About PIERS

By planning, organizing, and supporting the research and scholarship efforts of its faculty and students, Vanderbilt aims to advance directives outlined in the Academic Strategic Plan.

The initiative’s overall motto is “shape opportunity; seize opportunity,” reflecting its interlinked goals of shaping the national research dialogue and seizing opportunities to support research and scholarship in an increasingly competitive international environment

Vice Provost for Research Padma Raghavan will work with Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan R. Wente  to oversee PIERS’ implementation. 

Initial Efforts

• Vanderbilt University Research Council: This recently announced council appointed by the provost will provide critical consultative input to advance all PIERS efforts. The VURC will also seek to identify and leverage current strengths and programs with a special emphasis on facilitating collaborations amongst all the faculty;
• Leveraged Proposal Organization and Development, or LPOD: The program will provide a new service that provides support for faculty-led projects to move forward with the development of competitive proposals for prestigious external funding opportunities, while also enabling relationship-building activities with sponsors;
• Vanderbilt IT and Research IT Collaboration: These efforts will be informed by the recommendations of a faculty advisory committee on research IT, and special projects will be advanced in consultation with VUIT and representatives from the academic units. Areas of focus will include basic research IT and advanced research core services;
• Enhanced Common Resources: The initiatives will expand upon Vanderbilt’s relationships with federal agencies and foundations through coordinated efforts with the Office of Federal Relations and the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations; foster public-private partnerships for research through alliances with industry and regional entities such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory; advance pathways from discovery to invention and impact;
• Website Reorganization and Design: The Research @ Vanderbilt website has been redesigned to better direct faculty, students and staff to resources and to better promote the ground-breaking discoveries and scholarship taking place. The site is currently in a soft-launch stage and undergoing continued updates and refinements.Feedback is welcome; and
• Administrative Improvements: PIERS is designed to bring transparency, openness and streamlining to all research operations and processes including those for research cores, various forms of internal “seed” funding, and research administrative functions.