Research development


Research development is a set of strategic, proactive, catalytic, and capacity-building activities designed to facilitate individual faculty members, teams of researchers, and central research administrations in attracting extramural research funding, creating relationships, and developing and implementing strategies that increase institutional competitiveness. These activities are typically practiced at universities, but are also in use at a variety of other research institutions.
Research development includes a diverse set of dynamic activities that vary by institution. These activities include initiating and nurturing partnerships, networks, and alliances between and among faculty at their institutions and funding agencies; and designing and implementing strategic services for their faculty and researcher constituents.
Research development professionals initiate and nurture critical partnerships and alliances throughout the institutional research enterprise and between institutions and with their external stakeholders. With the goal of enabling competitive individual and team research and facilitating research excellence, research development professionals build and implement strategic services and collaborative resources that span across disciplinary and administrative barriers within their organizations and beyond.
Research development differs significantly from university development in that RD is not aimed at attracting contributions or donations. Rather, RD strengthens research programs and proposals to make them more competitive for extramural contracts and grants from governmental, private and non-profit funding agencies. Similarly, RD should not be confused with research and development which refers to investments in corporate scientific and technological research that leads to new products and applications.
Recent contractions in the availability of public and private research funding have intensified competition for fewer resources among universities. This trend has amplified the need for research development assistance and interventions at universities in order to enhance research excellence and competitiveness. These services have not traditionally been offered through university-sponsored research and projects offices that administer the submission of grant proposals and research funds management. In response to these challenges, research development is increasingly becoming a standard practice at universities, particularly research universities.
Research development professionals and services are typically housed in a university's central "Office of Research", or within a more specific department or research unit devoted to a particular discipline or school. Research development activities are also included in some sponsored research and projects offices. There are also independent consulting firms that provide research development services. According to the US-based National Organization of Research Development Professionals, there are currently over 800 research development professionals employed at over 300 institutions across the United States and several foreign countries.

Activities

Strategic Research Advancement
Communication of Research and Research Opportunities
Enhancement of Collaboration/Team Science
Proposal Support Functions
Assisting faculty to find funding opportunities
The National Organization of Research Development Professionals was established in 2010 as part of a grassroots movement to build a peer community of research development professionals. The organization grew from an informal network of over 100 individuals engaged in research development activities at universities and research institutions across the United States. The central goals of NORDP are to serve these professionals, by providing a formal organization to support their professional development, to enhance institutional research competitiveness, and to catalyze new research and institutional collaborations.

Team science

Team science is "scientific collaboration, i.e., research conducted by more than one individual in an interdependent fashion". It can involve work by small teams, but the term is more commonly used to describe large multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary collaborative research projects by large teams of scientists that often integrate research with broader goals including education, technology transfer, outreach and diversity enhancement. Research development is an activity that many universities have embraced to enhance the efforts of their faculty and foster the development of collaborative, team-based science as well as compete for large research center and consortia funding opportunities. Research development professionals serve as "rainmakers" who catalyze and facilitate team science in response to the external funding landscape.