Conference: A Collaborative Approach towards Building Sustainable Research Capacity

Tarleton State University, Stephenville TX

Investigators

Abstract

This workshop brings together diverse public research institutions and other organizations to discuss and develop potential solutions to the challenges related to enhancing institutional research capacity at campuses that are not currently research intensive. The issues faced are varied and include outdated infrastructure, software, and methodology, as well as staffing shortfalls that lower their ability to support research. Participating emerging research institutions will benefit from the opportunity to learn from established research leadership and administrators at research-intensive institutions. The workshop will produce a working draft for a shared online resource support center that will provide users access to a helpdesk and other research administration resources in a broad effort to advance research capacity. Participating institutions include R1 to R2s, both rural and urban institutions, Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), minority-serving institutions (MSIs), Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Native American Serving Nontribal Institutions (NASNTIs), as well as Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) institutions. Each participant brings unique experiences and challenges to the conversation and provides valuable insight into creative solutions for mitigating barriers to research capacity. Workshop participants will be led through a challenge set format to identify common challenges and share available tools, knowledge, and effective practices with the overarching goals of enhancing competitiveness and catalyzing the development of new approaches and transformative ideas that are scalable, implementable, and collectively strengthen the nation’s research enterprise. Upon completion of this conference, participating institutions will have identified possible challenges and mitigation strategies to research capacity building and drafted a framework needed for developing, implementing, and scaling a sustainable shared virtual resource center for use by research leadership, administration, and staff. In addition, each participant will have gained an improved understanding of how to engage in productive partnerships within and outside the institution to support the effective translation of research activity into commercial products and partnerships. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.