Research Spotlight: Ann McGuigan, Director of the Office of Research Development
We recently met with Ann McGuigan, the Director for the new Office of Research Development at Mason.
What is the mission of the Office of Research Development?
The mission of the Office of Research Development (ORD) is to provide support to faculty in identifying and seeking funding to increase George Mason’s funded research base. The office provides a number of services in support of this mission which are identified on the ORD web site. The web site is intended to serve as a central resource for faculty interested in learning more about identifying and applying for funding opportunities. As the site continues to develop, it will offer information in response to the needs identified by Mason faculty. ORD offers workshops on topics related to research funding and provides a central listing of research development training/activities occurring in the Colleges, Schools and Institutes. The office offers individual consulting sessions on identification of funding opportunities and advice on selection of relevant funding source(s), as well as strategies for interacting with funding organizations. These sessions include a tutorial on how to use SPIN, an online funding source database that offers faculty the opportunity to create customized online searches that generates on-going automatic email notifications of relevant funding programs. This year, the Office is very involved in working with an outside company, Strategic Partnerships, in identifying funding opportunities for a wide variety of topical areas and presenting Mason faculty research concepts to sponsors for consideration for funding. A number of units are working with Strategic Partnerships and ORD serves as a central coordinator for interdisciplinary activities, including arranging meetings on specific topics, or with representative(s) from funding entities, or with representatives from potential funding partners. ORD also coordinates sending sets of faculty concept papers to strategic individuals at funding entities.
Why was this Office created at the University?
The position was created to fill a clear need for assistance to faculty and graduate students in identifying funding opportunities and providing training/workshops. Prior to the development of this Office there was neither a central program for research development nor a centralized organization of research training. While approximately a third of Mason's tenure track faculty are experienced and skilled in getting external funding, there are also many who would like to learn more about how to seek and apply for funding. ORD seeks to provide programs and individual assistance to these faculty, as well as for those who would like to learn about new and different opportunities than those they are familiar with. Co-occurring with the development of ORD, there has also been a recent increase in the number of Associate Deans for Research in the Colleges. ORD provides information about funding opportunities to the Associate Deans for Research for dissemination to their faculty and collaborates with the Associate Deans for Research on a variety of activities, including review of proposals for programs that limit the number of applicants.
How does your office intend to help faculty that wish to increase their funding opportunities?
As mentioned above, the office provides a web site with links to funding data bases and funding sources, it provides consulting services for individual faculty and it coordinates workshops on a variety of topics. This fall the workshops included Introduction to Grant Writing and Basics of Foundation Funding. The ORD web site also listed College Research Workshops including Locating Grant Funding Sources Using the SPIN Database, Proposal Preparation Tips, and Preparing Proposal Budgets offered by Peter Barcher, Associate Dean for Research, CEHD and a National Endowment for the Humanities Workshop, arranged by Matt Zingraff, Associate Dean for Research, CHSS. Additional workshops/sessions will be offered this Spring Semester to include a series on Introduction to Research Services that will allow faculty to meet with representatives from the various central research offices and learn about what they do. There will also be sessions offered on managing research projects, funding opportunities for graduate students, and a more advanced grant writing session.
How can faculty at Mason connect with your department?
Faculty can email me at amcguiga@gmu.edu or call me at 703 993-2298 to set up an appointment for individual counseling sessions or to learn more about what ORD has to offer.
http://www.gmu.edu/research/ResearchDev/index