By Jade Pearce

Navigating an academic institution can be challenging for faculty members, especially for newly-hired assistant professors. There is an orientation, but often there is too much information given in a short period of time. One aspect that is touched upon but doesn’t get enough attention is how to build your research portfolio. In part two of this series, “Building your research portfolio,” senior faculty came together again to answer more specific funding questions through an interactive Q&A session. You can find a link to the previous post of part one here and the link to the presentation here. 

Q&A

Assistant Faculty (AF): Does the university know of or offer editorial support for writing grants? 

Senior Faculty (SF): That tends to happen at a center-specific level so different centers have employed various editing services. Unfortunately, the knowledge of which centers do what is dispersed; this could be a potential project for the Office of the Dean at SPH where the data could be collected to generate a list showing the various services and processes each center provides.  

AF: Faculty [from a previous institution] were able to be funded to pay for an external review of the grant before submission, which was useful as start-up money. Does the School provide this sort of service?  

SF: Currently not in a formal setting, but there are plenty of faculty who would be willing to help as an external reviewer. This is why it is key for faculty to engage with various department centers and within their own department. Faculty that affiliate themselves with a center can gain access to various services such as mock-review, pilot funding for project start up and mentorship with multiple mentors. Often there are full professors within the School who would be willing to review without a fee. Additionally, faculty need to be mindful of the timeline for their submission process. Ideally, faculty will need a draft ready for their assembled reviewers well before the application deadline since it may take time to make the recommended changes.  

Last year, we brought in some prominent researchers for a panel discussion to provide their experiences on building their research portfolio.  

AF: Are the labs formed considered official center program initiatives (CPIs)/research units, or more of a loose group of collaborators all working in the same area? 

SF: It’s a mix. For example, you could have a group that consists of a shared focus with a formal reporting structure to the PI. You can also have a smaller group of regularly meeting scientists that is a subset of a center that works on a specific project and collects data.  

AF: How do you build and support a research team at the UW? 

SF: What’s worked for me is to develop a lab or a research group of colleagues. Usually this consists of a research coordinator or research professional (usually an alumni) or diverse group of graduate students. They meet once a week and then as needed through individual meetings. This model is great because it becomes a collaborative system where MPH and Ph.D. students are mentored by the PI as well as their colleagues and they, in turn, can mentor their peers or students. I’ve seen a lot of progression through this model; their shared goals, and the synergy is amazing! Not only can this create a solid group focus, but it encourages empowerment, inspiration, accountability and support.   

Finally, one way that has helped keep my research portfolio on track is to apply for three large grants per year (not pilot funds) and write three papers a year. You won’t get accepted for all the grants, but this system helps keep a consistent flow of research funding opportunities as a professor here at the UW.