The IPR Development Core is the heart of IPR and absorbs the bulk of IPR resources. The Development Core has two overarching goals: (i) to enlarge the community of scholars conducting population science research at Ohio State, both numbers and disciplinary diversity; (ii) to nurture new population science research at Ohio State, with a priority on research which is innovative and interdisciplinary. The single most prominent activity of the Development Core is the IPR Seed Grant Program. Annually IPR awards 5-8 new seed grants. This is a seed grant program, not a small grants program the objective is to help projects get off the ground (e.g. pilot fieldwork). Other activities of the Development Core include: IPR Working Groups, which serve as forums for IPR affiliates to discuss ongoing work and to develop (interdisciplinary) collaborative projects; didactic workshops to assist IPR affiliates in maintaining up-to-date technical skills; IPR Seminar Series (twenty-four per year during the academic year) and Huber Lecture; and multiple activities to ensure that IPR affiliates are compliant with regulations regarding responsible conduct of research and public accessibility of research results. This core places a premium on nurturing interdisciplinary research and nurturing the research programs of junior scholars. The Core is co-directed by Salsberry (IPR Associate Director) and Lillard. IPR's two full-time staff members (Office Manager and Grants Manager) devote most of their effort to this core. The Development Core is both central and essential to IPR's mission of growing population science at Ohio State. The large IPR Seed Grant Program, launched in 2005, has been very successful, as measured by submission of applications for external funding and by receipt of external awards. We now have a good sense of the key ingredients for a successful seed grant program. Other activities of this core are designed to stimulate new research, to assist in the forging of interdisciplinary collaborations, and to add intellectual richness to professional experience of population scientists at OSU. The Development Core also provides OSU population scientists substantial assistance in constructing and submitting applications for external funding. Finally, the Development Core offers activities and services designed to keep OSU researchers up- to-date on matters of professional responsibility, including responsible conduct of research [RCR] and transparent/reproducible research. Going forward, we plan many modifications in this already-successful cluster of activities and services. The Seed Grant Program will formalize mentoring of junior faculty, place more weight on interdisciplinary projects, and provide more direct assistance to seed grant projects which involve pilot fieldwork (taking advantage of new Data & Computing Core). Two new working groups have just been launched. Didactic workshops will focus on new research methodologies which are of increasing interest to IPR affiliates, such as new types of bio-measures and more sophisticated techniques for ascertaining contextual effects. The IPR Seminar Series will add a thematic dimension. Training in RCR will be formalized.
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