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Principal Investigator Institute

The Principal Investigator Institute is a series of information sessions on topics of concern to researchers and principal investigators, including proposal development, project management and compliance with regulations. The series is designed to give new and experienced investigators a better understanding of the multiple issues involved in sponsored research.

Courses are offered in three content areas:

  • Proposal Development (PD): These topics are designed to help researcher understand the components of successful proposals and how sponsors make funding decisions.
  • Project Management (PM): These topics are geared to the administration of funded awards. 
  • Resources for Researchers (RR): The topics provide detail on critical themes related to research.

All sesions are open to the RIT community.

Workshop Link
Workshop 1 NSF Overview - PD
Workshop 2 Intellectual Property and Technology Commercialization - RR
Workshop 3 NIH Overview - PD
Workshop 4 Human Subjects Research - PM
Workshop 5 Research Computing Resources - RR
Workshop 6 Working with Companies and Corporate RFP's - PD
Workshop 7 Planning a Successful Proposal - PD
Workshop 8 Responsible Conduct of Research - PM
Workshop 9 Working with Private Foundations - RR
Workshop 10 Budgeting for Research Projects - PM & PD
Workshop 11 Research Compliance - PM
Workshop 12 Award Management - PM
Workshop 13 Managing Multiple Sponsored Projects - PM
Workshop 14 Getting Publicity and Talking to the Media - RR
Workshop 15 Evaluation and Assessment - PD
Sessions: 

NIH Overview

This session will give an overview of the several institutes comprising the National Institutes of Health. Topics will include the funding mechanisms used by NIH and the recent revisions to proposal and award processes.

Research Computing Resources

Research Computing at RIT endeavors to provide a total environment dedicated to making computing based research activities more productive, efficient, and large-scale by maximizing user-friendliness and integrating the many complexities into a single interface.

Working with Companies and Corporate RFP’s

What are the advantages and disadvantages of working with companies? How do I connect with companies in my areas of interest? How do I get the most from a company research project and expand that relationship for more projects? How do I participate in open request for proposals (RFP's) from companies? These and other questions about working with companies are addressed.

Planning a Successful Proposal

This seminar is useful to new faculty, as well as to faculty members who have limited experience in grant writing, including PIs who wish to enhance a prior proposal for resubmission. Participants learn about the elements of a strong proposal, creating and taking advantage of resources to help in the grant writing process, developing a proposal process that works for you, crafting proposals that target specific areas of interest to sponsors, the grant review process, and how to interpret reviewers’ comments.

Working with Private Foundations

Private foundations represent a diverse and growing source of research funding. How do they work? How do I identify a private foundation that might be interested in my work? What is the best way to approach a private foundation? This session helps you understand how best to navigate the world of private foundations and how they can help support your research program.

Budgeting for Research Projects

How do I plan a proposal budget? What happens if I get funded? Participants develop an understanding of what goes in to a proposal budget, the rules governing spending on sponsored research projects, and common problems with project budgets. This session covers the pre-award planning of a proposal budget and the post-award management of a project budget and includes recent changes in the regulatory environment.

Research Compliance

Sponsored research involves compliance with multiple federal laws and regulations.  This session helps principal investigators understand their basic responsibilities including financial management, reporting and research compliance.

Getting Publicity for Research and Talking to the Media

Obtaining positive publicity for research projects can be a central method for promoting results and enhancing potential adoption of new technologies, policy recommendations or business practices. This session provides PIs with an understanding of the different public relations avenues available, a breakdown of the services offered on campus and training on how to conduct interviews with reporters.

Evaluation and Assessment

Evaluation and assessment are critical parts of a research proposal, particularly if you are designing innovations and improvements to the curriculum. This session provides an overview of evaluation and assessment methods and applications. It is especially appropriate for anyone considering the NSF CCLI program.