VCU news

By Frances Dumenci

The Virginia Commonwealth University Office of Research launched a new research development initiative this fall. CAREER Academy is an intensive program that provides proposal development support to VCU faculty from across the university who are interested in applying to the National Science Foundation Early Career Development (CAREER) Program. A group of 11 VCU faculty members has been selected to participate in the academy.

The NSF Early Career Development Program supports junior faculty who perform outstanding research, are excellent educators and integrate education and research in their work.

The CAREER awards are among the most prestigious and competitive NSF awards, which typically support a five-year, $400,000 research program. The CAREER award is intended for faculty members who are at or near the beginning of their careers. The CAREER Academy will aim to increase the success rate of VCU faculty applying for NSF CAREER awards.

“By increasing the number of competitive proposals to this prestigious program, we can make a meaningful statement about supporting junior faculty, the importance of coupling research and teaching and increasing success with external funding,” said Ann Nichols-Casebolt, Ph.D., associate vice president for research development in the VCU Office of Research. “This program is built on the values of Quest for Distinction that ‘affirm a balance between research and teaching and celebrate their interdependency at our institution.’”

The cohort of faculty chosen to participate in the academy in 2013-14 was announced during a kick-off reception earlier this month.

The faculty members include:

·Xi Chen, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Statistical Sciences and Operations Research, College of Humanities and Sciences

·Quentin Alexander, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Counselor Education, School of Education

·Daniel Conway, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering

·Christine Trinter, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Teaching and Learning, School of Education

·Rene Olivares-Navarrete, DDS, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering

·Daniel McGarvey, Ph.D., assistant professor, Center for Environmental Studies, Life Sciences

·Tomasz Arodz, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Computer Science, School of Engineering

·Amanda Dickinson, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Biology, College of Humanities and Sciences

·Indika Arachchige, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Chemistry, College of Humanities and Sciences

·Marco Aldi, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, College of Humanities and Sciences

·Christopher Lemmon, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering 

Click here for the participant profiles.

The CAREER Academy will provide a portfolio of support and resources to the faculty participants that include step-by-step guidance on developing competitive CAREER proposals, oral and written feedback on proposal drafts, one-on-one mentoring with senior faculty and a mock review panel.

The academy is funded by the VCU Office of the Vice President for Research.
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