A friend of mine who works for the Florida Division of Emergency Management once told me about a concept that they subscribe to called “presence is a mission”. The idea being that you might only need DEM’s help when a hurricane rolls through, but when it does you’ll be glad that they’re around. DEM takes this to heart by making sure that they are visible around the state before, during, and after a storm.

The same thing is true for research support services. You might not always be writing a grant, or working on research project, but when you are you might need some help. We at OPD also believe that presence is a mission, so beginning this spring we’ve partnered with University Libraries to offer Research Support Office Hours. Office Hours is a drop-in consultation service that will be held every Tuesday from 11:30 to 1:30 pm, alternating between Dirac Science Library (Main Campus, second and fourth Tuesdays) and Foundation Building A (Southwest Campus, first and third Tuesdays). This way, we’re out on campus, rather than hiding up in Westcott!

Some of the things you can come ask us about are:

• Creating a literature review • Creating and implementing Data Management Plans • Proposal Editing Services • Collaborator Identification • Proposal Team Coordination • Examples of Successful Proposals • Strategic Research Planning

Hope to see you all there!