Deep Dive into Research Series

The Office for Research and Graduate Education is hosting a series of webinars and workshops that will take a “deep dive” into topics that impact your day-to-day experience working within the Penn State research ecosystem. We delve into topics that may have been introduced through orientations and diving deep to go beyond the “what” to better explain the “why” and the “how” of different university functions, resources, and the development of your career at Penn State.

We invite faculty, students, post-docs, and staff to join us for any or all of the sessions! Some sessions will be offered in person, and all sessions will have a virtual option if needed. Sessions will also be recorded and posted on our website.

Fall 2023

Deep Dive into College of Agricultural Sciences Internal Grant Programs

August 30, 2023

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Join Gretta Tritch Roman (gst118@psu.edu) from the Office for Research and Graduate Education and Maria Spencer (mtk15@psu.edu) from the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Program to learn about the various funding opportunities offered by the College of Agricultural Sciences to support faculty research and innovation, including the Strategic Networks and Initiatives Program (SNIP), the Science to Practice (S2P) Program, the Research Applications for INnovation (RAIN) Program, the research endowments, and more. With the upcoming deadlines for the SNIP and S2P (and RAIN coming up soon), this is a great chance to learn about these programs, what purpose they are intended to serve, what the review process looks like, and ask questions about strategizing for this round or next year’s!

Deep Dive into Civil Rights Compliance for Research

September 7, 2023

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Join Eriks Dunens, Strategy and Compliance Specialist for the College of Agricultural Sciences, to learn about how we can all better adhere and implement the guidelines provided by the USDA to assure we are working in compliance with equal opportunity policies in the implementation of Research programs and projects and that every customer and colleague is treated with fairness, equality, and respect

Deep Dive into Seeking Funding from Non-Profit Foundations

September 27, 2023

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Join Jara Dorsey-Lash, Associate Director Office of Foundation Relations, to learn how to position your research to be attractive to foundation sponsors, including what foundations are looking to see in competitive proposals, how foundations make funding decisions, and how you can tailor your proposals to fit a foundation’s guidelines. Great information for all career stages of researchers to think about how you can diversify your funding portfolio!

Deep Dive into The Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Science (SAFES) + Networking Social Event

December 13, 2023

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Spring 2023

Deep Dive into Research Communications

February 14, 2023

Have you been thinking about how to amplify your research outcomes to more audiences? Wondering how you can actively participate in positioning both your expertise and build your reputation with different audiences? 

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For this session, we have invited representatives from University Strategic Communications — Erin Colbourn (senior director of proactive media), Sara LaJeunesse (manager of research communications), and Adrienne Berard (senior research writer) — and from our College of Agricultural Sciences News Team — Amy Duke (associate director of communications) — to talk about how their teams help to enhance the visibility of your research expertise and to position the College of Agricultural Sciences as a national leader in education and research. 

Deep Dive into Research Protections

Wondering what may constitute research misconduct and how to avoid it? Would you like to have a better understanding of IRB requirements? Curious what you would need to have prepared in case of an outside audit from funding agencies or other regulatory bodies? 

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For this session, Dr. Courtney Karmelita (assistant director of research integrity and quality and deputy Research Integrity Officer (RIO) ) will join us to give a deep dive of the Office for Research Protections’ Research Integrity and Quality Assurance (QA) programs.  As Deputy RIO, Dr. Karmelita oversees the research misconduct process and policy at Penn State. This discussion will include an overview of research misconduct procedures and case studies, as well as tips for avoiding research misconduct. This discussion will also include an overview of the Quality Assurance Program’s key functions including post-IRB approval reviews, ClinicalTrials.gov registration and reporting, as well as determinations of FDA-regulation research.

Deep Dive into the Agricultural Experiment Station

Have you been curious what the Agricultural Experiment Station is and your role within it? Are you wondering what “capacity funding” supports or how it ties in to the land-grant mission? 

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For this session, the Office for Research and Graduate Education will be taking a deep dive into the history of the Agricultural Experiment Station (AES), its role in the development of the nation’s agricultural research infrastructure, and how the AES operates today at Penn State to ensure that we are fulfilling the mandate by the federal government to conduct agricultural research at the nation’s land-grant universities to establish and maintain “a permanent and effective agricultural industry of the United States.” Join Blair Siegfried (associate dean of research and graduate education) and representatives from theOffice for Research and Graduate Educationto learn more about the significance of the AES and the critical role that research faculty and staff play in fulfilling the land-grant mission. 

Fall 2022

Deep Dive into Intellectual Property

The session, relevant to both novice and experienced inventors, will include an expert panel of intellectual property attorneys, moderated by the John and Patty Warehime Entrepreneur in Residence.  All are welcome, but faculty and graduate students are especially encouraged to attend.  

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Topics include: 

• Distinguishing your inventions from the prior art
• Strategies for establishing non obviousness
• Options for patenting new intellectual property derived from existing intellectual property
• Filing strategies for technologies with an extended timeframe for commercialization
• The translation of trade secrets from the academic setting
• Second and third generation patent rights and related strategies
• Patent infringement: strategies for ‘policeable’ inventions, detecting putative infringement, admissible evidence, litigation

Special guest panelists:

Geoff White

Geoffrey White is General Counsel, Chief IP Counsel, and a Director for SilcoTek Corporation, a State College area high-tech materials science company. Before joining SilcoTek, Geoffrey previously practiced as a patent attorney for a 130+ attorney firm, handling patent and other IP matters for startups through multi-billion dollar organizations. He has been named to IAM Strategy 300: The Worlds Leading IP Strategists multiple times, and volunteers his time to a variety organizations, including the Penn State Start-Up Leadership Network.  Geoffrey is involved in wide variety of disciplines, with a balance between his role as an attorney, an IP strategist, and a manufacturing executive. 

Shawn Leppo 

Shawn is a patent attorney and Co-Chair of the McNees Intellectual Property Group.  Shawn’s practice includes advice and counseling on all aspects of intellectual property law, with a focus on patent matters, including patent prosecution, enforcement, licensing, and risk avoidance strategies.  He is involved in portfolio planning and management, evaluating and preparing non-infringement and invalidity opinions, structuring and negotiating patent, trade secret and copyright license agreements, as well as development agreements and assisting with IP aspects of diligence in mergers and acquisitions.  Shawn’s practice is international and he routinely works with an extensive group of foreign counsel around the world to help manage clients’ portfolios worldwide.

Moderator:

Maria Spencer, PhD, MBA, John and Patty Warehime Entrepreneur in Residence, College of Agricultural Sciences