Academic and Research Excellence Update
August 14, 2024
The start of any academic year is always an exciting time as we welcome new faculty and staff members and a new student class. As this year kicks off, we have many accomplishments to be proud of and much to look forward to.
For example, we are proud that Purdue was named No. 1 for most recognized public university in the U.S.; several colleges received high national rankings; and 15 graduate programs reached top-10-in-nation status. Also, during the fiscal year that just ended, Purdue faculty submitted $3 billion in research proposals and received research awards totaling $647 million — both are records!
As we look ahead, we will soon begin the rollout of PERA, our next-generation research administration platform. PERA is just one of several investments and initiatives highlighted in this message that support, incentivize and reward scholarly impact and research excellence at Purdue.
We also invite you to view this Purdue Research video message about our 2023-24 research accomplishments and the coming year.
With best wishes,
Karen Plaut, Executive Vice President for Research
Chris Ruhl, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Patrick Wolfe, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Diversity
Key Initiatives, Updates and Investments
PERA (Purdue Excellence in Research Administration) launch timelines and impacts. On Oct. 7, the PERA (Purdue Excellence in Research Administration) system will go live with its first modules: Grants, Agreements and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).
PERA is a $9.9 million next generation system that came about following research faculty feedback requesting a centralized platform to replace the multiple systems currently in use.
Approved by the board of trustees in 2023, PERA will automate many processes required for submitting grant proposals, managing research funding and contracts, and applying to regulatory committees such as IACUC and IRB. Replacing other systems currently used, PERA is intended to save research teams time and increase efficiency.
From Oct. 1-7, as data is migrated from current systems to PERA, several activities such as grant proposal submissions, post-award set-up, contracting, and IACUC will be impacted. If you plan any of these activities during or after this period, please follow this PERA researcher guidance to avoid any delays. You also can contact pre-award or other specialists in Sponsored Program Services or IACUC teams for assistance.
Please watch for announcements about upcoming PERA information sessions and PERA training opportunities. More information can be found on the PERA website.
Record Purdue research proposals and funding. In FY24 research proposals submitted by faculty reached $3 billion, surpassing last year’s total by $750 million. Meanwhile, research funding awards climbed 6% to a new record of $647 million. Also, nine new master research agreements were signed, and three others were renewed with leading companies in nanoelectronics, aviation, healthcare, agriculture and other fields.
Important reminder – research security training and certification deadline approaching. Earlier this year, we introduced a new online module for research security training. Researchers in the colleges of Agriculture, Engineering and Science and the Purdue Polytechnic Institute should complete this training by Sept. 1. Deadlines for other colleges will be announced soon. Additionally, faculty applying for NSF or DoD federal funding are required to certify that they do not participate in a malign foreign talent recruitment program before submitting proposals.
Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Research Building. The Purdue Board of Trustees recently approved the university’s 10-year capital plan, which includes a new $160 million interdisciplinary life sciences research building. Stemming from a research faculty town hall and further feedback, this 140,000-square-foot project will provide new, shared facility space for research institutes such as the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research and other life science research labs. It will also support the One Health strategic initiative. Plans call for construction to begin in spring 2026 and be completed by fall 2028.
Research labs moving into the new facility will also create space for major research facility renovations for the four departments related to chemistry in the colleges of Agriculture, Engineering, Pharmacy and Science.
Funding Opportunities
Federal appropriation request process. For the second year, the Office of Research is leading a standardized process of soliciting federal appropriation requests. Faculty members (tenured/tenure-track, research, clinical) from all campuses are eligible to submit projects ($1 million to $20 million) for consideration. Applications are due by 5 p.m. ET, Sept. 16. A one-hour informational webinar will be held on Aug. 29. Full program details are available at Purdue’s Federal Appropriation Request Process website.
Internal funding opportunities. The Office of Research has announced application deadlines for several Purdue funding opportunities including:
- SPARK (Supporting Partnering for Advanced Research teamworK): 5 p.m. ET, Oct. 14.
- NIH Competing Renewal R01 Program: Dec. 6.
- NIH New R01 Program: Dec. 6.
- Selected NIH Training Grant Program: applications accepted on a rolling basis.
- Research Bridge Program: applications accepted on a rolling basis.
- Clifford B. Kinley Trust: 5 p.m. ET, Oct. 21.
- Ralph W. and Grace M. Showalter Research Trust: 5 p.m. ET, Oct. 28. An informational webinar is scheduled for Sept. 11 (register here).
A complete list of Purdue-led funding opportunities for researchers, including comprehensive descriptions, eligibility requirements and timelines, is available at the Funding Resources webpage.
Seed funding for authors of major review papers, monographs and academic books. For a second year, the Office of Research, in partnership with several colleges, is managing a competitive grant program for faculty members submitting major review articles, developing monographs or writing books. Faculty can apply for seed funding of up to $10,000 ($5,000 each from your college and the Office of Research) to support these efforts. Applications are due Sept. 30. Details are available from associate deans for research (ADRs) and on the Seed Funding – Publications webpage.
2025 Sloan Research Fellowship competition. The Faculty Recognition Program has shared that the 2025 Sloan Research Fellowship competition is underway. These prestigious two-year fellowships, valued at $75,000 each, are awarded annually to early-career researchers who demonstrate exceptional creativity, innovation and significant research accomplishments. Departments may nominate up to three candidates per fellowship field. The application deadline is Sept. 15.
Faculty Appointments, Achievements and Awards
Faculty Enhanced Research Appointment Program. Renewed for a second year, the pilot Faculty Enhanced Research Appointment Program (FERAP) has also been expanded to include tenured/tenure-track faculty, clinical faculty, and faculty subject to an NIH or other agency salary cap. Following more than 50 applications, all eligible faculty have received offer letters for FY25 appointments that began on Jul. 1 for fiscal-year faculty and Aug. 12 for academic-year faculty. More information is available at the FERAP website.
Purdue faculty authors. The number of books authored by Purdue faculty members continues to grow. So far this year, 30 new books by Purdue authors have hit the shelves. The Faculty Recognition Program maintains a list at Purdue-authored books.
Spring 2024 SPARK and NIH incentive funding awards. The Office of Research has awarded SPARK grants (which support interdisciplinary teams applying for large center grants with high societal impact) to four large, interdisciplinary research projects and Purdue NIH incentive funding to another four research projects (two projects each for NIH New R01/U01 awards and NIH Competing Renewal R01 awards). A full list of winning research projects and investigators is available here.
New AI Resources
New AI resources. Several new or updated AI tools are being developed to support research and academics. These include an updated version of iThenticate and upcoming rollouts of Gautschi and Anvil supercomputers:
iThenticate 2.0. Purdue has fully transitioned to iThenticate 2.0, which introduces several enhancements over its previous version, notably AI text detection. This updated tool, outlined in this iThenticate video, is used by researchers, academics and publishers worldwide, including federal agencies such as the NSF. Invitations to register for iThenticate 2.0 have been emailed to faculty. Questions about registration should go to Jamie Mohler.
Gautschi supercomputer: The next generation of Purdue’s “community cluster” supercomputers is under construction and anticipated to launch in the fall of 2025. Funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. and Purdue IT, and named for Walter Gautschi, Professor Emeritus of Computer Science and Mathematics, the system will provide key support for the Institute for Physical AI (IPAI) and the growing demand for AI at Purdue. Information about early user access will be shared later this year.
Anvil supercomputer: Thanks to $5 million in supplemental funding from the NSF, the Anvil supercomputer’s capabilities will be expanded to support AI as part of Purdue’s participation in the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR). Purdue researchers may propose allocations on Anvil or other NAIRR resources through the NAIRR pilot. AI consultants within the Rosen Center for Advanced Computing are available to help with NAIRR allocations at rcac-help@purdue.edu.
Trustees approve renovation to upgrade high-performance computing infrastructure. In continued support of high-performance computing at Purdue, the Purdue Board of Trustees recently approved a $16 million renovation to the Mathematical Sciences Building Data Center. This will significantly upgrade infrastructure (increased floor space, usable power, and cooling capacity) that supports high-performance computing, which is critical capability for research and education at Purdue. The renovation will also benefit the more than 300 research labs in 66 departments across all Purdue campuses that utilize the data center's computing resources. The renovation is slated to begin in May 2025, and will be completed in February 2026.
Library Guide on Artificial Intelligence. To help faculty, staff and students make use of the growing number of Purdue’s AI resources, Purdue Libraries publishes a Library Guide on Artificial Intelligence.
Other Programs
Research Instrumentation Program. This fall, the Research Instrumentation Program will again provide investigators with opportunities to submit proposals for one-time funding to acquire and install a research instrument. The program will focus on two areas: equipment costing up to $100,000 and equipment ranging from $100,000-$1,000,000. For more information, contact Jennifer Freeman.
Purdue Research Speaker Initiative workshops. The Office of Research Communications team is beginning a second year of speaker and presentation training sessions. Group and individualized sessions focus on communicating technical topics to nonexpert audiences, building compelling talks, refining personal-speaking skills and best practices for slide development. Sessions offered this year include: “Presenting with Impact” (Aug. 28th) and “Speaking to Media and Handling Tough Questions” (Sept. 18th). Interested research faculty should contact Peter Shelby.
Expanded IRB office hours announced. Jeff Haddad and Dan Foti, chairs of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for human subjects and its associated processes announced expanded hours for this fall. Office hours will include senior analysts as well as chairs. As of Aug. 5, the IRB chairs are holding walk-in sessions 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays; 1-2:30 p.m. Tuesdays; and 10-11:30 a.m. Thursdays in Room 1005, YONG. Office hours with senior analysts will be posted on the IRB website soon.
Purdue Research Concierge. A service of the Office of Research, this program assists researchers to quickly resolve research issues they are facing. Recent examples include assistance to resolve an instrument warranty dispute, to expedite live specimen import paperwork, to establish an MOU to acquire restricted survey dataset, and to understand the legal impact of closing a funded project. Assistance can be requested through the Purdue Research Concierge webpage.
Research Blog pilot. The Office of Research is piloting a Research Blog aimed at helping Purdue faculty share their recently published work and its impact. The blog’s lightly curated content is posted using submissions by select researchers who answer a short series of questions about their work. These blog posts are publicly shareable allowing researchers and their affiliated organizations to post on social media or share with funding agencies, donors and more. Currently, the blog is open to members of the Institutes and Centers at Discovery Park District, PARI and IPAI. More information is available at the Research Blog.
One Less Signature initiative. This ongoing initiative is creating greater efficiencies across campus by eliminating unnecessary or redundant administrative processes and forms. Implemented suggestions include workflow improvements in purchasing, employee separation and capital approvals. We continue to welcome ideas from all areas of the university. Suggestions may be emailed to finprocess@purdue.edu.
Purdue Elements – faculty activity reporting. Purdue Elements is the new streamlined faculty activity reporting system for collecting and viewing research awards, publications, presentations and teaching innovations. Its goal is to offer a high-fidelity central repository for faculty activity to reduce time spent on manual entry. As we prepare to use Elements for next year’s annual reviews, faculty are encouraged to review and update their scholarly and creative works, grants, service, and learning and teaching activity reports in Elements, checking that automatically populated data are accurate. Information about Elements, including training guides, are at Purdue Elements.
