Internationalizing University Research

Sponsor:
Meredith McQuaid, associate vice president and dean, Office of International Programs

Overview of the Project

To enable the University of Minnesota to compete more successfully for multimillion-dollar grants with international and multidisciplinary scope, the Office of International Programs (OIP) and the Office of the Vice President of Research (OVPR) must implement a coordinated process or protocol that facilitates connections and collaborations between University researchers pursuing international opportunities and other University faculty and staff who are engaged in research and programming around the globe.

Background

As research funding dwindles and competition increases, funding agencies are requiring comprehensive approaches from higher education institutions to compete for multimillion dollar grants. Many of these grants, particularly the best-funded and most sustainable, are targeted for education, research, and outreach in other countries, often in the developing world.

To compete for these grants, the University must demonstrate that across disciplines, the institution has relationships and research in many parts of the world. Despite the fact that University faculty are engaged in robust research, education, and outreach collaborations on every continent and in nearly every country, we are not able to demonstrate this strength in any consistent, thorough, and immediate way.

The challenge is to identify, collect, update, and manage this information quickly and accurately to meet typically short grant deadlines. Precious time is wasted gathering information when it may already exist somewhere in the University. The lack of a coordinated mechanism to share information centrally means that our researchers applying for grants with international scope are often less well-prepared than the competition. Peer institutions, equally as large and decentralized, manage this process more successfully than the University of Minnesota and are therefore better positioned to receive funding, even though the University has similar depth and breadth of knowledge.

The University is pursuing a constituent relationship management database and an electronic faculty activity reporting database, but these systems are several years away from implementation. The University needs an immediate solution to this issue to strengthen its capacity to compete for and be awarded big-dollar grants with global scope.

Project Goals

By June 2010, the University will have an understanding of how it can be more efficient and successful in pursuing multimillion-dollar, interdisciplinary, international grants. Processes and protocol will be indentified that support a coordinated approach to collect vital information needed for these grant applications with short deadlines. An investigation of best practices of researchers and administrative units at the University and peer institutions will result in guidelines for University researchers to facilitate effective collaboration in global research and efficient communication across all disciplines.

Strategic questions for the team to investigate:

1. Which people in each college/department have information about researchers’ international activity? Do they share this information with any other unit? How?
2. What are the obstacles/frustrations/challenges University researchers face when pursuing a grant with international scope?
3. What are the central administrative units involved in preparing these proposals and how can they improve services or better coordinate with academic units?
4. How do faculty and staff access necessary University information to write a proposal? How is this access communicated?
5. How can faculty and staff engaged in international work better support each other?
6. What can academic leadership do to foster international engagement of University researchers?
7. Which peer institutions are obtaining multimillion-dollar, multidisciplinary, international grants and what are they doing?

Outcomes

1. Acquire additional external funding through international grants to support multidisciplinary research.
2. Identify best practices in international grant application processes.

Benefits

1. Provide guidelines for managing issues specific to international grant proposals.
2. Increase effectiveness and demonstrate the University’s capacity for global research by strengthening communication and collaboration among researchers across all disciplines.
3. Promote internationalization, a key initiative of the University’s strategic positioning goals.
4. Position the University to achieve its goal of being one of the top research institutions in the world.

Project Team

Team Members

Claudia Cody
Assistant Extension Professor - Extension
320-203-6053
cody0031@umn.edu
Mentor: Kris Lockhart

Kristen Gandrow
Executive Office and Administrative Specialist - Law School
612-626-5048
kgandrow@umn.edu
Mentor: Melissa Stone

Amy Kampsen
Associate Academic Advisor - Office of Student Services, College of Education and Human Development
612-624-4899
kamps008@umn.edu
Mentor: LeeAnn Melin

Sandy Massel
Associate Director of Alumni Relations and Development - Office of the Dean, College of Biological Sciences
612-626-3956
massel@umn.edu
Mentor: Gail Klatt

Joseph Shultz
Associate Analyst, Policy and Planning - Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
612-626-6544
shul0048@umn.edu
Mentor: Kathy Brown

Deanne Silvera
Associate Counselor - International Student and Scholar Services, Office of International Programs
Office of International Programs
612-624-9512
silve025@umn.edu
Mentor: Mary Nichols