Faculty Director for Research Development and Student Research Initiatives

University of Dayton•Dayton, OH

6d•Onsite

About The Position

The Office of Academic Research is seeking a Faculty Director for Research Development and Student Research Initiatives. This role will serve as a cross-campus functional leader, advancing institutional research priorities by increasing participation, coordinating efforts, and expanding external funding, with a particular focus on undergraduate research. This is a 9-month administrative appointment with a summer stipend beginning July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029, with the possibility of renewal for one additional 3-year period. The director will retain their faculty rank and, if applicable, tenure, and serve in this administrative appointment within the Office of Academic Research reporting to the Vice President of Academic Research.

Requirements

Faculty at the rank of associate or professor or professional clinical faculty or professor of practice at the level of associate or professor at the University of Dayton
Significant record of scholarly achievement with externally funded research.
Experience mentoring undergraduate research students
Comprehensive understanding of the teacher-scholar model
Familiarity with institutional grant mechanisms
Ability to mentor junior faculty or facilitating professional development
Commitment to UD’s Marianist mission and strategic priorities

Nice To Haves

Collaborating across departments and disciplines
Designing, implementing, and assessing academic or co-curricular programs
Working with students, staff, faculty or community members from socially and culturally diverse populations
Mentoring junior faculty and facilitating professional development
Effective interpersonal communication skills

Responsibilities

Serve as FYRE coordinator and teach 4 FYRE course sections/year
Expand FYRE capacity to include additional sections, disciplines, and faculty participation.
Create a FYRE + Sophomore Research + Capstone/Thesis pipeline to create a scalable four-year research pathway for undergraduate students in the FYRE program.
Relaunch a campus-wide training program for NSF GRFP applications, for which UD students are particularly competitive.
Host career integration workshops to demonstrate how research can be a pipeline to graduate school, full-time employment, and co-op and internship opportunities.
Lead the development and submission of institutional grants, including NSF REU, NSF S-STEM, NSF NRT, NIH-BRE-SPAD, Department of Defense, Department of Education, and private foundations.
Identify strategic themes and build comprehensive teams to support large-scale proposals across interdisciplinary domains.
Coordinate with UD faculty and key strategic and business partners on community-based opportunities.
Work independently with faculty to assist with grant identification, development, and submission in their specialization.
Reduce barriers to proposal submission, e.g., through developing standard University boilerplate language and related documents to remove barriers to proposal submission.
Develop standardized timelines, templates, and checklists for common external grants to streamline the proposal process.
Create a tiered “Grant Writing Academy” training model to include 1) an early-career faculty proposal writing program, 2) a mid-career funding and research expansion program, and 3) a senior faculty program for PIs seeking to target larger proposals.
Run annual small-scale workshops on target areas of need, such as budget development, data management, cost-share, and bio sketch development.
Expand collaborations with in-place partners, such as UDRI, AFRL, IBM, GE, and Premier Health, to offer industry-sponsored research opportunities for students and faculty.
Identify and forge partnerships with external entities that are a natural fit with UD's expertise and location, such as the Dayton Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Develop community-engaged research initiatives in collaboration with internal partners to support scholarship and creative activities in coordination with surrounding communities.
Expand faculty and student participation in campus-wide research showcases.
Collaborate with internal and external partners in the Dayton community, including K-12 education systems, to raise the visibility of UD’s research showcases.
Develop a means for students to create digital research profiles/portfolios that are shareable with collaborators, potential employers, and graduate programs.
Utilize research as a strategic communication mechanism for both advancement and recruitment efforts.