Other Support

Overview

The School of Health and Human Sciences Office of Research (HHS OR) advances the research enterprise through direct assistance from the HHS OR staff as discussed above in the Pre-Award Services and Post-Award Services sections, and through consultation and financial support as detailed below.  As mentioned in the Dean’s letter, one of the many strengths of the Office is that the Associate Dean for Research, Dr. Dudley, is a successful researcher himself, having served on more than 25 funded grants over the past 20 years. In addition, Dr. Dudley is a permanent member of one of the largest study sections at NIH and has participated in over 600 grant reviews. Researchers are strongly encouraged to meet with Dr. Dudley at the outset of their research project to enlist his advice and support. The most easily identified area of support is financial support, but it is also important to take advantage of Dr. Dudley’s experience in quantitative methods, grantsmanship, and project management.

Other Services in Detail

Advise on research design and methodology

The Associate Dean for Research and other methodologists associated with the office advise faculty on research design and analysis. Currently, a Masters-prepared statistician, Jeff Labban, is working under the direction of Dr. Kelly Rulison, a Quantitative Methodologist, and is available to directly support researchers in the pre award and post award project stages. In addition, office staff can link researchers with other appropriate methodological support on and off campus. All requests for quantitative methodological statistical support should come directly to the Associate Dean for Research.

Fund workload adjustments or summer salaries for grant writing

Depended upon availability of funds, the Associate Dean for Research can provide funding for adjustments to academic year academic workload (such as course release during the regular academic year) or summer salary support, which can provide researchers with critical protected time for grant writing or other grant activities. Researchers can submit requests using the course release or summer funding request forms as appropriate.

Provide ad hoc research financial support   

The Associate Dean for Research reviews requests for ad hoc funding, which can support aspects of research to ensure that resources (such as equipment, supplies, etc.) are in place so that a project, once funded, can move ahead efficiently.

Administer research space

The HHS OR has administrative oversight of several research spaces across campus. Requests for space assignments are reviewed by the Associate Dean for Research. Allocation decisions are based on several factors, including availability of space, level of project funding, and consistency (purpose) with the research enterprise. A listing of space assignments can be found where.

Provide reports on research activities

The HHS OR staff collects data from RAMSeS, Banner Finance, Contracts and Grants (C&G), and the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP). These data reflect proposal submissions and funding, as well as internal support provided to researchers by the Office. The office staff reports on this data regularly to the Dean and department/program chairs, as well as to the Vice Chancellor for Research. In addition to aggregated data, the Office staff provides detailed individual reports for faculty regarding their grant-related activities.

Support external or internal review of proposal drafts

An important strategy for increasing the competitiveness of grant proposals is to get external review by content or editorial experts. The Associate Dean for Research encourages and supports external reviews of research applications. Reviewers are typically paid $500 per review. In addition, with availability of funds, the HHS OR can provide external text editing to improve the readability of grant applications.

Support secure network storage for large data files

The use of networked storage space is highly recommended because of the added security and availability even when researchers are not on campus.  However, some studies produce large data files which can exceed the researcher’s dedicated network storage space.  It is expected that researchers will budget for addition network storage in their grant proposals as appropriate.  In the cases in which there are no project funds for this purpose, the HHS OR may (depending upon the need) fund additional network storage for faculty with large data files.  Research should send a request for extra space to Diane Levine in the Research Office.