The Middle Tennessee Research Administration and Innovation Network (M-TRAIN) is a group of research administration professionals aiming to enhance the research enterprise of Middle Tennessee by building research administration capacity and expanding partnerships across the region. Middle Tennessee is a fast-growing region that is home to world-class R1 institutions (doctoral granting institutions with very high research activity) and a diverse set of several emerging research institutions, including historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and rural-serving institutions (RSIs). The vision of M-TRAIN is to connect the research administrations of these institutions to enhance collaboration, partnership, and regional growth.
M-TRAIN began as a partnership between the research administrations of Vanderbilt University, Tennessee State University, and Fisk University. Over the course of the next year (2023 – 2024), these institutions will host the region’s research enterprise professionals in a series of workshops to discuss how to build regional research development, administration, and translation capabilities, while prioritizing equity and diversity by focusing on growth of emerging research institutions. These workshops are funded by award #2324459 from the National Science Foundation’s program, Growing Research Access for Nationally Transformative Equity and Diversity (GRANTED).
Questions? Contact us at mtrain@vanderbilt.edu to learn more.