On a sunny Wednesday afternoon, the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis Research Support Committee, or RSC, met via Zoom to review the latest round of applicants for the Dean’s Faculty Fellowship, a prestigious three-year award that comes with $22,500 in research funding.
The faculty members in the group represented various departments across the college, including mathematics, anthropology, science and technology studies, music, and Chicana/o/x studies, to name a few.
And there was plenty to discuss as they sifted through the pool of nearly 30 applicants. Their goal was to select one awardee from each of the college’s historic three divisions: mathematical and physical sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities.
What is the college’s Research Support Committee?
Currently chaired by Professor of Science and Technology Studies Finn Brunton, the RSC is charged with the decision-making behind the college’s internal awards/grants. In addition to the Dean’s Faculty Fellowships, they’re responsible for the L&S Unites Initiative (up to $120,000 in research funding), Incentives for Large Grants Initiative (up to $80,000 in funding) and the new Regeneration Program Grants ($5,000 to $20,000 in funding).
To represent the diversity of research across the college, the nine-member RSC is made up of three faculty members from each historic division. Committee members serve three-year terms, and membership rotates through all the college’s departments.
“Because we are an interdisciplinary review committee, we place an emphasis on being able to explain research to outsiders and nonspecialists,” said Brunton. “Some of the best examples of this kind of communication for complex and difficult subjects I have ever seen were in applications we have reviewed for this committee. It's a skill that all of us in academia can benefit from — sharing our work with our colleagues and students, with donors and funding agencies, and with the public — and the RSC's arrangement encourages it.”
“With the assistance of department chairs, each year we appoint new members who are dedicated to supporting the broad research mission of the college. It was very important that the college has an independent committee of peers that assesses proposals and awards the college’s research funding,” added Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies Lori Lubin. “All current and past committee members have been top-notch. They take the evaluations, procedures and fairness very seriously.”
That commitment was on display during the committee’s winter meeting.
Prior to the Zoom call, the committee members individually reviewed all the applicants and their nomination materials, including project proposals, letters of support, CVs and previous publications and accolades, among other items.
“Having the opportunity for such in-depth discussion of applications means that along with assessing research, we factor in other goals like junior faculty career success, opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, institution-building, future funding, and promising outcomes for our community ranging from the college, to the county, to the state of California,” Brunton said. “This sense of mission for our research funding gets us the biggest positive impact for each dollar we award.”
Deep discussions about research impact
The committee deliberated over each applicant’s qualifications, their project proposal and how the applicant aligns with the award’s selection criteria. The conversations were lively and in depth. Given the range of research areas, they helped illuminate a project proposal’s specific aim for committee members who were outside their areas of expertise.
“Letters and Science is unique from other schools and colleges on campus,” Lubin said. “Our research breadth and diversity are really unmatched, which requires this multiplicity of expertise when considering how best to support our faculty and spend our available resources.”
By the end of the review process, the committee will finalize a ranked-order list of candidates in each division for review by the Dean’s Office. And soon, there will be three new dean’s faculty fellows.
It was just the start for the committee as the winter and spring quarters are the busiest. Over the next few weeks, they will meet again to discuss the applications for the college’s Incentives for Large Grant Proposals Initiative and Regeneration Research Program Grants.
“Serving on this committee is no small ask,” Lubin said. “Our committee members dedicate substantial time outside of their research and teaching duties to ensure that their fellow faculty members get access to the financial support necessary to preserve and encourage excellence.”
“There is a contribution experienced by those of us on the committee: we get to learn more in depth about everyone's research across the whole of the college,” Brunton added. “It's exciting, inspiring, and often fascinating, the most rewarding and informative committee on which I've had the pleasure to serve.”
Current members of the college’s Research Support Committee include Finn Brunton (Department of Science and Technology Studies), Ethan Anderes (Department of Statistics), Damien Caillaud (Department of Anthropology), Cody Gilmore (Department of Philosophy), Ester Carolina Apeseoa-Varano (Department of Sociology), Sam Nichols (Department of Music), Lilia Soto (Department of Chicana/o/x Studies), Steve Shkoller (Department of Mathematics), Markus Luty (Department of Physics and Astronomy).
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