GRANTED: Pathways for Graduate Students into the Research Enterprise

Currently there is a critical unmet need for workforce development in research enterprise service and support careers. GRANTED: Pathways for Graduate Students into the Research Enterprise provides graduate students training and development to prepare them for careers in research administration, research development, research integrity and technology transfer. The Pathways program will provide: (a) a pipeline of trained research professionals who will be able to step into specialized or generalist roles in the research enterprise and (b) a model for comparable institutions to develop similar programs. These types of employees are widely sought after by research institutions, government labs, hospitals, colleges and universities. GRANTED: Pathways for Graduate Students into the Research Enterprise is a pilot training model that will provide senior doctoral students with training and professional development to prepare them for research enterprise careers. Many individuals that previously trained for research careers in PhD programs ultimately move into staff roles. Beginning exposure and training relevant to research enterprise careers while they are graduate students provides individuals a path to rewarding, research-related careers. It will augment a pipeline of trained research staff ready to step into primarily undergraduate universities seeking to expand research capacity, as well as complex research institutions. The project team will leverage the size and scope of the lead institution to develop and test a program that provides graduate students a broad overview, while also developing deep skill sets in select areas of the research enterprise. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.