Operation Mindshift – Overview
Georgetown’s Operation Mindshift is a new initiative designed to help faculty build strategic resilience by expanding how they think about research funding. The program introduces practical approaches for identifying and pursuing diverse sources of support—including corporate partnerships, philanthropic funding, foundation grants, and commercialization opportunities—alongside traditional federal pathways. Through hands-on workshops, pathway-specific sessions, and targeted coaching, faculty will gain tools to communicate research value, build key relationships, and align their work with market needs. Operation Mindshift complements Georgetown’s existing resources and supports faculty in developing sustainable, high-impact research portfolios. A short video introducing the initiative is available here and the program was presented at the June 10th, 2025 GU Medical Center Research Committee meeting.
Operation Mindshift – Intake Form
Georgetown University Research, Funding, and Collaboration Support Intake Form
The goal of this intake form is to provide a simple, easy-to-use mechanism for faculty to initiate engagement with Georgetown’s diverse research support resources, such as the Office of Institutional Partnerships (OIP), the Joint Office of Research Administration (JORA), the Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC), and GUMC’s Grant Development Services (GDS) through Faculty Development. This centralized form is intended to help triage faculty requests and direct them to the most appropriate office and experts.
The form aims to capture key information about the faculty’s research and their specific needs. Our goal is to facilitate proactive business development approaches for securing sustainable funding, fostering a ‘mindshift’ from a sole focus on traditional and ‘reactive’ grant seeking.
Operation Mindshift – Workshops
Operation Mindshift Session #2 – Value Propositions for Non-Federal Sponsors
Join us for the next Operation Mindshift session, a hands-on workshop focused on strategically reframing your research for non-federal sponsors. This intensive session is designed to help you translate your academic work into compelling value propositions for diverse funders. The session will begin with brief presentations from our experts in industry, foundations, and government relations, highlighting key strategies for each area. Following this, you will rotate through small-group breakout sessions, receiving targeted feedback on your pivoting your project summary to multiple funders.
Pre-Requisites: To maximize the value of this session, we require all participants to submit by September 11th, 2025, 5 PM EST, a ~100 word project summary answering:
- What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon.
- What is new in your approach and why do you think it will be successful?
- Who cares? What difference will it make?
- A list of up to 3 non-federal sponsors or partners that you would like to target.
Target Audience: Georgetown investigators who want to position their research to be competitive for non-federal sponsors. This session has a limit of 30 participants to ensure high-quality, personalized engagement.
Date/Time: September 22nd, 2025 | 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM EST
Presenters:
- Katy Button, Office of Federal Relations
- Melissa Layman, Joint Office of Research Administration (JORA)
- Tatiana Litvin-Vechnyak, Office of Technology Commercialization
- Becky Pfordresher, Office of Institutional Partnerships
- Kristi Graves, Office of Faculty and Academic Affairs
- Jessica Venable, Thorn Run Partners
The Operation Mindshift Session #1 workshop took place on July 18th, 2025 at 10:00 AM EST.
Pivot-RP Guide
Pivot-RP is a comprehensive, searchable database of external funding opportunities, featuring over 13,000 federal, non-federal, and international sponsors across all disciplines. Researchers can conduct broad keyword searches or create personalized profiles to receive customized search results and email alerts for new opportunities that align with their specific criteria.
Thorn Run Partners Presentations
Demystifying the Application Process and Resources Available for NIH Career Development Grants
DOD Funding for Natural, Physical, and Basic Science Investigators
Federal Funding Applications for Social Science and Humanities Research