Meet Alexis Davidson, Director of Research and Grant Administration

"I am confident that the research coming out of our college is changing lives, and changing the world. It’s a true joy and honor to be a part of it."

What does your role involve as Director of Research and Grant Administration for Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences?

My role is to provide overall support for Robbins College faculty for anything research and grant related. The overarching goal for my job is to create a positive culture around grant submitting and pursuing grants. We want our faculty to feel excited and enjoy the process—to understand the ins and outs of why they’re doing it—seeing grant submissions as an avenue to pursue their passions.

Logistically, my day-to-day work includes supporting faculty in figuring out when to submit a grant, helping them analyze and evaluate if they’re a good fit for certain grant funders or mechanisms, and working with them to get the highest quality grant out the door. It can be easy to just submit for the sake of submitting, but we want to honor and respect the importance of both the research and our faculty’s time and effort. So, I help to make sure that what goes out the door has a real shot of getting funded. This might involve working through timelines, answering questions, reviewing guidelines, developing budgets and other documents, thinking through approach and potential collaborators, providing critical reviews of science documents—and of course, making sure everything gets submitted error free and on time.

Tell us a little about your background and what prepared you for the work you’re doing now.

I got my foot in the door as a grant manager for a multi-million-dollar federal grant. From there, I was doing management of multiple grants and then started writing grants. I worked for Waco ISD with a small team, eventually overseeing and writing all of the district’s grants. I continued that work in different capacities and eventually started my own grant writing and consulting business.

Much of the research coming out of Robbins College is pretty technical and “heavy on science,” so to speak. How do you perform your job effectively without being a subject-matter expert on the wide variety of Robbins College research?

That’s one of the reasons why this job was so interesting to me in the first place, specifically at the College of Health and Human Sciences. We have a wide variety of fields, but they are all palatable. My proposal reviews take time because I really want to understand what the research is, what the background is, what they’re saying, and why they’re saying it. It can also be helpful to the process because I can look through the lens of a reviewer who is familiar but not an expert in the field. 

When I get into a grant proposal, I do a lot of researching as I go. I might read a proposal in a field I’m not as familiar with three times just to make sure I fully understand and can provide the most accurate feedback. The more I work with the same faculty, the more I know their work and their research—then, it’s a totally different story.

What is your favorite part of your job?

My favorite part about the position is that it’s different every day. I have procedures and systems in place, but I also get to tailor my support to each faculty member differently since not all faculty need the same thing. So, not only does the research look different from person to person, but the needs are different too. It’s really relational, and I get to know each faculty member pretty well. I get to know their preferences on how they like to communicate, what makes them feel most supported, where I can offer more support, and where I need to let them be more independent. I love that. I love feeling like I’m connecting with each faculty individually and not just creating another hoop to jump through to get to the finish line.

My goal is to come alongside our faculty as a partner as much as they want—even for those who just need a little bit of support—so that from the beginning to the end, they feel like they didn’t do it alone. I appreciate that they trust me, and I get to be a part of the process with them.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

I hope that, when our faculty work with me, they leave knowing how much I genuinely care about what they’re doing. That is what drives working hard and long hours—I care about their work, and I care about them. I am confident that the research coming out of our college is changing lives, and changing the world. It’s a true joy and honor to be a part of it.

Interested in joining the research team in Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences? Apply today for the Research Support Specialist position to have the opportunity to work with Alexis in supporting the research activities of Baylor University’s Robbins College!