Research Leaders Academy

The Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship and Creative Endeavors and the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost have launched a Research Leaders Academy for Principal Investigators who aspire to lead, or who are already leading, large-scale, interdisciplinary research initiatives. The inaugural cohort began in Fall 2023 and will continue in alternating years.

Participants learn how to scope a collaborative, large-scale research vision with colleagues from different scholarly backgrounds, how to secure external support to realize that shared vision, and how to successfully implement and manage their vision. The Research Leaders Academy program consists of eight, three-hour interactive (in-person) workshops covering the following topics in research leadership:

  • Foundations of the UT Research Enterprise
  • Scoping Your Broader Research Vision
  • Complex/Center Grants and Organized Research Units
  • Building Partnerships and Coalitions with Researchers Across Disciplines
  • Budgeting and Finance at UT
  • How to Work Effectively with Staff
  • Securing Buy-In from Deans and Leadership
  • Time Management and the Strategy of Saying "No"

Participants will also interact with campus leadership and OVPR to learn best practices for securing grant funding for large, cross-campus research initiatives and applying those to build and sustain successful teams.

Application
Submissions for the 2025 cohort will open in April 2025.

Eligibility

Participants must be principal investigators who are tenured and tenure-track faculty, or professional-track faculty who meet the following criteria:

  • Are appointed at UT for at least six academic years with no gap in service of longer than three consecutive academic years
  • Have a benefits-eligible appointment at UT during the academic year
  • Meet greater than or equal to 50% FTE in each of the fall and spring semesters of the academic year
  • Are Research Scientists or Senior Research Scientists

Any eligible faculty member may nominate themselves to be considered for selection to the cohort.

A committee composed of faculty/research peers and OVPR leaders will select participants on the basis of the following criteria:

  • Clearly articulated research or scholarly vision that is broader than one’s individual line of inquiry
  • Demonstrated capacity to secure external support for research or scholarly activity
  • Evidence of a collaborative mindset in research and the potential to form cross-disciplinary connections
  • Willingness to commit to in-person participation in the Research Leaders Academy intensive workshop series for the duration of the academic year. Workshops are currently scheduled for one Friday per month, 10 am – 1 pm CT on the UT Austin campus. Total time commitment, inclusive of these workshops, is anticipated to be 36 hours of preparation, learning, and planning time

Application Deadline

Submissions for the 2025 cohort will open in April 2025.

Submission Requirements 

Submissions will be accepted through the application portal (link in sidebar.)

Please submit the following in the following order as a single PDF or Word document:

  1. A one-page statement articulating the applicant’s interest in participating in Research Leaders Academy. This statement of interest should address:
    1. The large-scale, interdisciplinary research or scholarly vision that the applicant wants to lead
    2. Current plans for executing this vision. For example, does the applicant plan to lead a team toward a funding opportunity (if so, which one, and on what timeline)? Is the applicant taking over leadership of an existing major institute and seeks to shift its scope? Is there another type of strategic research opportunity the applicant plans to pursue?
    3. How participation in Research Leaders Academy will help the applicant achieve personal goals related to research leadership in their field
  2. A statement (no more than one page) describing prior experiences, positive or negative, working as part of a collaborative research team. Include the nature and purpose of the team and the applicant’s specific role(s) within the collaboration. Cite a few examples of the research or scholarly outputs from the collaborative team.
  3. Biosketch or Curriculum Vitae
  4. List of any previous professional development, faculty mentoring, leadership or other skill-building programs in which the applicant has participated (whether at UT or elsewhere).