Research Development Support

 

Office of Research

 

 

Mentors

Rebecca McNaughton, PhD Executive Director, Research Development Support, Office of Research

Background

The Research Development Support (RDS) team supports large-scale, interdisciplinary projects across all fields of research at the University of Chicago. We support nascent research by providing Big Ideas Generator seed funding, recommending external funding opportunities, and managing collaborative grants with national laboratories through the UChicago CASE mechanism. We also facilitate federal funding agency engagement by tracking and communicating federal agency research priorities and upcoming new funding opportunities. Informed by these insights, we support faculty in developing complex grant proposals through project management, grantsmanship, resource and partnership identification, and proposal reviews.

Externship Description

Externs will work closely with an RDS mentor on projects of their choosing, which may include (a) curating grant proposal resources and maintaining systems to share these with the research community, (b) developing communication materials to promote RDS services, (c) monitoring federal agency communications, and (d) supporting the proposal development process. Four specific projects include:

  • Contributing to development of a campus-wide Broader Impacts platform and website
  • Website design for marketing Office of Research services and resources
  • Graphic design to create content for promoting office programs
  • Developing a new faculty orientation packet on Office of Research resources

Specific Objectives

  • Learn about the federal funding landscape and policies that influence funding
  • Understand the process of large-scale proposal development from ideation through submission
  • Collect, analyze, and organize diverse materials and resources to share with the UChicago research community
  • Utilize project management and analytic tools for effective management of research initiatives and proposals

Qualifications

The successful extern should be self-motivated and organized with a desire to learn about academic research operations and scientific communication. Interest and/or experience with website design and graphic design is desired.

Before submitting an application, please visit the Externships page for instructions regarding our new application platform: myCHOICE-Symplicity.