Developing a Research Program

Starting a research program at your new institution can be exciting, but daunting. The resources below are designed to give you information and advice on building on or moving beyond your graduate research and on starting up a new lab. This includes setting up your lab space and getting instruments/equipment as well as attracting quality graduate students. Subsequent pages provide information and tips on finding funding and on getting published.

Jump down to additional resources on: Setting Up your Research Program | Managing your Lab and Mentoring Students

Workshop and Conference Presentations

Sowing the Seeds of a Solid Research Program (Acrobat (PDF) 482kB Mar19 12) - This presentation was given by Christine Ortiz (MIT) at the 2010 Minority Faculty Development workshop. The presentation slides offer information and advice for current trends in research, how research is evaluated, how to select and construct a coherent research project, writing a grant proposal, and tips on networking with and/or finding mentors, collaborators, and graduate students.

Building Your Lab - Transitioning to Independence (Microsoft Word 49kB Mar19 12) - This handout, by Rebekah Drezek (Rice University), was presented at the 2008 Minority Faculty Development workshop. The one-page handout provides helpful tips for building your lab, including how to cultivate mentors and colleagues, gaining recognition and an independent identity in your research, developing and improving upon your leadership and management skills, staffing your lab, and time management.

Developing Your Research Plan and Program (PowerPoint 1.7MB Jul30 12) - This presentation was given by Stephanie Adams (University of Nebraska) at the 2008 Cross-Disciplinary Initiative for Minority Women Faculty conference. It provides tips for planning and developing a research program.

The CFM Lab at Georgia Tech and Emory (PowerPoint 24.4MB Jul30 12) and accompanying video file ( 15.4MB Jul30 12) - This presentation, by Ajit Yoganathan (Center for Innovative Cardiovascular Technologies) at the 2012 Minority Faculty Development workshop, showcases some of the projects and developments taking place at the Center for Innovative Cardiovascular Technologies.

Setting Up Your Research Program

  • Developing a Research Program, from the On the Cutting Edge project, offers pages with resources on topics such as planning your research program, getting funding, collaborating with students, setting up your lab and obtaining equipment, time management, and publishing your work. Although these pages are written for geoscientists, most of the information is applicable for faculty members in science or engineering.
  • Keeping Your Research Alive, by Rick Reis. How to make your research a priority, in the face of other, more urgent (but not necessarily more important) demands on your time.

Managing your Lab and Mentoring Students