Technology Opportunities Analysis, a research management activity of the Georgia Institute of Technology, identifies and assesses the implications of emerging scientific areas and new research technologies and helps the university plan and prioritize research and educational efforts. Program design and activities are profiled, and a number of…

Describes organization and evaluation of 13 workshops at the University of Wisconsin-Madison providing professional development for clinical research support staff. Topics included ethics, protocol development, statistics, audits, and tips and tools for successful research. Evaluation indicated the workshops met educational goals but did not…

Argues that research administrators would function more effectively and enjoy their work more with a better understanding of research. Offers examples of how some basic principles of research design can be readily conveyed to administrators with little or no research training. Discusses ways research administrators might benefit from better…

Based on experience in two different university-based social research centers (SRCs), the author discusses factors influencing support for university-based SRCs, the difficulty of transferring research findings from the SRC to the outside world, and how the social context influences the role research administrators play in this type of research…

A faculty development workshop program at Southeast Missouri State University is designed to introduce faculty to the importance, techniques, and applications of classroom research, to expose faculty to prospective research project sponsors, and to discuss development of qualitative research proposals. Providing faculty with such opportunities is…

A survey of 49 university and other research administrators investigated attitudes concerning research productivity and measures to assess it. Results are compared with those of an earlier survey of research scientists, including a rank-order comparison of the relative importance of a number of productivity measures. Implications for demonstrating…

A survey of 80 senior research administrators at public doctorate-granting universities investigated the relationship between the institutions' economic development orientation (new business/technology development; capacity building; human resource development; research/analysis/evaluation) and their level of federal research support. Results…

After a continuing effort to improve its grant application process, the department of medical microbiology and immunology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is submitting many more applications and realizing increased funding. The methods and strategy used to make the process more efficient and effective are outlined. (Author/MSE)

Key elements of public relations that may apply to the university research environment and lead to greater financial support for research activities are outlined, and examples from the private sector are used to explore the relationships between public relations, organizational growth, and financial stability. Practical suggestions are offered for…

Universities should embrace university/industry relationships because they benefit both the institution and society. As such relationships evolve, the university should continually review its policies. The model used by Wake Forest University (North Carolina) for routinely reviewing research agreements is presented to assist other universities in…

All-inclusive patent and licensing policies of research universities ignore the strengths of individual disciplines and varied needs of industrial sponsors. Some academic units are involved primarily in incremental improvement, while others generate breakthrough developments. Industry also pursues differential innovation patterns. Disciplines…

A discussion of recruitment of research faculty for academic medical centers examines the financial aspects of recruiting in relation to the recruitment's purpose, the stature of the researcher, and the nature of his research. Cost-effective strategies for handling various aspects of recruiting in a restructured academic medical system are…

To understand causes of stress in the workplace, research administrators can use the theory of "personality priorities" to understand researcher behavior. The theory suggests each individual adopts rules to help make decisions and maintain a sense of belonging. Each of these personality priorities (control, comfort, pleasing,…

A Public Health Service's demonstration project brought together four historically black colleges and universities, public funding, and professional research administrator expertise to determine the impact of establishing a campus-sponsored research office. The program was found successful and may be useful for other small and midsized…

Looks at how Pennsylvania State University is examining its evolving research administration infrastructure and investigating electronic research administration. Discusses use of total quality management techniques to view research administration as a single process, determine the best organizational level for various activities, and remove…