Our Mission

Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Hikers on a trail in lush alpine green landscape

The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (RSP) works with faculty and other units across campus to advance the University mission and seek external support for faculty research, creative activity, and educational programming support. RSP also provides leadership and expertise ensuring compliance with relevant regulations and policies.

Services

  • Encourages research and creative activity in the sciences, arts, and humanities by assisting WWU scholars and artists in obtaining funds from appropriate agencies and foundations.
  • Provides guidance to faculty regarding external funding resources, based on individual and/or group research interests
  • All proposals to external agencies must exit the institution through RSP.
  • RSP is the liaison to the granting agency on matters of contract negotiation, certifications, intellectual property, non-disclosure agreements, etc. The Vice Provost for Research is the university official authorized to sign grant and contract agreements on behalf of the institution not the Principal Investigator (PI).
  • Facilitates networking and communications with sponsoring agency program managers.
  • Offers personalized assistance with proposal development, including review of sponsors’ guidelines, budget development, proposal assembly, and submission of completed proposals.
  • RSP uses internal funding to support research and creative activity of faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students.
  • Conducts workshops and training on all aspects of proposal development and grants management, human subjects research, animal research, and responsible conduct of research
  • Assists with post‐award procedures and grant management.
  • Provides guidance on intellectual property development and technology transfer procedures.
  • Administers the Institutional Review Board and review human subject research protocols.
  • Administers the Animal Care and Use Committee and review animal research protocols.
  • Monitors and conducts financial conflict of interest training for NSF and NIH grant recipients.
  • Conducts responsible conduct of research inquiries and administer responsible conduct of research investigations.

History of RSP

First established during the 1960-61 academic year as the Bureau for Faculty Research, the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (RSP) serves as the primary institutional support department for faculty research and scholarly activities at Western Washington University. In the years since its inception, RSP has evolved into a unique service organization dedicated to assisting the entire campus community in achieving recognition in all fields of scholarly research, creative activities, and service, educational and training grants.