Our Mission
Innovation drives the strength of our nation's economy. To ensure a thriving and prosperous future, we must prioritize innovative ideas, scientific advancements, and a strong STEM workforce. Engaging minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and emerging research institutions (ERIs) in research efforts is essential to achieving this goal.
Building on the unique institutional assets and values that are foundational to MSIs and ERIs, we partner to:
- Strengthen researchers' capacity to compete for federal and private sector funding, and to develop partnerships with other organizations,
- Inspire institutional cultures that prioritize and promote research that's integrated into the learning enterprise,
- Sustainably enhance research infrastructure and capacity
- Increase access to research development knowledge tailored to the MSI/ERI context, and
- Magnify the visibility and competitive reputation of MSIs and ERIs in the research enterprise.
Program History
In 2019, the Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and the Director of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) engaged the National Organization of Research Development Professionals (NORDP) to discuss strategies for growing research capacity and competitiveness within HBCUs.
DESIRED STRATEGIES INCLUDED:
- Assisting HBCU faculty with developing long-term plans for individual research programs and career trajectories,
- Building sustainable expertise in ideation,
- Identifying appropriate funding sources,
- Engaging with funding organizations,
- Developing competitive grant proposals,
- Building and working in teams
- Collaborating with other institutions, and
- Mentoring post-docs and graduate and undergraduate students.
From these discussions, and with the generous support of the Schmidt Futures program, Dr. Kimberly Eck launched the NORDP Consultants Program in the summer of 2021 to jumpstart and accelerate the growth of research capacity at MSIs and ERIs.
