Marian University faculty are doing meaningful, high-quality scholarship across the university, and it shows in the momentum built over the last few years. From presentations to publications to media interviews, MU scholars are shaping conversations in their fields. And that translates into increased competitiveness for external research funding, with sponsored research projects growing from less than $1 million in FY20 to nearly $6 million in FY25. Within that is an impressive emergence of funding from the highly competitive National Institutes of Health, with nine awards to MU researchers to date.

Now, we have an excellent opportunity to take the next step and capitalize on that momentum:

The NIH BRE-SPAD Program offers institutions up to $2.5M over 5 years to increase research capacity and readiness for NIH grants. It focuses on a broad definition of biomedical disciplines, and MU has both real strength and untapped potential in that space, with roughly 150 faculty across engineering, the life sciences, health sciences (medicine, nursing, PT, OT, exercise science, etc.), chemistry/physics, psychology/mental health, and related areas.

Our proposal — Marian University’s ASCENT: Accelerating Science, Collaboration, and Excellence through NIH Training — is designed to strengthen our research ecosystem so more strong ideas become well-supported, well-funded projects. Through a suite of strategies grouped into 1) Systems & Support, 2) People & Projects, and 3) Pilot Grant Funding we aim to position MU as an emerging leader in NIH-funded student-driven/faculty led research.

If you’re asking “what’s in it for me,” that is exactly what we want to answer clearly and shape appropriately. Faculty from all disciplines are invited to watch this short recording that walks through the opportunity and our draft plan. As you will see, despite the NIH focus, many of these strategies can be applied across the breadth of scholarly areas at MU. Then:

Complete a rank-order survey (link) so we can prioritize what matters most to you.
Join us for a live, virtual open forum on Tuesday, January 20th from 11-12 at this link to provide feedback.
- A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) resource (link) has been prepared from themes expressed during the open forum.
If you’re willing, email research@marian.edu to provide a letter of support to accompany the application (templates available).

All the best,

Jonathan Lowery

Asst. Provost for Research & Scholarship

Professor of Physiology

jlowery@marian.edu

Rachel Beltzhoover

Director of Sponsored Programs & Research

rbeltzhoover@marian.edu