As faculty members of primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs), we have successfully developed research programmes with our students despite funding and collaborator limitations (Nature 477, 239–241; 2011). Long-term research at PUIs is challenging, but feasible.

To improve our research productivity, we have set up collaborative research networks with other PUIs. Through our Ecological Research as Education Network (EREN, comprising 72 PUIs), we are helping each other to develop grant proposals, research protocols, data sets and manuscripts, and are teaching students through multi-institutional, collaborative research (D. R. Bowne et al. BioScience 61, 386–392; 2011).

Internal research funding, including start-up packages, varies widely among institutions. In a survey of 50 ecology faculty members from PUIs at the Ecological Society of America's 2011 annual meeting, 30% of respondents reported no internal support for research equipment and supplies, and 51% said there was none for student-researcher stipends. Inter-institutional networks enable faculty members to share research resources at minimal cost.

PUI faculty members are creative in seeking research funding. For example, the same survey revealed that 94 funding sources had been successfully accessed, including US government agencies.

PUI faculty members often collect long-term data during undergraduate courses and in independent research, although better coordination is needed to enhance the scientific and educational impact of this work. Members of EREN have shared research protocols with many institutions to answer continental-scale questions.