Research Coordinator

Research Coordinator

The College of Osteopathic Medicine seeks a collaborative, highly organized Research Coordinator to support and operationalize the College's research and scholarly activity portfolio. This role will coordinate day-to-day research operations for faculty and students; facilitate compliant and efficient study start-up and execution; maintain research documentation and reporting; and serve as a central "connector" to identify student research interests and match students with appropriate UNC/UNCCOM and community clinician faculty mentors and projects.

The Research Coordinator will translate strategic research priorities into practical workflows, timelines, and deliverables that increase scholarly output and strengthen institutional readiness and accountability.

Research Operations, Project Management & Study Support

• Coordinate research project intake, triage, and tracking for UNC COM faculty and student-led projects, including timelines, milestone checklists, and deliverables.
• Support study start-up activities (protocol documentation, required training verification, research files, data management planning) and maintain standardized templates and guidance materials.
• Facilitate meeting logistics, agendas, and documentation for research-related committees, working groups, and mentor–mentee project teams.

IRB Coordination, Compliance Support & Research Documentation

• Serve as a point-of-contact for research compliance workflows, including assistance with IRB submissions (new studies, amendments, continuing reviews, closures) and maintenance of regulatory files.
• Coordinate required training/credentialing and maintain records of completion for students and faculty participating in research.
• Ensure research documentation and processes are audit-ready, with clear version control, data-use documentation, and standardized record-keeping.

Student Research Interest Identification & Faculty-Mentor Matching

• Establish and maintain an intake and tracking process to identify student research interests (e.g., scholarly concentration themes, summer research, capstone projects).
• Build and maintain a searchable inventory of UNC/UNCCOM and community clinician expertise, active projects, and mentoring capacity, including cross-college opportunities and interdisciplinary teams.
• Coordinate student–mentor matching, including introductions, expectations, project scope definition, feasibility review, and formation of mentorship teams (primary and co-mentors).
• Monitor progress for matched projects (proposal development, IRB readiness, data acquisition, analysis coordination, dissemination planning) and proactively address barriers to timely completion.
• Develop periodic "research matchmaking" activities such as mentor fairs and pitch sessions and produce leadership reports on participation, throughput, and scholarly outputs (posters, abstracts, manuscripts).

Data Systems, Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain research activity metrics and dashboards (e.g., student participation rates, mentor utilization, project stage distribution, dissemination outcomes) to support decision-making and program improvement.
• Coordinate collection of data needed for internal reporting and quality improvement related to research and scholarly activity; ensure consistency in definitions and documentation.

Communication & Stakeholder Coordination

• Serve as a liaison among students, faculty mentors, administrative offices, and campus partners to ensure alignment of expectations, timelines, and resource needs.
• Prepare concise summaries, progress updates, and standardized communications for stakeholders across UNC COM/UNC and the broader community.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a health sciences, public health, biomedical sciences, social sciences, or related field.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating projects, managing timelines, and maintaining accurate documentation (research, academic, healthcare, or higher education setting preferred).
• Working knowledge of research compliance concepts (human subjects protections, IRB processes, data privacy) and ability to learn UNC-specific systems and requirements quickly.
• Strong organizational, communication, and stakeholder-management skills; ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities with a service-oriented approach.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree (e.g., MPH, MS, MHA) or equivalent experience in research administration, academic research coordination, or medical education scholarship support.
• Prior experience supporting IRB submissions and regulatory documentation; familiarity with research compliance workflows.
• Experience with research data tools and platforms.
• Experience coordinating student research programs, mentor matching, or scholarly concentration initiatives in health professions education.

Benefits available include health, dental, vision, life and long-term disability insurance, as well as a selection of several defined contribution retirement plans for all full-time positions.…