Office of Research

Mission statement

The Office of Research at the University of Georgia serves to catalyze innovative research and scholarship across the UGA enterprise, supporting a diverse and inclusive culture that produces new knowledge, creative works and solutions to build a better world.

Values statement

• Steadfast Resilience: Adaptive, persistent approach to the delivery of services in support of the UGA enterprise
• Authentic Integrity: Honest and transparent communications that foster trust
• Open Curiosity: Ongoing commitment to lifelong discovery and creativity and to listening without judgment to the whole community
• Collaborative Leadership: Service with intentional engagement—top down, bottom up and middle out
• Inclusive Equity: Equal respect and recognition for all, contributing to inclusive equity in all facets of the UGA enterprise

Strategic Goals 

1. Regularly compile and provide Research and Development (R&D) expenditure data and total sponsored proposal, award and expenditure data to institutional leaders to facilitate continued assessment of campus-wide R&D and sponsored growth, with a particular emphasis on funding from federal agencies.
2. Catalyze and foster a vibrant, inclusive culture of innovation and entrepreneurship with broad, diverse engagement across UGA’s innovation ecosystem.
3. Establish a UGA team science ecosystem with incentives, support and training components that builds capacity for new interdisciplinary research teams and strengthens existing teams, with a focus on UGA’s strategic research priorities.
4. Launch new strategic partnerships with National Defense and Security agencies (Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, NASA and the U.S. intelligence community) and leverage these partnerships to increase research sponsorship at UGA.
5. Establish the Office of Business Engagement (OBE) to expand strategic partnerships with companies.
6. Create a culture of precise, data-driven and service-oriented research administration by elevating the knowledge base, resiliency, efficiency and scalability of the research administration workforce across UGA.
7. Create new professional development and mentoring resources and training for postdocs and other research personnel, with a focus on grant writing, diversity and responsible conduct of research and scholarship.
8. Develop and implement an information technology infrastructure plan that meets the evolving needs of the research community, ensures integration across research compliance and financial systems, and fosters quality control and seamless data sharing.
9. Provide critical expertise and vision in the design and planning of new and renovated research space.
10. Conduct a comprehensive assessment and develop a master plan for the University’s animal care and use program, including all facilities and programmatic elements, to meet current needs and future growth and achieve campus-wide accreditation from the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) International.
11. Ensure a safe and healthy research environment across UGA by extending recent advances in health and safety programs to all UGA research sites on all campuses, through uniform implementation of chemical safety plans and the Laboratory Safety Inspection Program and by offering expanded occupational health and safety program services.
12. In collaboration with the Office of Marketing & Communications, elevate production and dissemination of robust, accessible news stories and marketing content about UGA research and research commercialization for a range of strategic audiences, with a focus on societal impact, innovation and entrepreneurship, and industry collaboration.