NSF Grant to Develop Guidance/Resources Tailored to New Faculty, Staff, and Administrators
Melanie Bauer M.A., is the Grant Writing Manager who staffs the Grant Writing Laboratory (“Grant Lab” for short), which is housed within the Division of Research (DoR). In her role, Melanie supports faculty and professional staff across NSU colleges in their grant seeking endeavors. She collaborates with others in the DoR and across NSU to offer trainings, networking events, and online resources. Melanie stated, “My favorite work is providing one-on-one consultations to faculty and staff to discuss their interests and help them find ways to fund and write about their research or program idea”.
Find more info about Grant Lab offerings here: https://www.nova.edu/grant-writing-laboratory/index.html
Tell me briefly about your recent grant-funded project and who is working with you on this project.
I work in the professional field of “Research Development,” which is focused on the types of Grant Lab activities I mentioned before—support, trainings, events, and resources. As a relatively young field, we are still investigating best practices in supporting faculty researchers. For the current grant project, I proposed with a group of individuals who are part of a statewide network of Research Development professionals (called the Florida Research Development Alliance) to conduct a series of focus groups and surveys with various stakeholder audiences to better understand how we can best support early-career faculty researchers. We are especially interested in how faculty can be assisted to find success in their research in various institutional environments, large and small.
This collaboration led us to receive a $100,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) Granted grant (NSF Award No. 2324520) titled “Research Developers as Hubs of Support to Launch and Level Up Faculty’s Research Careers and Nurturing Institutional Ecosystems.” With this funding we are conducting information collection activities related to early-career faculty support, engaging participants from around the state and country. We will ultimately disseminate our findings in the form of a report and likely a conference presentation or two, shared with fellow Research Development practitioners and other interested parties.
What opportunities and/or benefits does this grant bring to the NSU community (students, faculty, key stakeholders, etc.)?
NSF is a funder that has largely been unexplored here at NSU. As the primary federal agency that funds STEM research, I was interested to explore how we could grow institutional knowledge, resources, and access to NSF. I have been fortunate to bring in two grants from NSF, with NSU as lead and myself as PI, over the past couple of years. These grants, in addition to the opportunities I have had to support NSU faculty in pursuing NSF funding, help me to continue learning about NSF’s interests and build a stronger connection between our university and this major funder.
How does this project connect with your other work at NSU?
While not traditional for the staff position I hold, serving as a PI on two grants has provided me insights into what the faculty I support experience and could use extra help with. Additionally, my connection with the Florida Research Development Alliance—including collaborators across my two grants from UCF, FSU, FAU, UWF, and FAMU—opens up channels for learning from higher-level staff across Florida universities in terms of how they support faculty, what best practices we can consider adopting here at NSU, and what is our opportunity for growth in terms of research infrastructure.
How has NSU helped you pursue and/or achieve personal and professional goals you have set for yourself? NSU resources used?
The time I am able to dedicate to these grants and other professional activities, growing my (and NSU’s) network and research capacity, would not be possible without the support and guidance of those above me. I certainly have many thanks to give to my supervisor Roxana Ross, Assistant Vice President for Research and our Senior Vice President for Research, Ken Dawson-Scully.
What advice do you have for other grant seekers at NSU?
I am in a special position to be able to offer support, informed by my prior grant writing experiences and successes with NSF and other funders, to the faculty and professional staff here at NSU. Please reach out to me! I can be reached by email at mbauer1@nova.edu. Feel free to browse our resources and upcoming events by going to the Grant Lab website: https://www.nova.edu/grant-writing-laboratory/index.html
When should you reach out? It is never too early to contact me, even to have an informal conversation about grant seeking and how to find funding. I can also meet to strategize around a particular funding opportunity and budgeting, along with provide editorial feedback on your grant proposal documents once you have them drafted. Also keep me in mind when, inevitably given the competitive funding landscape, your project is not funded the first time you submit it, so we can work together to find ways to improve the proposal for a resubmission.
What is the next grant proposal or project on your agenda?
My next project is likely to be the one I conduct for my dissertation. I am enrolled in a Ph.D. program in Higher Education Leadership at FAU and am interested in learning more about the early-career faculty researcher experience in diverse institutional settings to explore how they can be better supported in their research and related work.