The Annual Pivot-RP User Group Event this year included a panel discussion on some of the issues faced by research development offices. Three Research Development colleagues shared compelling insights into their experiences, roles, and best practices in identifying worthwhile funding opportunities and engaging with the research community.

While the panelists represented different size universities, with different research priorities, they all described the same basic challenges. They also provided valuable details on the key role Pivot-RP plays in addressing these issues at their respective institutions.

Dan Moseke, Senior Program Manager for Research Development Services at the University of Arizona, manages the limited submissions process, assists the Research Development team with proposal support, creates and disseminates funding newsletters, and is a Fulbright Liaison. The University of Arizona, as one of the top 20 public research universities in the world, boasts a wide range of research specialties.

As Dan noted in his remarks, there are several ways to encourage such a diverse group of faculty members, graduate students, and research staff to take advantage of what Pivot-RP has to offer. Curated links embedded in a weekly newsletter, for example, is “a great shortcut into using Pivot-RP,” he said. “The newsletter is also a great way to educate faculty about Pivot-RP.” Dan also recommended “using the custom branding feature” so messages and search results feel endorsed by the institution. Guidance materials created by Ex Libris and by in-house experts are very useful for training new users. Also, the integration with InfoReady Review for limited submissions competitions is a valuable time-saver for institutions that use both services.