The popular Research Support Office Webinar Series will continue in fall 2021, once again giving investigators in the college a chance to engage directly with researchers and program managers from various funding agencies.

The spring webinar series ended on April 28 with Col. Jason Mello, the chief of the science and engineering division in the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. More than 100 faculty, postdoctoral researchers and students attended that talk to learn about new initiatives and build relationships with Air Force’s research wing.

Associate Dean for Research Massimo Ruzzene said the Research Support Office was proud to host that high-profile visit and others during the semester as a service to the college.

“Our goal as a team in the Research Support Office is to increase proposal success rates and to help establish and or grow high-impact research programs in the college – no matter their stage. Initiatives like this series help our faculty develop competitive proposals, tap into resources on campus and build out their personal network – three key parts of strengthening the research enterprise here,” he said. 

Other speakers for the spring series included the director for the National Science Foundation’s CBET Division as well as leadership from the Center for Research Data and Digital Scholarship and the Universities Space Research Association. The program also hosted leadership from SERDP/ESTCP – the Department of Defense’s environmental technology demonstration and research programs. Recordings of all of those seminars can be found online, along with past sessions with leadership from the Army Research Laboratory and helpful trainings by RSO staff on research support opportunities within the college and on campus.

In advance of the fall 2021 schedule, Ruzzene said the RSO team was seeking feedback on seminar timing, potential speakers and other details from past attendees. Faculty are encouraged to take a brief survey by Aug. 2.