Research management is an emerging field of study and its development is significant to the advancement of research enterprise. Developing the science of research management requires investigating social mechanisms involved in research management. Yet, studies on social mechanisms of research management is lacking in the literature. To address…

Background & Aims: Lean methodology is a continuous process improvement approach that is used to identify and eliminate unnecessary steps (or waste) in a process. It increases the likelihood that the highest level of value possible is provided to the end-user, or customer, in the form of the product delivered through that process. Lean…

Research organizations are dealing with impacts from shrinking funding, have limited means and are functioning in environments of constant change and pressure all while identifying resources to develop or sustain programs. This state of uncertainty presents a unique opportunity for organizations to expand their capacity and become adaptive,…

As collaborative biomedical research has increased in size and scope, so, too, has the need to facilitate the disparate work being done by investigators across institutional, geographic and, often, disciplinary boundaries. Yet we know little about what facilitation is on a day-to-day basis or what types of facilitation work contribute to the…

Bridge-funding by tertiary-educational institutions allows researchers to continue their research in times of funding loss. With the ever-declining funding rates for major medical research institutions in North America, and the global economic downturn, it is crucial to critically assess institutional policies surrounding the allocation of…

The individual charged with stewarding the academic research and creative activity enterprise (i.e., Chief Research Officer or Vice President/Chancellor for Research), has tremendous responsibility and influence over the institution's ability to achieve its overall mission. Yet, the skills and knowledge required to successfully serve in this role…

The administration and management of sponsored projects spans many levels within an institution of higher education. Research administration professionals require an operational understanding of a complex and intertwined set of disciplines that include project management, finance, legal, ethics, communication, and business acumen. The explicit…

Obtaining external funding has become increasingly difficult for Canadian researchers in the social sciences and humanities. Our literature review suggests that grant-writing groups and workshops make an important contribution to increasing both applications for external funding and success in funding competitions. This article describes an…

Regulations for research involving human subjects have long been a critical issue in higher education. Federal public policy for research involving human subjects impacts institutions of higher education by requiring all federally funded research to be passed by an Institutional Review Board (IRB). Undergraduate research is no exception. Given the…

Research activities often involve enrolling human subjects as volunteers to participate in research studies. Federal regulations mandate that research institutions are responsible for protecting the ethical rights and welfare of human subjects from research risks. This is usually accomplished by requiring approval of research protocols by an…

Sufficient and state-of-the-art research equipment is one component required to maintain the research competitiveness of a R&D organisation. This paper describes an approach to inform more optimal allocation of equipment expenditure levels in a large and diverse R&D organisation, such as CSIRO. CSIRO is Australia's national science agency,…

In May 2016, the office of Finance and Sponsored Projects at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital conducted a 5-day design sprint session to re-evaluate and redesign a flawed final reporting process within the department. The department sprint was modeled after the design sprint sessions that occur routinely in software…

This study investigates the relationship between the designated research project system independent variables of Labor, Travel, Equipment, and Contract total annual costs and the dependent variables of both the associated matching research project total annual academic publication output and thesis/dissertation number output. The Mahalanobis…

If you are a grants or research administrator working at a small predominantly undergraduate institution, have you ever wondered where you stand in relation to other similar institutions? Have you thought about what you need to do to get yourself, your office, and your institution to the "next level" of outreach to or support for the…

Funding multi-institution centers of research excellence (CREs) has become a common means of supporting collaborative partnerships to address specific research topics. However, there is little guidance for those planning or managing a multi-institution CRE, which faces specific challenges not faced by single-institution research centers. We…