New Director of Research Development Appointed by Office of Research

March 31, 2016

Jackie Stein

Old Dominion's Office of Research has named Jackie Stein, a former grant development specialist with the University, as its director of research development.

For the past eight years, Stein has helped develop multidisciplinary grant proposals for the Office of Research.

In her new role as the director of research development, Stein will focus on three main goals: ensuring a range of proposal support services is available to faculty researchers; coordinating workshops and staff development opportunities that will strengthen faculty grant writing, and administering the Office of Research's intramural funding programs.

Stein reports to Karen Eck, recently appointed assistant vice president for research. Eck works closely with Morris Foster, Old Dominion's vice president for research, on strategic planning to help the University meet its long-range goals in the Research Strategic Plan for 2015-2020.

Although Stein has been a liaison to the Colleges of Business and Arts & Letters, she has worked with faculty in all of Old Dominion's academic colleges. Before joining the Office of Research in October 2007, Stein worked as a clinician and an administrator in community mental health agencies and private non-profit human services agencies. Stein recognizes that grant funding is often crucial to meeting organizational goals. Her first grant proposal, written in 1988, provided start-up funding for a Northern Virginia employment program for adults with disabilities.

Stein attributes her strong record of funded projects to their "fit" with funding opportunities.

"A lot of getting grants is knowing what to apply for. It has to be a solid match, so applying to the right program is key," Stein said. "I've also reviewed proposals, so I know program officers are genuinely looking for projects that merit funding."

The University's research development team consists of grant development specialists, who are available to assist faculty members with identifying funding opportunities, clarifying proposal requirements and editing grant proposals. The team balances expertise in specific disciplines with facilitating the development of interdisciplinary proposals. It works with individual principal investigators, as well as larger, multidisciplinary teams.

That familiarity with interdisciplinary teamwork is a strength the grant development specialists will use going forward. While each college has a grant development specialist who serves as a liaison, Stein emphasized the flexibility of the Research Development Team and the need to match interdisciplinary research teams with the types of support needed, regardless of college. "Ultimately, our goal is to increase the odds of funding success by helping Old Dominion faculty develop competitive grant proposals," she said.

For a list of grant development specialists or more information about the grant development proposal process, visit the Office of Research website.