Auburn University Children's Research Center Planning Grant PI: Gregory Pettit Co-PI: Brian E. Vaughn
This award will support a series of activities to enhance the intellectual, administrative, and social infrastructures at Auburn University . Specific activities relevant to four broad aims will be supported.
The project will build institutional capacity at Department, College, and University levels by (a) initiating and supporting cross-disciplinary inquiries on the nature and development of children's relationships and belief systems; (b) identifying and fostering relationships with nationally and internationally recognized experts in the conduct of this research; (c) establishing relationships that insure the participation of ethnic minority scholars in all aspects of research and that insure the participation of members from ethnic minority communities in research samples; (d) using existing structures for outreach in place at Auburn University to allow for efficient translation of research products into meaningful programs; and (e) laying the groundwork for a Data Center to house data and products from the Research Center and from national and international datasets concerning children's relationships. This Data Center will serve as a resource for Center faculty in terms of consultation and assistance for sampling and analysis and will serve as a portal to the larger community of developmental and learning scientists using the Internet.
The project will assess research needs pertinent to the construction, maintenance, and elaboration of Center identity and focus by (a) fostering cross institution collaborations at national and international levels; (b) developing mechanisms to incorporate training activities for the next generation of developmental and learning scientists; (c) designing an administrative structure to guide the scientific mission of the Center; and (d) developing mission statements for Community and Scientific/Technical Advisory Panels who will serve as external evaluators of Center goals, activities, and products.
The project will support ongoing research programs on interpersonal relationships and social transitions, plan new, large-scale studies of these phenomena, and identify mechanisms to support innovative pilot studies by (a) holding workshops with outside experts to provide training and technical assistance and to identify specific personnel needs for the Center; (b) identifying means/mechanisms to streamline and speed up data coding and sharing of large datasets (e.g., using Internet- 2 protocols to transfer video files) and to use existing facilities more efficiently; and (c) setting priorities for identifying and supporting pilot investigations by Center faculty and affiliates.
The project will establish mechanisms for evaluating Center activities and products by (a) identifying and recruiting a Scientific/Technical Advisory Panel to evaluate the Center's goals, activities, and products in terms of their impact on the developmental and learning sciences and on their capacity to nurture a new generation of developmental and learning scientists from the Human Sciences; and (b) identifying and recruiting a Community Advisory Panel to provide guidance and feedback concerning the practical value of the Center's activities and products, especially with reference to our goal of including ethnic minority participants in every aspect of research
