Vice President of Research and Economic Development Janet Nelson is not a typical administrator.
“I’ve been a faculty member, part of a company, part of a start-up company, a not-for-profit, a trade organization and the federal government through the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy,” Nelson said.
All the roles she has been in uniquely poise her for all aspects of her new position she said.
On the research side of her position, Nelson said her job mainly helps researchers at the University of Idaho obtain funding. She said she has some university funding at her disposal, but that it is meant for her to grant as seed money to researchers who need to prove their concept before obtaining funding from outside sources.
Nelson said UI has an aggressive goal of moving up in research institute classification from R-2 to R-1, according to the Carnegie Classification of Institutes of Higher Education. She said this will require an increase in research expenditures as well as an increase in awards and recognition.
“It’s not just the total,” she said. “Every discipline has its own bar to measure, and it’s not all about the funding, either.”
Nelson said to get funding she needs to match researchers with funding sources, because funding sources have different interests. Funding can come from the state and federal government as well as private ones.
Obtaining funds for researchers also involves helping them create more competitive proposals than they might have otherwise created, she said.
“Having a great idea doesn’t mean a funder will support the proposal,” Nelson said. “Lots of the faculty are very good at doing their research, but not at securing funding.”
Nelson said it is her job to make sure researchers only have to focus on their research.
She said she had been in a similar position at the University of Tennessee for two years, working to connect researchers with funding sources.
The economic development side of her job is new for Nelson. But she said her experience makes her confident she can do it well and she loves the new challenges it presents.
Nelson said she has been a researcher, funded research and worked in business, so she has been in the shoes of people on all sides of the equation.
The difference in this position is that she is also responsible for taking the products of research and commercializing them in the private sector.
Nelson said her first few weeks at UI have been busy, but wonderful.
“The first thing I said to my best friend this morning is, ‘I’m really looking forward to going to work this morning,’” Nelson said.
Coming to Moscow from Tennessee, Nelson brought her husband and one of her two daughters. She said they are adapting to Moscow well.
During her first few weeks on the job, Nelson said she spent time outside Moscow traveling throughout Idaho and other states.
“I went and heard from the (Department of Education) in Seattle and the United Dairymen of Idaho to find out what stakeholders want,” she said.
She said in the future, she looks forward to working with Idaho National Laboratories.
Nishant Mohan
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