! 

Sharon Pound (University of Tennessee) led a discussion about the relationship aspects of teams, including how to deal with common barriers in communication and expectations, and also the benefits of long-term team building. 

Laura Heinse (University of Idaho) presented strategies for after-action review, such as post-submission debriefs with a team to determine course corrections and evaluate lessons learned. 

Chris Erlien (Duke University School of Medicine) and Eva Allen (Indiana University)  gave an overview of the many issues unique to developing center proposals with large teams, both practical impacts like project management and strategic issues surrounding group ideation and leadership. 

Melanie Bauer (Nova Southeastern University) shared a range of strategies that she has employed to facilitate faculty networking within her institution and with other institutions in her state. 

Leah Gorman and Sarah Polasky (University of Missouri-Columbia) led a discussion about collaboration across disciplines and the strategies we employ when team members working in very different disciplinary cultures. 

Finally, guest speakers Kristine Glauber and Christine Hendron of Intereach introduced us to their community of “boundary spanners” working across disciplines. Chris Erlien provided a nice description of their talk in a recent blog post.

How can NORDP members get involved in a PMG?

The NORDP PMGs are open to all members. We encourage experienced practitioners to participate in these groups as a way to build community and share best practices (#payitforward). To see the available PMGs, visit your dashboard on the WisdomShare platform and scroll down until you see the list of Peer Mentoring Groups, where you can click to join. Our PMG group will kick off again in September, and everyone who has joined will get the notification message.  If you have already joined a PMG or a few, we hope that you continue participating in the same or new PMGs this upcoming year. If you have not yet tried a PMG, we strongly encourage you to attend this year! To all, bring your curiosity, a willingness to share your experiences, and lots of questions. 

The NORDP Mentoring Committee is planning a PMG Orientation in October. Keep an eye out for the event announcement and we welcome everyone to participate!