BERKELEY DIVISION OF THE ACADEMIC SENATE
COMMITTEE ON RESEARCH
ANNUAL REPORT
2012-13
This report summarizes the activities of the Committee on Research (COR) for 2012-13.
RESEARCH POLICY, ISSUES, AND ACTIVITIES
- The committee was involved in efforts to implement new policies and standard operating
procedures to comply with systemwide changes pertaining to laboratory safety practices. The
COR Chair served on a faculty committee charged with creating initiatives to develop a
laboratory safety culture for Berkeley.
- Met with Thera Kalmijn, Executive Director, Campus Shared Services Implementation to
discuss faculty concerns regarding the proposal to move research administrators offsite.
- VC Research Fleming and AVC Price updated COR on the state of research on campus,
initiatives and programs underway,
- Library Chair and Commission member Margaretta Lovell briefed COR on the Commission on
the Future of the Library
- VP for the Faculty Janet Broughton was invited to discuss faculty research support; emeriti
recognition for their contributions to the campus; hiring and retention; and the increasing
difficulty to secure major grants as a result of budgetary constraints at the federal agency level,
and the impact this may have on tenure decisions.
- The Chair worked with SPO and Academic personnel to develop a dataset to capture
information about faculty PIs and external research support in the past academic year. The
analysis revealed where such support is absent at the individual, department, and college level.
The data is intended to help COR to better assess faculty resource needs and to address the gaps
identified.
- The Chair and a COR member participated in an ad hoc group charged with proposing options
for distributing up to 10% of the increase in indirect cost recovery. COR was asked to propose a
split for that group to consider. Members voted to recommend a split of either 4% (PIs), 3%
(department chairs), and COR (3%) or 4%, 4%, 2%, with the former option favored. Returning a
greater share to PIs added incentive to pursue external grants, and the increased overhead would
provide more flexibility to cover unexpected costs. Serving common good goals, programmatic
support, assuring that disciplines with few resources will have basic research support were the
reasons for endorsing distribution of some ICR to chairs and COR.
RESEARCH GRANT PROGRAM
 The committee set the Research Enabling Grant (REG) award maximum at $1,5 00 and
$750 for emeriti, and continued its policy to limit eligibility for the REG and RAHumanities grant to faculty with less than $50K in research support. These changes were
intended to divert a greater share of the COR allocation to active faculty and their needs.
COR MEMBERS SERVED ON SEVERAL CAMPUS COMMITTEES:
Business Resumption Coordination Group
Hellman Awards
Research Compliance Advisory Committee