The new vice president for research of, Sarah Nusser, will be working with other faculty members to gain more research opportunities for the university.

Nusser, a statistics professor, started her new position as vice president for research on Feb. 1.

Her office’s primary goal is working with individuals and research groups to develop new ideas and provide resources to support their research.

“Our office helps foster new ideas to support groups forming in the arts and humanities, animal science, engineering and more,” Nusser said.

The office also provides services, such as helping groups prepare for external funding. Individuals or research groups use her department to apply for grants in order to receive funds.

In addition, applicants must write a proposal explaining why they should pursue this research. Within the proposal, a budget is included to show how much money is being spent. Nusser’s office also helps by overlooking their budget to see if it meets the university’s and sponsor agencies’ guidelines.

“Our office does not research,” Nusser said. “It facilitates who should help [individuals or research groups] go through the process.”

Nusser’s office works with all of the colleges on campus. Their mission is to support everyone who seeks help when it comes to external funding, applying for funding, proposals and finding reliable resources.

Scholars who are interested in researching are directed toward service administration to help them through the process.

“We have an important aspect in helping scholars,” Nusser said. “We help individuals within specific colleges request for funding.”

Nusser said that her job is an ongoing process. Individuals or research groups need continuous help throughout the year. Proposals are submitted all year long, so the time frame for each person varies.

Since Nusser has a background in statistics, she claims that she has an advantage in her new position. She also enjoys having the ability to work with scholars and different types of scholarships.

Along with the help from about 75-100 people, Nusser and her new co-workers make up several different units in the office. There are multiple units that are responsible for specific aspects in the process, such as the process of applying, proposal development and responsible research activities.

Associate Vice President for Research Chitra Rajan joined the office in 2005, and is a colleague of Nusser. Rajan helps individuals and research groups with external funding and writing proposals.

“Bottom line, we help faculty researchers develop so they can receive funds to research,” Rajan said. “We are allowed to choose three proposals to show the agencies, so it takes some time.”

Rajan holds numerous workshops and programs to help people create well thought out proposals. To improve her workshops, Rajan has her participants complete an evaluation survey explaining what they liked or did not like.

“We take the responses very seriously. We try to improve as much as possible,” Rajan said.

Nusser and Rajan ensure that the grand total of $360 million dollars for external funding that comes to the university is granted toward valuable and beneficial research.