Research PM Lab

The Research PM Lab is designed to advance research project management through evidence-based insights and community collaboration. Our work begins with a national survey to better understand how research project management is structured, experienced, and supported across institutions. These insights will inform the development of practical resources, models, and strategies to strengthen research outcomes. The Lab will evolve as a platform to share findings, develop resources, and support future initiatives that strengthen research operations and outcomes.

Overview

Those supporting or conducting research are invited to participate in a research study about research project management. Research projects take more than good ideas to succeed. They also need planning, coordination, communication, and day-to-day support to help the work move forward. This is where Research Project Management, or RPM, comes in.

RPM helps research teams organize the people, tasks, timelines, resource, and decisions needed to carry out a project successfully. While this kind of support is becoming more important across colleges, universities, and research organizations, it is not always well understood, clearly defined, or used in the same way from one institution to another. This is especially true for Emerging Research Institutions, where research support systems may still be growing and developing.

This project explores how research project management is currently understood and used across different types of institutions and roles. We want to learn what is working well, what challenges people are facing, and what kind of tools, training, or support could help research teams manage projects more effectively.

Participating Organizations

• This project is led by a collaborative, multi-institutional team and includes participation from institutions and partners engaged across the research enterprise. This research is conducted by investigators at the University of Notre Dame in collaboration with the University of Colorado Boulder and partner institutions.

• Lead Principal Investigator (PI): Nicole Quartiero, University of Notre Dame

• Co-PI & Project Manager: Nicole Carleton, University of Colorado Boulder

• Co-PI: Gillian Silver, Morgan State University

• Co-PI: Doris Andujar, Ponce Health Sciences University

• Co-PI: Dr. M. Javed Khan, Tuskegee University

• Co-PI: Dr. Chadia Aji, Tuskegee University

• NSF GRANTED Program Director Sarah O’Brien

Who Should Participate

We invite individuals across the research ecosystem, including:

• Research administrators

• Project managers

• Faculty and researchers

• Research and project leaders

• Institutional and operational support professionals

About the Survey

We are distributing a comprehensive survey to gather insights that will inform our analysis and future work.

Survey results will be used to:

• Identify current practices and gaps

• Participants will be asked to answer questions about their experience with research project management, roles, and institutional practices

• Inform the development of targeted tools, resources, support structures, and future efforts to improve how project management is applied in research and at research institutions

• Participation is voluntary

• Participants must be at least 18 years old or at least 21 years old in Puerto Rico

Survey Details

• Format: Online

• Time: 15-20 minutes

• Open through August 31, 2026

• Responses will not include identifying information and will be reported in aggregate

• Language: Available in English and Spanish

• This study has been reviewed and determined to be exempt by the appropriate Institutional Review Boards

👉 Take the survey: https://nd.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_abcx8b9yLD1fM5E

Findings will be made available to partners upon request.

For questions related to the project or survey, contact PI Nicole Quartiero (nquartie@nd.edu) or Co-PI / Project Manager Nicole Carleton (nicole.carleton@colorado.edu).

This survey is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2534892.