scholarly journals Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Librarian Involvement in Grant Projects

2017 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marci D. Brandenburg ◽  
Sigrid Anderson Cordell ◽  
Justin Joque ◽  
Mark P. MacEachern ◽  
Jean Song

Librarians are excellent research collaborators, although librarian participation is not usually considered, thereby making access to research funds difficult. The University of Michigan Library became involved in the university’s novel funding program, MCubed, which supported innovative interdisciplinary research on campus, primarily by funding student assistants to work on research projects. This article discusses three different MCubed projects that all benefited from librarian involvement. These projects spanned across many areas from translational research to systematic reviews to digital humanities. Librarian roles ranged from mentoring and project management to literature searching.

2017 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marci D. Brandenburg ◽  
Sigrid Anderson Cordell ◽  
Justin Joque ◽  
Mark P. MacEachern ◽  
Jean Song

Librarians are excellent research collaborators, although librarian participation is not usually considered, thereby making access to research funds difficult. The University of Michigan Library became involved in the university’s novel funding program, MCubed, which supported innovative interdisciplinary research on campus, primarily by funding student assistants to work on research projects. This article discusses three different MCubed projects that all benefited from librarian involvement. These projects spanned across many areas from translational research to systematic reviews to digital humanities. Librarian roles ranged from mentoring and project management to literature searching.


Minerva ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikko Salmela ◽  
Miles MacLeod ◽  
Johan Munck af Rosenschöld

AbstractInterdisciplinarity is widely considered necessary to solving many contemporary problems, and new funding structures and instruments have been created to encourage interdisciplinary research at universities. In this article, we study a small technical university specializing in green technology which implemented a strategy aimed at promoting and developing interdisciplinary collaboration. It did so by reallocating its internal research funds for at least five years to “research platforms” that required researchers from at least two of the three schools within the university to participate. Using data from semi-structured interviews from researchers in three of these platforms, we identify specific tensions that the strategy has generated in this case: (1) in the allocation of platform resources, (2) in the division of labor and disciplinary relations, (3) in choices over scientific output and academic careers. We further show how the particular platform format exacerbates the identified tensions in our case. We suggest that certain features of the current platform policy incentivize shallow interdisciplinary interactions, highlighting potential limits on the value of attempting to push for interdisciplinarity through internal funding.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 229-238
Author(s):  
Anne J McNeil

Similar to Dorothy’s journey along the yellow brick road in The Wizard of Oz, this perspective carves out the path I took from my early childhood fascinations with science through my independent career at the University of Michigan (maize and blue). The influential research projects and mentors are highlighted, including some fortuitous experimental results that drew me into the field of supramolecular chemistry, specifically, and organic materials, broadly. My research group’s efforts toward designing new sensors based on small molecule gelators are described. In particular, I highlight how our design strategy has evolved as we learn more about molecular gelators. This perspective concludes with some predictions about where molecular gels, as well as my personal and professional life, are headed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin B. Senecal ◽  
Karen Metcalfe ◽  
Kaila Wilson ◽  
Indryas Woldie ◽  
Lisa A. Porter

Abstract Background Translational research is an ideology focussed on streamlining the transition of novel research into clinical practice to ultimately benefit populations. Central to this approach is overcoming barriers to research involvement and interdisciplinary collaboration. Identifying barriers has been the subject of several studies focused on communities with large academic hospitals. The Windsor-Essex region is currently built around community hospitals which have less of an emphasis on research, employ fewer physicians holding academic appointments and generally do not provide incentivised time for research and training. In this study, we surveyed clinicians and researchers working in Windsor-Essex to gain insight into barriers to translational research important to those working in smaller sized, community-based research networks. Methods Using an anonymous close-ended Qualtrics survey distributed via email, we surveyed faculty members from The University of Windsor and clinical care providers from Windsor-Essex (n = 68). This included 24 physicians, 14 allied health professionals, and 30 non-clinician researchers. Results Managing competing interests, lack of time, funding, infrastructure, and networks were identified by greater than 75% of participants as barriers to research involvement. 62% of physicians identified the lack of permanent post-graduate medical trainees as a barrier. Clinicians were consistently less experienced in research skills compared to others; particularly in publishing results and applying for funding (p < 0.001). Schedule incompatibility, funding issues and identifying interested collaborators with overlapping interests were identified as barriers to interdisciplinary collaboration by 80% of participants. Moreover, 46% of those surveyed were unhappy with their research involvement and these individuals were 13% more likely to perceive research as important for their career progression (p = 0.244). Conclusions This study identifies several important barriers to translational research in Windsor-Essex and suggests that many motivated researchers are unhappy with their current involvement. These results will inform decision making in the research community of Windsor-Essex and provides insight for communities of similar size and research capacity. Ultimately, enabling the translation of clinical research in all communities is required to ensure equitable access to cutting edge care.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (s1) ◽  
pp. 82-82
Author(s):  
Athena S. McKay ◽  
Adam Paberzs ◽  
Patricia Piechowski ◽  
Donald Vereen ◽  
Susan Woolford

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Examining the impact of the Building Capacity for Research and Action (BCRA) Award created by the Community Engagement (CE) Program at the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR)--a Clinical & Translational Science Award (CTSA) site at the University of Michigan--in partnership with Community Based Organization Partners (CBOP). METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: The BCRA is a funding mechanism that supports new community-engaged research (CEnR) partnerships and projects that address community-identified health needs in Flint, Michigan. BCRA projects are required to be Flint-based and inclusive of both community and academic partners. A study section consisting of 10 MICHR-affiliated faculty and community partners reviewed proposals and made funding decisions. Funded teams were trained on Institutional Review Board (IRB) and reporting requirements by CE staff. MICHR provides support to BCRA-funded teams through monthly email correspondence with the CE Flint connector, budget review, mediation, regulatory assurance of IRB and the National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS) requirements, coordinating six-month and final reporting, and hosting an annual stakeholder meet and greet. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: In 2017, the BCRA Award submitted its first request for proposals. It received 20 applications in 2018, and selected eight awardees, providing them with a total of $60,000 in funding. Four received $5,000 for partnership development and another four received $10,000 for their research projects. The BCRA Award received 16 applications in 2019, expanding its academic pool to include the University of Chicago, U-M Flint, Michigan State University, and Michigan State University-Flint in addition to the University of Michigan. Five recipients were selected and received a total of $45,000 in funding. One was awarded $5,000 for partnership development and another four were awarded $10,000 for their research projects. MICHR has invested over $100,000 in Flint through this mechanism, which was renewed in 2019. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Each awardee presented at the annual stakeholder meet and greet. They showcased their projects with a brief overview and spoke about their expectations, lessons learned, partnership strengths and challenges, translational issues, and proposed next steps for subsequent grants, publications.


Author(s):  
Shokoufeh Khalatbari ◽  
Dianne Jazdzyk ◽  
Janine Capsouras ◽  
Brad Downey ◽  
Eli Samuels ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction: Access to qualified biostatisticians to provide input on research design and statistical considerations is critical for high-quality clinical and translational research. At diverse health science institutions, like the University of Michigan (U-M), biostatistical collaborators are scattered across the campus. This model can isolate applied statisticians, analysts, and epidemiologists from each other, which may negatively affect their career development and job satisfaction, and inhibits access to optimal biostatistical support for researchers. Furthermore, in the era of modern, complex translational research, it is imperative to elevate biostatistical expertise by offering innovative training. Methods: The Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research established an Applied Biostatistical Sciences (ABS) network that is a campus-wide community of staff and faculty statisticians, epidemiologists, data scientists, and researchers, with the intention of supporting both researchers and biostatisticians, while promoting high-quality clinical and translational research. Results: Since its inception in early 2018, the ABS Network has grown to several hundred faculty and staff members across a range of health and research disciplines. The ABS Network offers free trainings on innovative methods and tools in the biostatistical field, a web-based portal with resources and training lectures, and connections to U-M faculty and/or staff members for consultation and collaboration. Conclusions: Although challenging, if approached strategically, the creation of a collaboration network of biostatisticians can be accomplished. Furthermore, the process can be adopted and implemented for establishing collaboration with any network of professionals with common interests across different disciplines and professional fields regardless of size.


Author(s):  
Catherine McLaughlin ◽  
Helen Levy ◽  
Brian Quinn

From 2001 to 2008, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded the Economic Research Initiative on the Uninsured (ERIU), housed at the University of Michigan. The goals of ERIU were to increase, diversify, and improve the quality and quantity of economics research on the uninsured, and to translate that research into the type of resources that are useful to policymakers, policy analysts, researchers, and members of the media. One of the primary objectives of ERIU was to fund research projects that explored economic issues about the uninsured in new, yet rigorous and interesting ways. ERIU began by commissioning six critical syntheses of the existing research. These syntheses were intended to inform researchers of what we know and what we don't know about the uninsured. In eight years, ERIU funded more than 50 new research projects on a variety of coverage topics aimed at addressing the gaps in knowledge highlighted in these syntheses. These projects, involving more than 100 researchers, resulted in over 70 conference and seminar presentations worldwide and approximately 40 articles published in peer-reviewed journals.


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