Research Development Events

Introduction to the Department of Defense (DOD)

The Department of Defense (DOD) is the largest funder of R&D in the federal government; however, many agencies within the DoD (ARL, ONR, AFRL, DARPA, etc.), and their programs can vary significantly. This webinar will introduce faculty to the various DoD research agencies and programs, application processes, and strategies for preparing winning proposals.

Introduction to the Department of Energy (DOE)

The Department of Energy (DOE) is one of the largest funders of R&D in the federal government, surpassed only by NIH and DOD. However, DOE funding programs can vary wildly and often require a quick turnaround of proposals. Through this webinar, faculty will learn about the structure, funding mechanisms, and priorities of the DOE to better prepare for future submissions, particularly those aimed at the basic research programs in the Office of Science. This includes Early Career Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, Advanced Scientific Computing Research, and High Energy Physics programs. We will also discuss opportunities for partnerships with National Labs.

Training Grants 101

Training programs are prestigious and highly competitive funding mechanisms; they are excellent opportunities to provide novel training experiences to students at Ph.D.-, Masters-, and undergraduate-levels, as well as postdocs. This workshop will discuss programs that fund training programs (such as the NSF NRT, NIH T32, DoEd GAANN, etc.) and share lessons learned from faculty who have successfully received training grant funding. We will also discuss how to construct competitive proposals, provide tips on successfully administrating the program (including annual data collection needs), and describe university resources available to support your effort.

Center Grants 101

This overview will provide the necessary scaffolding for preparing center-level grants. We will engage faculty to think more strategically about writing the narrative of a significant complex grant proposal, team formation, and other critical components for center grants. This workshop is open to all NU faculty and staff. Information shared in this workshop will help anyone considering submitting a center grant in the next 3-5 years. In addition to a brief presentation by Research Development staff, faculty panelists will share their experience submitting to different center programs, discuss what reviewers are looking for, and answer participant questions.

NSF CAREER Award Series: Session #3 -Writing an NSF CAREER Project Summary

This interactive workshop starts with a strategic framework for responding to NSF merit criteria in each section of the Project Summary. Participants will then break into small groups to review draft summaries with peers, senior faculty, and experienced NSF reviewers. This workshop is a great opportunity to get feedback and advice on a CAREER project summary or any NSF project summary, or just to see how winning summaries are developed. Please send your draft Project Summary to resdev@northeastern.edu by May 23. Draft documents will be shared with participants in advance of the workshop.

NSF CAREER Award Series: Session #2 -Resources and Strategies for NSF Broader Impacts and Educational Design for Impact

Broader Impacts do matter: Join a panel of CAREER awardees in discussing the strategies and resources they used to design well-integrated broader impact components for NSF merit review — and explore existing NU programs and resources that are available to assist you with addressing this critical component of your proposal. A Broader Impacts Resource Panel will include panelists from the Center for STEM Education, Community-Engaged Teaching & Research, and Center for Advancing Teaching & Learning Through Research (CATLR). Information shared in this workshop will be helpful to all NSF program applicants as well as to those who are new to NSF.Community-Engaged Teaching & Research

NSF CAREER AWARD Series: Session #1 – Successful CAREERs: A Discussion of how to Approach the NSF CAREER Award

Join a panel of Northeastern NSF CAREER award recipients as they share their experiences and lessons learned along the way to an award. Hear how building a successful CAREER proposal differs from other research grants, how to work with NSF Program Officers, and steps to rebound from a declined attempt and craft a winning strategy. This workshop will be helpful to new faculty considering a future submission as well as those who may be planning their 2nd or 3rd CAREER submission.

NIH K Award Series – Session Three (Specific Aims)

This is the third of three sessions explaining NIH’s Career of K award which provide support for senior postdoctoral fellows or faculty-level candidates. The objective of these programs is to bring candidates to the point where they are able to conduct their research independently and are competitive for major grant support. This session will focus on preparing your specific aims. The Specific Aims section is the most vital part of any NIH grant application and central to your grant proposal. In this session, we will provide some tips on structure, content, and organization of your Specific Aims page.

NIH K Award Series – Session Two (Mentoring)

This is the second of three sessions explaining NIH’s Career or K awards  which provide support for senior postdoctoral fellows or faculty-level candidates. The objective of these programs is to bring candidates to the point where they are able to conduct their research independently and are competitive for major grant support. This session will focus on providing an overview of finding a relevant mentor and tips for writing a mentoring plan.

NIH K Award Series – Session One (Overview)

This is the first of three sessions explaining NIH’s Career or K awards which provide support for senior postdoctoral fellows or faculty-level candidates. The objective of these programs is to bring candidates to the point where they are able to conduct their research independently and are competitive for major grant support. This session will focus on providing an introduction to the program.

Introduction to NEH and NEA 101

Hear an overview of programs and research funding priorities at the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). This session will include a faculty panel discussion covering best practices for finding funding opportunities and submitting proposals. We’ll also be joined by Kari McCarron of Lewis-Burke Associates, who will share insights about emerging priorities for funding programs at NEH and NEA and tips for positioning your project proposal to be competitive.

Introduction to NIH 101

Join this session for an introduction to National Institutes of Health funding programs and best practices for proposal development for Career Development Awards (K series) and research grants (R series) opportunities. This session will include a panel discussion with researchers who have successfully applied for NIH funding.

Funding for Commercialization

Commercialization of grant-funded research provides additional opportunities for Northeastern inventors to increase the impact of their work. Financial support is available to help you move your research out of the lab and into the hands of the people who will benefit. Join the College of Engineering, Center for Research Innovation (CRI), and the Kostas Research Institute for a virtual panel discussion on procuring funding for commercialization. Our panel will include perspectives from faculty who have succeeded (and struggled) to secure commercialization-oriented funding as well as commentary from an application reviewer for MassVentures’ SBIR START Program. In addition, the panel will highlight financial support available at Northeastern to advance technologies towards commercialization including the CRI’s Spark Fund.

Introduction to NSF 101

Hear an overview of programs and research funding priorities at the National Science Foundation. This session will include a faculty panel and will cover best practices for finding funding opportunities and submitting proposals, including tips for positioning your research proposal to be competitive and meeting with program officers.

Finding Research Funding 101

Participate in this interactive workshop to learn about the organizations that fund research and how to best utilize formal and informal networks to identify best-fit research funding opportunities. Set up your personal profile in Pivot and Academic Analytics and practice using these resources to identify opportunities and collaborators.

Runway to Broader Impacts Peer Learning Group

Funding for Commercialization

Commercialization of grant-funded research provides additional opportunities for Northeastern inventors to increase the impact of their work. Financial support is available to help you move your research out of the lab and into the hands of the people who will benefit. Join the College of Science, Center for Research Innovation (CRI), and Health Sciences Entrepreneurs (HSE) for a virtual panel discussion on procuring funding for commercialization. Our panel will include perspectives from faculty who have succeeded (and struggled) to secure commercialization-oriented funding as well as commentary from an application reviewer for America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF (also known as the NSF SBIR/STTR program). In addition, the panel will highlight financial support available at Northeastern to advance technologies towards commercialization including the CRI’s Spark Fund.

Analysis for CHIPS Act and BIA Briefing

The bipartisan, bicameral CHIPS for America Act included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act will provide more than $50 billion in incentives to accelerate and catalyze domestic leading-edge semiconductor production: ​​​​​​​Analysis for CHIPS Act and BIA Briefing | U.S. Department of Commerce NU Government Relations firm Lewis-Burke Associates will be presenting on CHIPS for America to NU faculty virtually.

Academic Analytics Workshops

New Functions and Features Workshop
Wednesday, 6/15 1:00-2:00: Join colleagues from Academic Analytics as they demonstrate new features and functionality within the AcA platform. This will be a great opportunity to ask how-to questions and learn how counterparts at other institutions have been partnering with AcA to advance strategic planning, faculty development, recruitment and retention, increase research recognition and honorific awards. We will also be exploring a series of new Analysis on Demand reports.
Presentation Recording

Academic Analytics Credentialing Webinar and Refresher – for Research Insight and Benchmarking Access
Wednesday, 6/15 4:00-5:00: If you’ve been thinking about accessing Northeastern’s Academic Analytics analytic and benchmarking platforms for your academic unit (or have administrator who you want to do so), this webinar will provide the overview and training to become credentialed. The format will be interactive, with lots of opportunity for Q&A. It will also be a good refresher for those who don’t use RI and Benchmarking modules on a regular basis.

Academic Analytics Tools for Honorific Award Discovery, Planning, and Nominations Workshop
Thursday, 6/16 2:00-3:00 Join Academic Analytics colleagues as they demonstrate tools that college administrators and faculty can use to increase Honorific Awards activity and success. These resources can identify honorific awards in specific disciplines and their recipients, pinpoint high-performing yet underrecognized faculty and suggest awards they may be suited for, identify potential nominators and letter writers – and more. Anyone who serves as a nominator should take advantage of this workshop.
Presentation Recording

Training Grants Workshop

Training programs are prestigious and highly competitive funding mechanisms; they are excellent opportunities to provide novel training experiences to students at PhD-, Masters-, and undergraduate-levels, as well as to postdocs. This workshop will discuss programs that fund training programs (such as the NSF NRT, NIH T32, DoEd GAANN, etc.) and share lessons learned from faculty who have successfully received training grant funding. We will also discuss how to construct competitive proposals, provide tips on successfully administrating the program (including annual data collection needs), and describe university resources available to support your effort.

WHOI-NU Joint Research Symposium

Senior leadership from both institutions will kick off the event, which will include lightning talks by faculty at both institutions, networking session, and a tour of WHOI research facilities. Faculty talks will cover a broad range of emerging blue economy and coastal sustainability research priorities including ‘omics, AI and ML for marine science, acoustic/soundscape data, visual tracking, and underwater robotics. A limited number of spots for in-person participation are available.

Equipment Grants Workshop

Funding to purchase advanced instrumentation and create new facilities is a rare resource. Many research grants don’t allow the purchase of high-value equipment, so chances to get funding for instrumentation are limited to a few key recurring programs and occasional quick-response opportunities. At this workshop we’ll discuss the most reliable sources for instrumentation funding (NSF MRI, NIH S10, DOD DURIP, etc.) and share lessons learned from Northeastern faculty who have successfully received instrumentation funding. We’ll also discuss how you can be prepared for quick-response opportunities and how to seek funding from non-federal sources, such as state programs, philanthropy, and corporate partners.

NSF CAREER Summary Workshop

This interactive workshop starts with a strategic framework for responding to NSF merit criteria in each section of the Project Summary. Participants will then break into small groups to review draft summaries with peers, senior faculty and experienced NSF reviewers. This workshop is a great opportunity to get feedback and advice on a CAREER project summary or any NSF project summary, or just to see how winning summaries are developed. Please send your draft to resdev@northeastern.edu by Monday, May 23. Draft documents will be shared with participants in advance of the workshop.

Center Grants Workshop

This overview will provide the necessary scaffolding for preparing center-level grants. We will engage faculty to think more strategically about writing the narrative of a large complex grant proposal as well as team formation and other key components for center grants. This workshop is open to all NU faculty and staff. Information shared in this workshop will be helpful to anyone thinking to submit a center grant in the next 3-5 years. In addition to a brief presentation by Research Development staff, faculty panelists will share their experience submitting to different center programs, discuss what reviewers are looking for, and answer questions from participants.

Accelerating Research Along the Path to Commercialization

This talk will feature presentations by representatives from Northeastern’s Center for Research Innovation (CRI), Mark Saulich, Associate Director of Commercialization, and Katie Hemphill, Director of Technology Ventures and Talent Network. There are a variety of steps required to transition technologies from the research lab to the marketplace. Each step comes with its own set of questions and challenges. How do you protect your innovation and when is the right time? What is the right path to market? What are the obstacles to get there? What resources are available for investigators and entrepreneurs? Participate in this discussion and Q&A session to learn more.

Resources for Honorific Awards Nominators

This workshop is for department chairs, college deans and anyone involved in nominating faculty for Honorific Awards. The HAI was formed in June 2021 with HA leads from each college. Our goal is to increase the number of award nominations, and by extension, the number of awards received, and recognize our outstanding faculty for their achievements.

Behind the Scenes at Science

Researchers from across Northeastern and beyond are invited to this talk with Valda Vinson, Editor (Research) at Science. Submitting a manuscript to a journal can feel like dropping it into a black box. This talk will aim to shed some light on the process at Science. What happens to that manuscript after you hit submit – who reads it and how do they decide what to do? Is there anything you can do to help or hurt the chance that your manuscript is favorably received? Do editors ask suggested reviewers, do they honor reviewer exclusions? For papers that are published are there strategies to increase visibility? We not only want to make our processes transparent, but also want to engage with authors and reviewers so that together we can effectively communicate robust and reproduceable science.

Broader Impacts Workshop

Broader Impacts do Matter: Join a panel of CAREER awardees in discussing the strategies and resources they used to design well-integrated broader impact components for NSF merit review — and explore existing NU programs and resources that are available to assist you with addressing this critical component of your proposal. A Broader Impacts Resource Panel will include participants such as the Center for STEM Education, the Office of City and Community Engagement, and the Center for Advancing Teaching & Learning Through Research (CATLR). Information shared in this workshop will be helpful to all NSF program applicants as well as to those who are new to NSF.

 Successful CAREERs: A Discussion of How to Approach the NSF CAREER Award

Join a panel of Northeastern NSF CAREER award recipients as they share their experiences and lessons learned along the way to an award. Hear how building a successful CAREER proposal differs from other research grants, how to work with NSF Program Officers, and steps to rebound from a declined attempt and craft a winning strategy. This workshop will be helpful to new faculty considering a future submission as well as those who may be planning their second or third CAREER submission.

ARPA-H Webinar and Q&A Session

This webinar will serve as a chance for faculty to learn about ARPA-H. We hope to start a campus wide discussion on how to develop successful proposals for this new agency.

ARPA-model Agencies Webinar and Q&A Session

This webinar will serve as a chance for faculty to learn about ARPA-model agencies and how to prepare your ideas for funding by these agencies. Research Development has assembled a panel of external experts and Northeastern faculty with successes at some of these agencies to provide their perspective on working with ARPA-model agencies and answer questions you may have. We hope to start a campus wide discussion on how to develop successful proposals for these agencies and future agencies, such as the proposed ARPA-H for health.

Demystifying Fulbright Fellowships 

Join us to learn about how Fulbright Fellowships work, with guest Julie Taylor, outreach coordinator for the Fulbright Fellowships. Julie will share information on the fellowships, including the various options that are available, how and when to apply, and what kinds of resources a fellowship offers. A faculty panel of four current and former Northeastern Fulbright Fellows will share their experiences and what they’ve learned from the process, and answer questions.