GRANTS MADE at Scale: Implementing a Regional Research Administration Student Internship Program in Maryland and Delaware

About This Grant

This project develops and implements a research administration internship program for undergraduate students at five institutions in Maryland and Delaware – a region with high research activity and high demand for research administration professionals. Students represent a large, well educated, but as-yet largely untapped pool to meet the workforce needs in research administration, a field facing a scarcity of trained candidates in the pipeline. Through this “grow your own” internship approach, students have a viable career pathway into research administration that also helps build capacity in research administration at their respective institutions. In addition, the project charts a course for a sustainable, replicable, and scalable internship model that other institutions can follow – particularly mid-sized, smaller, and emerging research institutions – as they aim to build their workforce and remain competitive in increasingly complex research environments. Over the long term, the broader impacts of the project include enhancing research infrastructure, building capacity in research administration, and strengthening research competitiveness for institutions across the U.S. The comprehensive internship program provides students with hands-on training and practical research administration skills through placements in research offices and centers across participating universities, thereby supporting research administration for the institution. Students also gain broader professional and academic experience via a cross-institutional, cohort-based component of the internship, which includes professional development, research activities, on-campus and external mentorship, and networking. Students are included as co-researchers on presentations and workshops at regional and national conferences and papers for research administration journals. Through these initiatives, student interns engage in scientific participation while gaining familiarity with the processes, obtaining relevant workforce experience, and developing strong networks in the growing field of research administration. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.