As of June 27, Iowa State’s GoldSheet system has a new way to categorize research.
ISU scholars are engaged in research that stretches across all disciplines at Iowa State. This broad spectrum of research often leads to the Board of Regents, legislators, stakeholders, media and others asking how much of Iowa State’s research falls into which area of research.
To be able to respond to these and similar questions, and to better understand Iowa State’s research enterprise, the Office of Sponsored Programs Administration (OSPA) created a new GoldSheet section, “Research Categories/Keywords,” for all proposals that declare “Research” as the activity type.
The Research Categories fields on the GoldSheet are comprised of three staggered levels. At each level, the selected category should reflect the largest proposed project work activity at Iowa State and at subrecipients. See all of the research categories here.
- Level 1: This selection is the broadest category, and is required on all GoldSheets with an Activity Type of “Research.” There are nine Level 1 categories.
- Level 2: For each category at Level 1, several predefined options are displayed for Level 2, meaning Level 2 subcategories detail a Level 1 category. If any of the displayed Level 2 subcategories apply to the proposed project, this subcategory should be selected. If the project is so broad that only the Level 1 category describes it appropriately, then no Level 2 subcategory should be selected.
- Level 3: For each Level 2 category, several predefined options are displayed for Level 3, meaning Level 3 subcategories detail a Level 2 category. If any of the displayed Level 3 subcategories apply to the proposed project, this sub-subcategory should be selected. If the project is so broad that only the Level 2 subcategory describes it appropriately, then no Level 3 sub-subcategory should be selected. In rare cases, a Level 2 subcategory has no further details at Level 3.
Example: Proposal title, “The Use of p-Values in Social Studies”
- Level 1 selection: Mathematical Sciences
- Level 2 selection: Statistics (chosen from Level 2 category options based on this Level 1 selection: General Mathematical Sciences, Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics)
- Level 3 selection: Methods (chosen from Level 3 category options based on this Level 2 selection: Data Analysis and Applications, Methods, Theory)
Another new question on the GoldSheet’s first page is whether Federal Contract Terms will need to be reviewed at the time of proposal. This field is intended to help GoldSheet initiators and reviewers be aware of proposals with Federal Contract Terms, as these proposals may need significantly more time to be processed through OSPA.
For more information, contact OSPA director Becky Musselman at rjmusse@iastate.edu.