Annual Report FY 2022

OFFICE FOR RESEARCH

Rutgers Office for Research supports the research, scholarship, and creative endeavors of all Rutgers faculty.

Message from the Senior Vice President for Research S

ince I joined Rutgers in September 2021 as the Senior Vice President for Research, the Office for Research has worked closely with the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Chancellors, Vice Chancellors for Research, the Rutgers Foundation, and other research leaders to elevate and support the Rutgers research and innovation enterprise. Together, by committing to work as partners, we have achieved exciting successes.

Through my work as an experimental geneticist, I am intimately familiar with the needs of faculty. This understanding helped me to realize early on that the Office for Research fulfills an important mission by partnering with all faculty to support their research, scholarship, and creative endeavors. My background as a faculty member is what continuously reinforces my priority to partner and collaborate with faculty to produce cutting-edge, world-class research and innovation. It is clear to me that the Office for Research, faculty, and university leadership need to continue to foster partnerships and collaborations across units to achieve even greater success.

The Office for Research is proud to report that during the fiscal year 2022, Rutgers’ sponsored award funding reached a total of $872.8 million, representing a three-year increase of 27%. Our licensing revenues also grew by 14% over the last three years to $13.4 million. This could not have been achieved without teamwork between the Office for Research and our partners in the Chancellor-led units. While this represents a positive trend, we can only continue to grow if we commit to partnering and mutually supporting one another. This is why I have asked my team to focus on four key concepts as we pursue our work:

n Develop policies to set the expectations of the research enterprise.

n Ensure we are developing processes that are clear and as simple as possible.

n Use data to make informed decisions.

n Pursue partnerships that help enhance the research enterprise.

Our commitment to improve and amplify our standing by paving the way for our faculty and their teams to receive the support they need is stronger than ever. I have no doubt that together, we will continue to meet Rutgers’ highest standards of excellence through continued research and innovation while improving the lives of people in New Jersey and around the world.

Michael E. Zwick SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH

front page image courtesy of SubUAS, LLC

$ $

872.8

M ILLION

IN SPONSORED AWARDS, THREE-YEAR INCREASE OF 27%

707

M ILLION IN UNIVERSITY SPONSORED AWARD EXPENDITURES, 6% YEAR-OVER-YEAR INCREASE

4,167

RESEARCH AWARDS, 5% YEAR-OVER-YEAR INCREASE

502.3 $

M ILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDING, 3% YEAR-OVER-YEAR INCREASE

$

13.4 M ILLION IN LICENSING REVENUE, THREE-YEAR INCREASE OF 14%

177

NEW INVENTIONS, 15% YEAR-OVER-YEAR INCREASE

New Patent Policy

Anew, unified patent policy was approved and became effective retroactively to July 1, 2021. The Patent Policy was a collaborative effort between university leadership, faculty, staff, and union representatives. It will enhance efforts to support entrepreneurship and expand the innovation ecosystem at Rutgers

Renovated Research Tower Core Services Facility

Years of planning and construction, and a partnership between Animal Care Services, Core Services, and Institutional Planning and Operations resulted in the launch of a new 30,000 square foot, state-of-the-art, co-located animal care facility, and imaging center.

The space also includes a vivarium, a training suite, and an in vivo procedure space dedicated to conducting critical and potentially life-changing scientific research.

RESEARCH AND SPONSORED AWARDS (PRE-AWARD)

RESEARCH FINANCIAL SERVICES (POST-AWARD)

RESEARCH CONTRACT SERVICES

RESEARCH REGULATORY AFFAIRS

Research Administration

A

s the Rutgers research enterprise grows in scale and complexity, the past year saw research administration units within the Office for Research continue to develop close working relationships to address policy gaps, improve turnaround time, and the overall services offered to faculty. Utilizing artificial intelligence and improving operating procedures are just some of the many achievements this year.

RAPSS, eCOI+, eIRB, eCERT

As a complement to the process improvements during the last year, the unit continued to develop training opportunities. The signature Sponsored Programs Academy for Continuing Education (S.P.A.C.E.) offers comprehensive training and digital badges to ensure members of the Rutgers research community have a detailed understanding of the university’s processes when it comes to administering research. This program complements the Research Administrators Information Network (R.A.I.N.) in providing consistent and timely updates to research personnel across the university.

+

4,000 NEW SPONSORED AWARDS

2,500 CONTRACTS EXECUTED

1,661 INITIAL IRB REVIEWS COMPLETED

47 S.P.A.C.E. PROGRAM GRADUATES

SERVICES

Animal Care

26,000 CAGES

+

225,000

SQ.FT. OF SPACE MANAGED

Animal Care continued to implement efficiencies across its vivaria and specialized facilities. Not only did Animal Care manage vivaria in over 20 locations across three geographic campuses, but the unit also managed specialized cores including a Gnotobiotics core, zebrafish core, a Genome Editing facility, and the vivarium in the university’s Regional Biohazard Level 3 facility. Aside from the many efficiencies already implemented through the Rutgers Digital Vivarium application project, a new module was launched that digitally logs birth events using QR codes on cage ID cards. This has reduced the operational burden on the staff and has simplified current processes.

Animal Care also developed and ran its first in vivo techniques course for undergraduates. The course trained students how to provide compliant technical services in an animal laboratory setting.

SUPPORTS RUTGERS

CORE ADMINISTRATION

SOFTWARE PROVIDES SUPPORT TO RUTGERS CORE SERVICES

FUNDS CORE USAGE GRANTS FOR RUTGERS RESEARCHERS

MANAGES THREE CORES: MOLECULAR IMAGING, RESEARCH PATHOLOGY, AND MOLECULAR DESIGN AND SYNTHESIS

Core Services C

ore Services continued to offer university wide support to Research Cores and researchers. Co-locating the Molecular Imaging core alongside the department’s new vivarium allows for synergies and ease of use for researchers. The core usage grants from Core Services have supported numerous pilot studies by better positioning researchers to win awards.

This past fiscal year, Core Services hosted a New Jersey Research Cores Partnering Conference showcasing cutting-edge resources and facilities available to innovators at universities and companies throughout the Garden State.

+

MANAGE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR NEW START-UPS

FACILITATE LICENSING OF TECHNOLOGIES AGREEMENT COMPLIANCE 177 INVENTION DISCLOSURES IN FY 22

148 PATENTS ISSUED IN FY 22

$13.4M IN LICENSING REVENUE

I Innovation Ventures

nnovation Ventures achieved several important milestones. The establishing of a unified patent policy not only clarified the distribution of income but merged the Legacy UMDNJ and Legacy Rutgers policies. The Innovation Ventures team worked closely with partners across the university to educate faculty innovators and entrepreneurs through I-Corps and other programs. In addition, university’s technology transfer portfolio continues to grow steadily and includes a healthy number of technologies already licensed.

Research Development

STRATEGIC RESEARCH ADVANCEMENT FUNDING INTELLIGENCE AND DISSEMINATION

EXTERNAL PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT MANAGEMENT OF THE BUSCH BIOMEDICAL AWARDS

Research Development continued to distribute highly valuable research intelligence to the university community. In addition, the unit has managed several limited submission opportunities and distributed awards for the coveted Busch Biomedical Grant and Research Council Grant programs. The office also graduated the first cohort of the Research Development Essentials training program.

+

200 RESEARCH INTELLIGENCE OPPORTUNITIES DISTRIBUTED

$960,000 OF BUSCH BIOMEDICAL GRANTS DISTRIBUTED

125 RUTGERS FACULTY AND STAFF TRAINED

1 RECRUIT, RETAIN AND DEVELOP A DIVERSE COMMUNITY

2 PROMOTE INCLUSIVE SCHOLARSHIP AND TEACHING

3 DEFINE SUSTAINABLE AND SUBSTANTIVE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

4 BUILD THE CAPACITY OF LEADERSHIP TO CREATE INCLUSIVE CLIMATES

5 DEVELOP AN INSTITUTIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE TO DRIVE CHANGE

Our Commitment to Diversity

uring FY 22, a committee of dedicated Office for Research staff met to provide the Senior Vice President for Research with recommendations for how to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across the department. Those recommendations were compiled into five pillars.

These five pillars help to form the foundation of the department’s values. A DEI Council was appointed to focus on the implementation of these five pillars. This committee of members rotates annually and is presented with the charge of working on one of the pillars and providing recommendations to the department’s leadership. These important and timely pillars represent key DEI focuses that will help improve the department and the research and innovation enterprise.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are important areas for the Office for Research to focus on as it strives to become a beloved community of faculty, researchers, and administrators.

Reliance on data to help inform decisions has become more critical than ever to the university research and innovation enterprise. Data helps identify growth opportunities, provide insights, and guide researchers and administrators to better position their efforts. The data, analytics, and business intelligence team has expanded its focus to offer dashboards, reports, and detailed analyses to researchers, research administrators, and Office for Research leaders, allowing insights into sponsored research and licensing activities across Rutgers units.

UNIVERSITY SPONSORED AWARDS

by Academic Fiscal Year

Office

33 Knightsbridge Road

2nd Floor East

Piscataway, NJ 08854

website: research.rutgers.edu

email: comms@research.rutgers.edu

phone: 848-932-4411

Convening with academic and research leaders, providing integrated, user-focused resources and services, and partnering with faculty is how the Office for Research pursues its core mission.

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

Michael E. Zwick SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH

José Miguel Román VICE PRESIDENT, RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION

Jeetendra Eswaraka ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT, ANIMAL CARE

Vincent Smeraglia EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CORE SERVICES

Marika Dunn EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT

Deborah Perez Fernandez ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF INNOVATION VENTURES

James Barr von Oehsen ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT, OFFICE OF ADVANCED RESEARCH COMPUTING

Todd Slawsky EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION