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Syracuse University announced a new Office of Research Development within the Office of Research in a Monday SU News release, which SU plans to establish in line with its five-year Academic Strategic Plan.

The new office will support the future of faculty members’ research by helping pursue the necessary funding and fellowships to further their research, said Duncan Brown, vice president for research at SU, in the release. The office is part of the ASP’s aim to incentivize research and creative work, one of 10 goals SU hopes to reach by 2028.

The former proposal support services unit — which provided assistance with research proposal submissions and assured that submitted proposals met university guidelines — will merge into the Office of Research Development.

SU’s Office of Research used to be the main place of accessing research support at SU. It offers immediate assistance with research funding throughout the process, in addition to helping researchers sort through grants.

“Syracuse University emphasizes the importance of research and creative work, but we need to improve our support infrastructure to allow our faculty to maximize their potential,” Brown’s statement in the release read.

Faculty have frequently requested assistance in finding new opportunities to support their research, which contributed to the initiative to establish the new office, Brown said. One mission of the office is to make use of existing resources in “original ways” in order to provide this support, the release reads.

Former proposal support services leaders Christina Leigh Docteur and Chetna Chianese will serve as the new office’s executive director and senior director of research development, respectively.

Docteur emphasized the importance of the university making these changes, as well as ensuring SU is responsive to faculty’s needs.

“As someone who has worked in progressive research development roles across the University, I appreciate the significance of these changes at all levels of the institution,” Docteur said in the release.

Some employees will work in hybrid positions between the College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of Research. This will allow easier access to campus-wide research activities through the teamwork between the two departments, said Lois Agnew, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, in the release.

Previously a clinical research compliance specialist at SUNY Upstate Medical University Hospital, Michelle Saya will assume the role of assistant director of human research protections within the Office of Research Integrity and Protections. Saya will be managing clinical trials under the National Institute of Health Requirements and overseeing standard operating procedures for the Human Research Protections Program.

The Office of Research will also add an operations specialist and a research systems analyst, according to the release. The operations specialist will use event management and communications to support the research development team, while the research systems analyst will be in charge of developing systems to track funding opportunities, data collection, analysis and reporting needs, the release said.

In the next few months, the campus community should expect to hear more from the Office of Research as new ideas for supporting research plans are announced, the release reads.

Brown said these changes to SU’s research office come at a good time for the university.

“By investing in our people and taking a close look at our processes, we will be able to promote and support growth in research and creative engagement in a way that is responsive to both our institutional needs and greater societal opportunities and challenges,” Brown said in the release.

Published on March 21, 2023 at 12:24 am