Building Research Capacity from a University Perspective

1
Building Research Capacity from a University
Perspective

• Ann Nichols-Casebolt, Ph.D.
• Virginia Commonwealth University
• Associate Vice President for Research Development
• Professor, School of Social Work

2
Virginia Commonwealth University

• Public research university w/medical school
• More than 30,000 students
• Social Work largest graduate program with almost
  500 students
• Sponsored program awards in FY2007 over 227M

3
Associate Vice President for Research Development

• Newly created position December 2005
• Vice President for Research (a microbiologist)
  sought me out because
• Not from health sciences campus
• Knowledge of research across campus
• People skills
• My role To work as a collaborator, initiator
  and facilitator to help grow and sustain the
  research enterprise at VCU by supporting faculty
  (directly indirectly) in their efforts to
  secure funding for their research and scholarship

4
Activities as Associate VP

• Identify interdisciplinary funding opportunities
  and bring potential cross-campus collaborators
  together
• Computational modeling group
• Facilitate, coordinate participate in
  interdisciplinary research groups
• NSF working group
• Identify implement new research-related
  initiatives
• Office of Postdoctoral Services
• Undergraduate Research Initiative
• Convene the Research Development Advisory
  Council
• Problem-solve sponsored research issues raised by
  faculty (e.g., IRB issues, sponsored programs,
  etc.)
• Identify supports needed to facilitate sponsored
  research how can the university assist in
  unit-level capacity building?

5
Enhancing research capacity at the unit level
The basics

• Understanding the university perspective
• Aligning unit perspective (and actions) with
  university perspective
• Leveraging university resources for building
  capacity

6
Research capacity What it takes

• Lynns principles
• Programs mission defined with reference to
  institutions mission
• Investment in human capital
• Investment in infrastructure (facilities and
  people)
• Incentives for performance
• Development and protection of intellectual
  property
• Regular review of outcomes

7
Understanding the university perspective

• Does importance of extramural research funding
  come from the highest levels?
• Is the focus on federal funding?
• Is it built into the university strategic plan?
• What are the specific initiatives?
• What resources has the university invested in
  building research capacity?

8
How does the unit fit into this perspective?

• What does the unit strategic plan say about
  extramural funding?
• What expectations have been set for faculty?
• What have been the research strengths of recent
  faculty hires?
• What unit resources have been devoted to building
  research capacity?

9
The groundwork for developing research capacity

• Establish a strategic plan that includes research
• Show importance of extramural RESEARCH funding
• Identify strengths
• Do faculty have the potential for obtaining
  extramural funding particularly federal
  funding?
• Identify what has been accomplished
• What is the evidence that faculty are poised
  for the next step?
• Identify where you want to build and why
• How does it fit with university priorities?
• How does it fit with university initiatives
  (e.g., CTSA)

10
The groundwork

• Identify needs for building sustaining research
  capacity
• Faculty development
• Administrative resources
• Identify strategies for meeting needs
• What will/can be done within the unit?
• What is needed from the university?
• Establish measurable outcomes if the unit
  receives what is needed
• Milestones with target dates (e.g., of
  submitted proposals to federal funders, etc.)

11
Potential areas of university support

• Direct support to meet goals
• Start-up packages for new hires with strong
  research agendas
• 1st year supplemental support
• Summer salary
• Graduate assistant
• Space
• Pilot project funding
• Faculty development activities
• Specialized workshops
• Travel to NIH/NSF
• Assistance with collaborative efforts

12
Strategies that contribute to leveraging
resources building capacity

• Give social work visibility in research circles
  on campus
• Attend trainings
• Attend research presentations
• Identify and participate in research groups
• Volunteer to serve on the IRB
• Do assertive outreach
• Connect with other units that are potential
  collaborators

13
Strategies

• Get to know key university officials
• Request VP for Research to talk about research
  enterprise at a research retreat
• Schedule a research showcase
• Invite faculty from potential collaborative units
  
• Invite VP for Research
• Focus on where you are going, not just where you
  are or have been

14
Strategies

• Demonstrate that faculty take advantage of
  existing university resources
• Grant writing workshops/training
• Grant writer
• IRB assistance
• CTSA incubator
• Office of Sponsored Programs
• Technology transfer/intellectual property

15
Most important message

• The driving force to build research capacity
  cannot be about meeting some university mandate
  .. it must be about helping your faculty conduct
  research
• that excites them,
• that can advance the knowledge base of the
  profession, and
• that has the potential for making a difference.