Research and Innovation has launched a new research development & pre-award services section, bringing together proposal development and sponsored programs pre-award services under unified leadership. The new structure is designed to better align research support across the proposal lifecycle, providing a more integrated, faculty-centered service from funding opportunity identification and proposal development through pre-award review, submission, and contracting.

Maria Fisher Shaub has been named director of research development and pre-award services. Shaub previously led S&T’s proposal development unit and brings experience in research development and research administration.

“The research development team and the pre-award team perform very different kinds of work, and preserving the specialized expertise within each area is crucial,” Shaub says. “At the same time, we are all supporting different parts of the same process. Bringing these functions into closer alignment gives us an opportunity to make that process more seamless for faculty and to strengthen collaboration across our teams.”

A faculty-centered approach

The research development team (formerly proposal development) will continue to provide strategic support to faculty pursuing external funding, including identifying funding opportunities, supporting the development of large, strategic and complex proposals, as well as prestigious early-career applications. The pre-award team will continue to provide the specialized expertise required for proposal budget development, proposal review, routing and submission, while contracting will continue supporting agreements associated with sponsored research activities.

Bringing these functions together provides an opportunity to examine the entire front end of the research lifecycle rather than optimizing individual pieces in isolation.

“One of the things I want us to continually ask is what the process looks like from the faculty member’s perspective,” Shaub says. “Faculty shouldn’t have to understand our organizational structure in order to get the help they need. Our job is to understand the complexity and help them navigate it.”

Building for the future

The creation of research development and pre-award services is the first step in a broader effort to align Research and Innovation services with the evolving needs of S&T’s research enterprise. For the vice chancellor for Research and Innovation, the long-term measure of success is straightforward.

“We want faculty to find research support accessible, responsive and effective, and we want our employees to have the tools, clarity and support they need to do excellent work,” says Khayat.