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Columbia University: The PI's Business of Research Boot Camp: Ins and Outs of Budgets, Personnel and Project Management

This two-day intensive boot camp challenges participants to think about their research group as a business and to implement strategies for effective and efficient teamwork and (research and career) goal attainment that fosters success to maximize your impact. Hands-on activities will engage you to identify your current strategies for personnel, project, and time management, learn new strategies, and plan to implement those strategies for a more effective research enterprise. 

By the end of the workshop, participants will be familiar with the following topics:

The importance of setting and attaining goals

Developing a program vision and culture

Hiring (and firing) the right person

Strategies for effective research group meetings

Budgeting basics for NIH, DOD, and NSF

Managing time and energy and avoiding procrastination

When to say no, when to say yes

Moving projects forward

Knowing when to drop a project

Understanding how to keep your team motivated

Audience and Requirements

This boot camp is targeted for faculty who are in the process of establishing or growing their research group. PIs and/or those with a group leader appointment at any university, hospital, institution, or other research organization are welcome to attend. There are no prerequisites to attend the PI's Business of Research Boot Camp. This boot camp is not applicable to students, and there is a limited number of seats for postdocs and trainees. 

What's the difference between the PI's Business of Research Boot Camp and the PI Crash Course?

The SHARP Program offers two professional development programs geared towards PIs: PI's Business of Research Boot Camp and the PI Crash Course. PI Crash Course is for transitioning into a faculty position and navigating the first years of this position. PI Crash Course is about obtaining key skills to successfully start your research group whereas PI’s Business of Research is for those leading more established research groups and more focused on day-to-day operation of that group almost as a ‘business’. PI Crash Course includes negotiation skills, determining your leadership style, and how to build a colleague network to support you as a junior faculty member, whereas PI's Business of Research Boot Camp looks at the group you are leading with budgeting, setting up team meetings and a deeper dive into project management, and internal workings of the team. There is some overlapping themes between the two trainings, but PI Crash Course is core career development skills for the individual, and PI's Business of Research Boot Camp is more operational/management skills for the group you lead.

Instructors

Jessica K. Lerch, PhD, Co-Founder, CareerVolt; Founder, Significance, Innovation, Impact. Dr. Lerch earned her PhD in Neuroscience at Case Western. She then completed postdoctoral training at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the University of Miami and went to a Research Assistant and then a tenure-track Assistant Professor appointment in the Department of Neuroscience at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. In late 2017, Jessica moved to a science consulting role with Eva Garland Consulting, helping small biotechnology companies and researchers across the world strategize their science to achieve grant funding for their R&D and early-phase clinical trial projects. Jessica started her first company, Significance, Innovation, Impact, in 2018 as a grant-writing consultant. In 2019, Jessica joined with long-time friend and colleague Dr. Sheila Cherry to launch CareerVolt, born of their shared desire to help scientists succeed in their career paths by filling skills gaps and supporting attainment of professional goals. Since moving into consulting in 2018, Jessica has helped individuals and small and large biotech raise over $65 million in grant funding.

Sarah Bronson, PhD, Research Leadership and Success Consultant, CareerVolt. Dr. Bronson received her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri, and was a postdoctoral trainee with Oliver Smithies, DPhil at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Sarah spent her entire faculty career at the Penn State College of Medicine where she was a researcher, educator, and administrator. She is now an emeritus associate professor and associate dean. She was the co-director (2010-2020) of the nationally recognized Junior Faculty Development Program where she developed a holistic program that teased out the steps to scholarly project development as well as the path toward a sustainable and rewarding career. She was also a co-director for the Grants Academy, with a more specific focus on grant proposal development. As Director of Research Development (2014-2023) she implemented the internal awards program and the limited submission process.

Craig Layman, PhD, Research Leadership and Success Consultant, CareerVolt. Dr. Layman received his PhD at Texas A&M University in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a minor in Philosophy. He was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship and was the Donnelley Fellow at Yale University. He is a Senior Fellow in the Andrew Sabin Center for Environment and Sustainability and a Research Professor in the Biology Department at Wake Forest University. He was a Full Professor at North Carolina State University, a Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Fellow in the Applied Ecology Department, and a founding member of the Global Environmental Change and Human Well-being Cluster. Craig is passionate about academic writing, reflected by his more than 160 scientific publications and over 17,000 citations, his successful grantsmanship, and his mentorship of hundreds of academic colleagues over his career.

There will be additional individuals experienced with NIH, DOD, and NSF budgets for a Q&A session.