The Texas A&M University System

2006 Junior Faculty Workshop

November 9 - 10, 2006

The workshop was held on the campus of Prairie View A&M University from 1:00 p.m. Thursday, November 9, to 12 p.m. Friday, November 10. Presentations from the workshop are now available.

The System Junior Faculty Workshop is presented in conjunction with The Pathways Research Symposium, which convened immediately after the workshop.

For more information please contact: Ann C. Wallingford, Office of Research & Federal Relations, 979-458-6010.

The purpose of the Junior Faculty Workshop is to increase the interaction of junior faculty with research peers System-wide, to provide opportunities for System junior faculty to develop research partnerships centered among common research and educational interests, and to identify potential partnerships, targeted funding opportunities, and competitive strategies for research success.  A focus of this year’s workshop includes panel discussions on overcoming barriers to research funding and developing diversity partnerships.

The workshop included five research topic areas presented by concurrent panels in breakout sessions that offered the opportunity for broad-based, multidisciplinary participation by faculty across academic colleges and departments, as well as topic areas that position faculty competitively by such factors as geography, populations, or regional uniqueness:

• Earth, Environmental, Ecological, and Related Physical and Computational Sciences
  This session explored the research and funding directions in the earth, environmental, ecological, and related physical and computational sciences, including the agriculturally related environmental sciences. Emphasis was given to ideas for forming partnerships, identifying research topics, and reviewing research opportunities for the coming year. A major component of the session was interactive discussions and Q&A between panel and participants on research and proposal development issues of interest to participants, particularly including System-wide collaborations.
• Health, Biomedical, and Related Biological and Computational Sciences
  This session presented an overview of research directions and funding opportunities from NIH in the health, biomedical, biological, and related computational sciences, as well as differentiate between NIH and NSF in terms of research funded in the biological sciences. A major component of the session was interactive discussions and Q&A between panel and participants on research and proposal development issues of interest to participants, particularly including System-wide collaborations.
• Social and Behavioral Sciences and Education
  This session presented an overview of research directions and funding opportunities in the social and behavioral sciences and education at NIH, NSF, and Department of Education. A major component of the session was interactive discussions and Q&A between panel and participants on research and proposal development issues of interest to participants, particularly including System-wide collaborations.
• Humanities and Humanities related Social Sciences
  This session presented an overview of research and funding opportunities in the humanities and humanities-related disciplines that support scholarly work, particularly at libraries, museums, collections, and the like, or funded by foundations and associations. A major component of the session was interactive discussions and Q&A between panel and participants on research and proposal development issues of interest to participants.
• Engineering and Engineering Technology
  The breakout session began with an overview of Tips for Proposal Development and a short session on Reviewer’s Perspectives with senior engineering faculty who have experience as peer reviewers. The remainder of the session consisted of working through a proposal solicitation as a “case study” example. One-on-One time was set aside for junior faculty having reviewer’s comments available.

The target audience of the workshop is tenure-track faculty in the A&M System; however, participation is not limited to junior faculty members. A&M System faculty and staff are welcome to attend.