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Office of Research & Economic Development

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Research Development Fellows Program

The Research Development Fellows Program is an Office of Research initiative to help full-time, pre-tenure faculty develop and submit competitive grants, fellowships and competitive awards. Fifteen fellows will be selected to participate in the 2012 program.

Program Description

The Research Development Fellows Program is designed to provide the practical information and experience pre-tenure faculty need to successfully compete for external grant funding. The program's goal is to help early career faculty enhance their proposal development skills and prepare them to compete for grants, fellowships and competitive awards. Fellows are expected to submit an application to an external funding agency by the end of the program.

Three main components comprise the program:

    Mentoring. One of the key elements of the program is a mentoring experience through which each participating fellow is paired with a senior faculty mentor who has a track record of securing external grant funding. Mentors will be selected by the fellow with the help of the program staff.

    The advice of senior faculty mentors can prove invaluable in helping fellows more rapidly achieve funding success. Initially, mentors will help fellows assess preliminary data, conceptualize appropriate project goals and objectives, and review proposal drafts. Over time, mentors can be instrumental in helping to review manuscripts submitted for publication or working with fellows to develop new, productive research collaborations.

    Learning Activities. At the core of the program is a combination of formal and informal learning sessions that will help fellows learn to plan and draft effective grants, fellowship applications and competitive awards; build proposal budgets that comply with institutional and sponsor requirements; and develop an understanding of the proposal review process.

    Consultation. Group learning sessions will be complemented by one-on-one consultations with staff from the Offices of Proposal Development and Sponsored Programs, who will provide advice and expertise as fellows develop grant proposals for submission. The Office of Research also will provide the services of an external consultant to review final proposals and will sponsor travel for fellows to visit program officers in Washington, D.C. or at other sponsor workshopes as needed.

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Calendar

Program events are planned throughout the year. For a complete schedule of program activities and events, see the Research Development Fellows Program calendar.

Eligibility

To qualify for the Research Development Fellows Program, a candidate must be a full-time, pre-tenure faculty member hired within the last four years. Visiting, adjunct and research track faculty are not eligible to apply. Program participation will be limited to 15 fellows. Fellows selected to participate in the program may not re-apply in subsequent years.

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Application Process

To apply to participate in the Research Development Fellows Program, click here.

For More Information

For more information about the Research Development Fellows Program, contact Noah Clayton in the Office of Research at nclayton3@unl.edu or 472-8031.

Related Resources

Office of Proposal Development
Office of Sponsored Programs
NURAMP
NUgrant
Research Fair