The Office of Sponsored Projects encourages all NIU faculty to approach external funding for research from a long-term perspective, taking into account one’s own professional development as a researcher, the goals of one’s research group, one’s department, and the mission of the college in light of the basic research needs of the field, areas of potential application and development, and the University’s commitment to research-led teaching.
OSP also encourages the development of dedicated research groups wherever such groups make sense. Groups allow faculty both within and across areas, disciplines, and departments to focus their collective efforts and expertise on key research questions, they permit the sharing of the burdens of proposal submission process, they often allow younger investigators to work in collaboration with more seasoned researchers, and they provide a natural mechanism for pre-submission proposal review.
OSP should be part of every step of your research development process. We encourage you to speak to the Research Development Specialist or other OSP staff member who is assigned to your area of activity.
To determine who to contact, please visit the listing of OSP Research Development Specialists. As always, however, you are also welcome and encouraged to discuss your research plans with the Director of OSP, Dr. David Stone (dastone@niu.edu).