University Research Explained

Most principal investigators spend many hours laboring over proposals to fund their research programs – and for good reason. While competing for funding is the big business for researchers, some have opted to fund their programs in other ways, like building a research consortium. The word “consortium” means a group of individuals, companies or governments that work together … [Read more...] about How to Build a Research Consortium

Being mindful of inclusive language practices is more important than ever. Education is growing rapidly on this important topic to help writers – in fact, anyone writing words – avoid potentially harmful language. Universities are growing pockets of diversity, often representing faculty, staff and students from different backgrounds who have varying life experiences. … [Read more...] about Using Inclusive Language at Your University

Balancing your research checkbook is like managing your personal finances. However, it's much less common these days to do so with a paper bank statement and check register, as many people now use digital resources to follow their money. Regardless of how you do it, managing your income and expenses is important if you want to keep your finances healthy. Reconciling research … [Read more...] about Balancing Your Research Checkbook

There is a sport where two individuals clash in front of thousands of screaming fans. A heated bout where both participants throw jabs at each other and launch haymakers hoping to land a knockout blow; and it’s all for money. A bloody display of barbarism and competition not unlike the violent exhibitions of Roman gladiators. That sport … is called politics. Unlike boxing, … [Read more...] about Election to Electron: How Election Time Inflames the Fight for Federal Funding

The road to the next life-altering discovery, invention or device often begins with university-imagined Intellectual Property (IP) and ends when an outside company makes the investment to productize the discovery. Is there enough emphasis placed on this pipeline nationwide? The more one looks at this complicated question, we see there are numerous problems; in a rush to publish … [Read more...] about From Concept to Commercialization: The Importance of Supporting IP in our Universities

We’re not spending money on that anymore. We consider that to be a waste of your money. These words regarding climate change were spoken by Mick Mulvaney, director of the Trump Administration’s Office of Management and Budget. The government has rolled back policies that aimed to slow down climate change and reduce environmental pollution. It has also limited federal funding … [Read more...] about Getting (Un)Involved: Climate Change Researchers and The Paris Agreement

One might not expect the game of checkers to have anything to do with Artificial Intelligence, but the game really marked the beginning of machine learning in 1959. Pioneered by an MIT professor named Arthur Lee Samuel, it was discovered that teaching a simple strategy game to a computer is not so simple when every move needs to be anticipated. Smart machines Additionally, … [Read more...] about Opening Moves: Expanding Research in Machine Learning

Kardashians over the cosmos, sports over science, memes over medical breakthroughs, dragons over discoveries; the American public is the neglectful parent that can’t take their eye off the big game while their bespectacled, bright-eyed daughter is trying to show them the A+ she got on her science project. In a world where most Americans don’t consume science news, NASA … [Read more...] about Down to Earth: Has America Returned from its Giant Leap?

Congratulations, your proposal has been funded! These are words that every principal investigator (PI) wants to hear. But much like the lottery, the amount that glitters on signage near freeways is not the amount the investigator will receive. When the money is set up in the PI’s project cost center, a portion of the awarded amount, which is based on the university … [Read more...] about Keeping the Lights On: The Cost of Research

By Claudia Neuhauser, Ph.D. and Brian Herman, Ph.D. Free exchange of ideas created a global community of scholars We have enjoyed and benefited from decades of relative tranquility in academia where the focus on fundamental science created a global community of scholars that came with a free and unrestrained exchange of ideas. Research thrived in this community without … [Read more...] about How Should Universities View China?