The Principal Investigators Institute: A Series of Seminars about Sponsored Research Services
The PI Institute is a series of seminars that will give prospective and current Principal Investigators (PI's) an understanding of the issues and topics of sponsored funding and research administration. Interactive seminars will allow an opportunity for PI's to exchange ideas with others about the funding process and grants management.
Securing Funding for Your Ideas
This session will help you discover resources available to RIT faculty and staff interested in pursuing funding for ideas, prototypes, outreach, workshops, and other sponsored research activities. Through presentation and discussion, you will learn about the databases, departments, web resources, and infrastructure at RIT that can help you. Invited faculty speakers will also share their experiences and answer questions.
Session Coordinator: Jason Polito, Sponsored Research Services, jason.polito@rit.edu
Intellectual Property in Grants, Contracts and Licenses at RIT
This seminar will help PIs, researchers and managers understand how intellectual property is handled in RIT grants, contracts and licenses. Topics to be covered will include: 1) basics of intellectual property protection, 2) the role of the PI and researcher in protecting intellectual property, 3) agreement clauses and how they impact both the protection and use of intellectual property and/or research data, 4) intellectual property as contract deliverables, 5) how to manage multiple contracts that overlap or build one upon the other, and 6) support service available at RIT relative to intellectual property matters.
Winning at Peer Review
This seminar will be relevant for faculty who submit proposals to agencies such as NSF and NIH, and will provide attendees with the opportunity to participate in a mock review session. It will include discussion panels with faculty who frequently serve as peer reviewers, and will give you insight into the process of peer review as well as some first hand experience.
Session Coordinator: Nancy Forand, Sponsored Research Services, nancy.forand@rit.edu
Working with Companies
This seminar will provide faculty with a survey of important topics relating to work with industry sponsors. Topics covered will include standard contracts, negotiation with companies, leveraging federal and other resources, and building relationships.
Session Coordinator: David Bond, Sponsored Research Services, david.bond@rit.edu
Human Subjects Research
The session on Human Subjects Research is appropriate for all faculty, staff and students who conduct research with human subjects. Topics will include a review of the history behind the development of protections for research participants, the Institutional Review Board (IRB) process at RIT, determining what needs to be reviewed by the IRB, how to have a successful IRB experience, and an in-depth discussion of the Informed Consent Process. Participants will develop an understanding of why IRBs exist, the federal guidelines that shape them, and how to respond to their expectations.
Session Coordinator: Heather Foti, Human Subjects Research Office, heather.foti@rit.edu
Award Management
This workshop will provide PIs with an understanding of RIT and sponsor policies and procedures for managing externally funded projects. We will cover basics such as the difference between a Grant and a Contract, the difference between Fixed-Price and Cost Reimbursement, travel policies, and personnel issues as well as the more complex requirements and guidelines issued by some of RIT's more prolific sponsors (e.g. NSF, NASA, USDE, DOD, NIH, NYSTAR, NYSED, etc.).
By the end of this workshop, attendees should have a good understanding of RIT's resources and expectations as well as some of the more common sponsor rules. The moderators from Sponsored Research Services and the Technology Licensing Office should provide you with the knowledge to begin managing your externally funded programs and tell you where to turn when problems or questions arise.
Session Coordinator: Kate Clark, Sponsored Research Services, katherine.clark@rit.edu
Choosing a Path to the Marketplace-Licensing or Start-Ups
There are many options for moving technologies, products, service and copyrighted works from the university to the marketplace. This session will discuss those options and how each works in the RIT context. It will also explore how to determine if the marketplace is interested in your creation and what it is worth. Procedures and support services are discussed as well as the role of the inventor/author/PI. If you are either 1) an inventor or an author and want to understand how you can best help move your creation out to the marketplace or 2) an entrepreneur interested in starting a company around your RIT creation, this seminar will provide you with the necessary information to know how to proceed within RIT.
For more information, please contact:
Kelly Evinsky at keesrs@rit.edu.
Grant Writers' Boot Camp
This two-day immersion program will provide new or grant-inexperienced faculty or staff with the skills necessary to write a grant writing later in the year. Participants may be nominated by their deans or department heads. All participants should desire external funding and be inexperienced grant writers. Participants will receive instructions to come prepared with a concept paper and will be invited to a follow up session in spring quarter. At the end of the session, each person will have a fully developed white paper describing a fundable project, at least one potential sponsor, and an outline for an application. Each participant will receive a $300 stipend for participating in the event, which is provided by The Office of the Provost.
This event is sponsored by The Office if the Provost, Teaching and Learning Services, and Sponsored Research Services.
For more information, please contact:
Kelly Evinsky at keesrs@rit.edu.
