Research

The Office of Research Development (ORD) at NIU has been established to support institutional goals for research, scholarship, artistry, engagement, and the procurement of external funding.

Specifically, ORD supports the NIU community via the following programming:

• Facilitate transdisciplinary research proposals and awards
• The STARS Faculty Academy provides professional development to position faculty for funding via a peer network, education sessions, and direct mentoring.
• Provide guidance and logistical support to the Transdisciplinary Research Incubator for STEM Education (T-RISE) and other emerging research centers.
• The Research and Artistry internal grant program provides faculty with experience applying for and, when awarded, managing grant funding. Awards support activities that strengthen an eventual external funding application or fund projects in areas of scholarship and artistry for which external funding is extremely limited.
• Internal competitions for limited submission funding opportunities: External grant sponsors sometimes place a cap on the number of proposals an applicant institution can submit. ORD coordinates an internal process to select the proposals that will be submitted from NIU to the sponsor in these cases.
• Funding search tools: NIU offers subscription-based databases and other tools to search for funding sources.
• Dependent Care Professional Travel Fund Program: Internal grant to defray incremental, out-of-pocket expenses incurred for dependent care while traveling for work activities.