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Research Faculty and Staff,
As many of you know, undergraduate research is near and dear to me. It’s how I got my start in research and I know it’s how many of you developed a love for discovery.
I encourage you to offer your assistance at the 2009 Undergraduate Research Poster Session.
This second-annual event offers students the opportunity to display their work and gather feedback about the exciting things they are doing.
You can help by offering programmatic or departmental resources to students in need of poster printing, or even plan to attend the session to give feedback to student presenters.
More details will be available soon about the 2009 session. I encourage you to contact Cheri Westmoreland at cheri.westmoreland@uc.edu if you have questions or would like to offer assistance.
Please also see the notice below about NIH stipends for summer undergraduate students.
As always, we welcome your feedback and encourage you to check out research.uc.edu.
NEWS/GRANTS
Conflicts of Interest
A March 28 New York Times article focused on three Harvard medical researchers who have been subpoenaed by federal prosecutors seeking information related to potential conflicts of interest. Research conflicts of interest are becoming an increasingly talked-about topic and institutions across the country are reviewing their own policies with regard to conflicts. Attached to this month’s Research Update is a draft institutional conflicts-of-interest policy. I encourage you to review this document and share your feedback with me at sandra.degen@uc.edu.
NIH Support for Undergraduate Students
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is providing supplements to existing NIH grants to support stipends for undergraduate students working on research projects. More information is available in the recent newsletter from Dr. Raynard Kington, acting director of the NIH, at www.nih.gov/about/director/newsletter/newsletter.htm. For those of you writing supplements, it is important that you understand the comprehensive nature of our summer undergraduate research programs at UC and Cincinnati Children’s. View programs. These programs have received hundreds of applications from qualified students. If you are interested in a student, please contact the appropriate program directors and I am sure that they will help identify a student for you. We would like to place as many students as possible in our laboratories. These students are the future of science and it would be great to have UC as the place where they started their scientific career.
NIH ‘Grand Opportunities’
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has established a new program titled Research and Research Infrastructure “Grand Opportunities” (GO grants). This new program will support projects that address large, specific biomedical and bio-behavioral research endeavors that will benefit from significant two-year funds without the expectation of continued NIH funding beyond two years. The research supported by the “GO” grants program should have high short-term impact, and a high likelihood of enabling growth and investment in biomedical research and development, public health, and health care delivery. Only applications with budgets greater than $500,000 in total costs per year for a project period of two years are expected to be considered. The total annual cost for individual awards is expected to vary, depending on the scope of the project and the number of participating institutions. Letters of intent are due April 27, with proposals due May 27. More information is available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-09-004.html.
NIH Award to Support New Faculty Recruitment
As part of its implementation plan for the Recovery Act, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) invites P30 applications from U.S academic institutions/organizations to support the hiring of newly recruited faculty to develop research projects within the context of Biomedical Core Centers. For this announcement, a Biomedical Core Center is defined as a community of multidisciplinary researchers focusing on areas of biomedical research relevant to NIH, such as centers, departments, programs, and/or transdepartmental collaborations or consortia. These awards are designed to enhance innovative programs of excellence by providing scientific and programmatic support for promising research faculty and their areas of research. Up to $100 million is available for awards. This announcement replaces the P30 announcement issued last week and clarifies NIH’s intent in creating the new initiative. Fourteen of the NIH’s institutes are participating in this $100 million solicitation, which will provide support for up to two years. Newly recruited research faculty who receive support under the award should be new to the faculty and should be appointed to an independent tenure-track (or equivalent) research position at the assistant professor level. More information is available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-09-005.html. If you are interested in this program, please notify Sandra Degen at sandra.degen@uc.edu no later than April 10. Please indicate to which institute you would like to apply.
NSF to Release Funds
The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) final plans for its $3 billion in stimulus funding have still not been approved by the White House. However, NSF has posted fact sheets confirming the outline of the spending plans. The documents that NSF have released with the available information on stimulus policies to date are a fact sheet (www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=114483), a list of frequently asked questions (www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09038/nsf09038.jsp), and a letter from the director (www.nsf.gov/pubs/issuances/in131.jsp). In addition to NSF plans to support research with stimulus funds, NSF also is planning to support the study of the effects of the stimulus funding on both the ecology of innovation and on the science and engineering enterprise. See www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09034/nsf09034.jsp for more information.
More Funding Opportunities
Remember to check Researcher’s Gateway regularly for updates on funding opportunities—particularly those related to the stimulus. Recent announcements from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Education and the National Science Foundation are available.
Monthly Research Data Available on Gateway
It’s important—particularly in difficult funding times—to monitor progress of sponsored research awards and expenditures. Monthly reports for the university and each college are available on Researcher’s Gateway under the “Grants” link. Data for fiscal year 2009 (July through January) shows a 5.4 percent increase in expenditures over the same period in fiscal year 2008—with engineering and pharmacy still showing the greatest expenditure increases. Totals are still being figured for February and March. Funding is still down slightly over fiscal year 2008, with the gap widening by about .5 percent; however, we expect to see a reversal in this trend over the coming months due to the March signing of the federal budget that supports our primary sponsors. In addition, we are already submitting proposals for supplemental funds for National Institutes of Health (NIH) projects that will be supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). We anticipate that the NIH will prioritize the release of ARRA-supported awards to meet the goal set by the President of getting stimulus funds into the local economies as rapidly as possible.
Reminder: Interdisciplinary Grant Applications Due Friday
Applications are due at 5 p.m., Friday, April 3, for the spring 2009 Interdisciplinary Faculty Research Support Program from the University Research Council. Up to four $25,000 grants will be awarded. This program is designed to support pilot research projects that are part of a collaborative effort between faculty in two or more disciplines. The goal is for these projects to eventually earn national funding. Proposals will be evaluated based on the scholarly merit of the proposed activities, innovativeness of the proposed interdisciplinary program, capabilities of the principal investigators, how the funds will be used as seed money for the collection of preliminary data and future efforts to obtain funds from other sources. Application instructions and materials can be found at uc.edu/ucResearch/funding_opportunities.html. For more information, contact Linda Minton at linda.minton@uc.edu.
New Grants Awarded in March
Writing winning grants is tough. We understand the hard work that goes into preparing a proposal and want to make sure that effort doesn’t go unnoticed. Check out your great work—and that of your colleagues—at uc.edu/ucresearch/new_grant_winners.html.
Deadlines Approaching for 2009 Grant-Writing Workshops
Applications are still being accepted for some of the 2009 grant-writing workshops Application materials and eligibility details are available at uc.edu/ucResearch/GrantWritingWorkshop.html.
OVALS Conference Underway
The Ohio Valley Affiliates for Life Sciences (OVALS) annual conference is currently underway at the Dayton Marriott Hotel in Dayton. Friday’s session includes full day of presentations on topics related to technology trends and opportunities in the areas of nanoparticles, medical devices, biosafety technologies and stem cell technology. The OVALS Conference is sponsored by UC, Wright State University, University Kentucky, University of Louisville, Ohio University, Air Force Research Laboratory, CincyTechUSA, Bluegrass Business Development Partnership, Edison Biotechnology Institute and the Indiana Health Industry Forum. For more information, visit www.ovalsgroup.org.
A March 28 New York Times article focused on three Harvard medical researchers who have been subpoenaed by federal prosecutors seeking information related to potential conflicts of interest. Research conflicts of interest are becoming an increasingly talked-about topic and institutions across the country are reviewing their own policies with regard to conflicts. Attached to this month’s Research Update is a draft institutional conflicts-of-interest policy. I encourage you to review this document and share your feedback with me at sandra.degen@uc.edu.
EVENTS
UCEAO Conference
Registration is open for “Putting the Pieces Together: The New Energy Paradigm in Research, Education, Business and Public Policy.” The conference, sponsored by the University Clean Energy Alliance of Ohio, will be held April 8–9 at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus, Ohio. More information is available online at www.uceao.org/conference.html.
Ohio Innovation Summit
Don’t miss the Ohio Innovation Summit, formerly the Ohio Nanotechnology Summit, April 20–23 at the Dayton Convention Center. The goal of the summit is to provide networking opportunites with potential collaborators, offer attendees the chance to hear how Ohio industry is transitioning nanotechnology and sensor technology to market, share information about commercial opportunities that exist, explain how Third Frontier investments can assist or enhance your company or institution, and share details about the cutting-edge technology that will provide the commercialization opportunities for the future. Information is available online at www.ohioinnovationsummit.org/.
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