Researcher Profile Optimization Study (RPOS)

Each year, over 95,000 new federal research proposals are submitted to NIH and NSF1, plus many more submitted to other federal funding agencies. Nearly every application requires detailed researcher profile data for the entire project team — yet the required information varies across agencies and platforms, creating inefficiencies, extensive costs, and increasing administrative burden.

The Researcher Profile Optimization Study (RPOS), led by the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP), aims to reduce this burden by improving how institutions manage federally required researcher profile information (e.g., biosketches, current & pending support, collaborator disclosures).

As a unique consortium of over 230 academic institutions and 10 federal agencies, FDP brings together the operational knowledge and national scale needed to develop actionable, consensus-driven solutions that work across the U.S. research enterprise.

Project Goals

· Document the variability in profile requirements across federal agencies

· Survey researchers and administrators to understand current workflows and related infrastructures for research information management

· Recommend improvements that promote interoperability, reduce duplication, and support federal research security and compliance initiatives

Why It Matters

Better management of researcher profile information supports:

· Researcher success and reduced administrative burden

· Research security (e.g., NSPM-33)

· Collaboration and open science

· More coordinated investments in infrastructures at universities and federal agencies

Current Status

We’re currently:

· Conducting an initial assessment of the data required across federal agencies and working on the design and validation of the data assessment

· Identifying stakeholders across FDP, federal agencies, and related communities

· Looking for:

o Faculty who’ve submitted to major federal agencies

o Administrators who support proposal preparation

Interested in contributing? Contact Carmen Scholz (scholzc@uah.edu) and David Driesbach (driesbac@fiu.edu)

Sources: NSF Merit Review Digest FY 2022, NIH Data Book