New faculty often spend valuable time in their early months and years trying to discover what resources exist to support their research and writing. Here, we provide a sampling of programs and services that will help you get a “jump start” on your research career. Please be sure to visit the websites of the following offices for complete listings and descriptions of the resources they offer.

• The Offices of the Vice Provost for Research

• The UMass Amherst Libraries

• The Office of Faculty Development

The Offices of the Vice Provost for Research

The Offices of the Vice Provost for Research provide a wealth of information for new faculty, especially those of you who are engaging in scientific and social scientific research. The Offices have resources to help you:

Learn about the UMass Amherst, federal, and state policies governing sponsored research.

• Educate yourself about current research on campus:

  • Research Centers

  • Community of Scholars Database, organized according to research interests and expertise.

• Develop and prepare proposals, including brushing up on your proposal writing and project development skills.

• Pursue internal and external funding opportunities.

• Process and manage your research awards.

• Manage the use of animals in your research.

• Manage the use of human subjects in your research.

• Engage state government or private industry to benefit your research.

• Secure rights to your intellectual property.

• Stay up-to-date on funding opportunities and research news by subscribing to the Research Access Newsletter.

The UMass Amherst Libraries

The UMass Amherst Libraries are comprised of two libraries dedicated to two separate major subject areas. The W.E.B. Du Bois Library serves the Humanities and Social Sciences divisions, whereas the Integrated Science and Engineering Library serves the Integrated Sciences and Engineering divisions.

• The W.E.B. Du Bois Library is the main library on campus that serves faculty with interests in the social sciences and humanities. It also is the secondary holding place for materials of interest to faculty engaging in scholarship in the natural and physical sciences (including medical and health-related fields), geology and geography, and engineering.

• The Integrated Science and Engineering Library houses the majority of the materials for faculty doing work in the agricultural sciences, astronomy, biochemistry, biology (except medicine and health), chemistry, computer science, all fields of engineering, food science, geosciences, mathematics and statistics, physics, polymer science, and wood technology.

• Visit the library relevant to your field in person and online to learn about library resources relevant to your area of study. Of particular interest will be the Academic Liaison Program, which allows you to contact a specific librarian who is familiar with materials in your area of study.

• The UMass Amherst Libraries are also home to a variety of special collections, a list of which is available online.

• You may wish to allow a student, such as a T.A., to check out materials on your own library account. To do this, you will need to apply for the “proxy” library card.

• As a UMass Amherst faculty member, you are allowed to borrow material from any of the five colleges in the area (Amherst, Hampshire, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, and UMass Amherst). See the Five Colleges web site for information on direct borrowing and interlibrary loan. 

• We encourage you to go to the central web page of the UMass Amherst library system for information on all of the services the system has to support your research and scholarship.

The Office of Faculty Development

The Office of Faculty Development (“OFD”) supports the research activities of faculty through Mutual Mentoring-driven programs and services that encourage productivity in scholarly writing and time management. In 2006-07, the OFD began sponsoring two programs for early career faculty – one for editing scholarly writing (i.e., working with an editing coach to turn a dissertation into a book or series of articles), and another for effectively handling and organizing one’s workload (i.e., dealing with email, paper mail, files, etc. and sharing these best practices with other faculty). In addition, in 2007, the OFD and the UMass Amherst Libraries created the Faculty Writing Place in the W.E.B. Du Bois Library – a comfortable, private, and fully wired space far from the office and home where faculty can concentrate on their scholarly writing or work in small groups with other faculty on shared writing projects. As part of the Faculty Writing Place initiative, we offer programs throughout the year to promote UMass faculty’s writing.