Strategy: Strengthen research at all levels by facilitating the application for and management of grants of all sizes across disciplines

Point People: Barry Klein and Neal Van Alfen

Narrative Summary of Fourth Year Implementation Efforts:

Facilitation of the application for and management of contracts and grants of all sizes across disciplines continues to remain a high priority for the campus.  For the third year in a row, research funding has surpassed the half-billion dollar mark.  Research awards exceeded $532 million in FY 2006-07.  To support this momentum, there have been a number of significant new developments on campus, supporting research at all levels.  The federal funds for FY 2006-07 decreased by $40 million and reduced our percentage of federal support to 48 percent of sponsored projects support.  The acceptable levels are generally 66 percent to 75 percent of total.  State funds increased by about 14 percent to $96 million. We want to maintain the level of state funds and significantly increase our federal proportion.  Similarly, our industry support is at about 8 percent up from about 28 percent the previous year.  The third year of over $500 million in sponsored projects has placed tremendous pressure on the staff of Sponsored Programs, reducing the support that is offered to faculty in many instances.  Proposed remedies include increasing staff, reexamining the Sponsored Programs organization for more effectiveness, and supporting campus-wide training for departmental administrators.

The Interdisciplinary Research Support (IRS) is a significant campus resource.  In 2006-07, IRS-assisted proposals were awarded $89 million from various funding agencies.  The increase in internal and external visibility of the Laboratory ManagementTM Institute continues to highlight the proactive investment in training our researchers and their laboratory staff.  The laboratory management tools received far-reaching effects and offers UC Davis the unique opportunity to help create well-managed laboratories. The Responsible Conduct of Research program expanded this past year by increasing the breadth of topics relevant to researchers.

The Limited Submissions process has been re-engineered to maximize the number of full proposals for submissions based on those pre-proposals viewed as being most competitive. This past year, over 304 research funding opportunity announcements were made.

Advances and Ongoing Programs Consistent with Strategy   

1. Training

• Campus-wide Research Administration certificate series program has received approval and will be implemented once a training program is developed by the Office of Research.

• Research Administration Breakfast Club meets monthly as an open forum meeting for anyone on campus involved in research administration.
• NCURA (National Council of University Research Administrators) Research Video Workshops is sponsored by the Office of Research and Accounting and Financial Services.

• Sponsored Programs and UC Davis InnovationAccess staff meet monthly to promote coordination and collaboration on industry research agreements and material transfer agreements.

• Each Sponsored Programs staff member now belongs to a professional association and attends annual external meetings.

• Sponsored Programs holds weekly staff training sessions.

2. Innovation

• The name of the Technology Industry Alliances unit was changed, following extensive campus and regional consultation, to UC Davis InnovationAccess (www.innovationaccess.ucdavis.edu) in order to signal the maturation of this program for the campus with a name that better describes our current focus. This unit brings together Technology Transfer Services and Business Development Services, which incorporates the former UC Davis CONNECT.  The process of organizational integration was effectively completed, resulting in a much more effective unit with strong capabilities in intellectual property management, entrepreneurial business development and support for university-industry partnerships.

• UC Davis InnovationAccess competed for and received a program enhancement award from the University Industry Cooperative Research Program.  This grant was used to develop a web guide (www.research.ucdavis.edu/iuc) that was launched in May 2007 as a resource for UC Davis researchers, administrators, and staff, as well as industry when establishing industry-university relationships.

• Establishment of efficiency and effectiveness measures for deciding when to patent new technologies — creation of technology marketing team and qualifying process for Record of Inventions enabling efficient use of resources.

3. Sponsored Programs

• Additional Boilerplate Agreements for Industry Affiliates Program were developed.

• Additional Master Agreements were set up with a number of companies and listed on the web site.

• A university Research Compliance Task Force was expanded.  Priorities for additional resources were submitted to the Provost with some of the areas receiving additional support (biosafety and boating safety).
• The Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) program expanded this year to include a well-attended lunch seminar series with campus and invited national expert speakers. The program services the majority of the training grants that carry a requirement for RCR training.

• Successful efforts have been made to track and decrease the turn-around time for clinical trials.

• The Interdisciplinary Research Support (IRS) is a significant campus resource that is in high demand, providing faculty with the needed and desired support for the preparation of major grant/contract applications.  This year IRS-assisted proposals were awarded $89 million from various funding agencies.

• Comprehensive list of UC Davis centers and institutes and other research units is available on the Office of Research web site (www.research.ucdavis.edu).

• In an ongoing effort, the Office of Research has been working with the Academic Senate on revising campus policy related to Organized Research Units with a focus on establishment and evaluation.  The goal is to have a revised policy in place in the near future.

• The proposal tracking module, the first phase of the Electronic Research Administration (ERA) system, has been implemented. 

Short Statement of Plans for 2007-08 

• Continue to provide additional avenues for faculty to develop inter- and multi-disciplinary research programs.

• Promote campus research strengths and expertise through both development and research outreach efforts.

• Continue to grow the comprehensive research compliance and integrity program including training programs in Responsible Conduct of Research and Laboratory ManagementTM Institute training.

• Evaluate the current plans for the electronic research administration system. The Proposal tracking and reporting module is almost complete and ready for the maintenance phase. Decisions will need to be made about going forward with the Program Development module/system with continuous faculty and staff training.

• Increase the development of partnerships between the campus research community and industry, national laboratories, academia, foundations, and local, state and federal agencies.

• Hire an Office of Research Training Officer.  A career ladder has been developed for department research administrators but cannot be implemented until the pre-award training program is developed.  The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences has developed the post-award system.

• Focus efforts and resources on expanding opportunities for faculty within the federal funding arena.  This includes providing advance information on funding opportunities and identifying an individual(s) as the liaison with federal agencies.

Evaluation of Metrics

In addition to the existing Strategic Plan metrics, other metrics will be used:

• Increase in the number of material transfer agreements processed by the Technology Transfer Services and increase efficiency of review and approval of MTA’s.

• Development of cost/benefit ratio analysis for decision-making in patenting technologies.

• Reduction of the time-frame for negotiation of privately-funded research, especially in the area of clinical trials.

• Increase the number of submitted and successful Limited Submissions proposals.

Existing metrics:

• Increase in the number of applications and awards for single- and multi-investigator grants.

• Responsiveness to user feedback surveys and improvement in areas where needed (e.g., rapid internal processing of proposals, proactive search for and timely dissemination of information about funding opportunities, improved responsiveness to limited submission funding opportunities).
  
  
• Development of training opportunities to facilitate more effective fiscal management of grants.