Building a research program at an American university: strategies for sustainable success

Abstract
This informational article discusses opportunities and strategies for how to develop an externally funded research program in the American academic environment, specifically in STE M (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines. It is presented from a long-term perspective of a faculty member with active research, who has served in all ranks (assistant, associate, and full professor) and has led a large academic department at the University of Arizona for several years. It is stipulated that the employment offer for a junior faculty include an adequate start-up package which allows to set the research program in motion by establishing a laboratory and hiring graduate students. The spectrum of funding sources for STE M research is given with a brief annotation of the current funding climate and mechanisms in the USA. As junior faculty face negative submission outcomes, strong encouragement and pragmatic advice is needed so that faculty can focus their efforts, persist in grant competitions, and ultimately succeed. Grant planning and submission suggestions that might help in this process and lead to good outcomes are given. The article concludes with the stipulation that faculty maintain high standards of academic integrity, ethics, and quality and not succumb to potentially perverse incentives to pursue funds just for the sake of generating higher quantitative indicators of their productivity.
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Citation
Rozenblit JW. Building a research program at an American university: strategies for sustainable success. MSP 2017; 11, 1: 10–14.
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