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Research Faculty and Staff,
UC research is now on Twitter—a social networking site that enables users to broadcast short messages of 140 characters or less to interested people, or “followers.”
We’re always looking for new ways to promote the great work of UC’s research faculty and staff, and what better way than through such an evolving social forum? We’ll post updates at www.twitter.com/UCResearch.
Check us out, “follow” us from your own Twitter page, and feel free to offer suggestions about the things you’d like to see us “tweet” about.
Other Twitter pages to check out include www.twitter.com/UCHealthNews and www.twitter.com/UofCincymag. We’ll direct you to other great Twitter feeds in upcoming editions of Update.
As always, we welcome your feedback and encourage you to check out research.uc.edu.
Sandra Degen, PhD
Vice President for Research
NEWS/GRANTS
Research Strategic Plan for Review
The Office of Research is currently preparing an updated strategic plan. We’d like your input. Check out the “announcements” section on Researcher’s Gateway. Share feedback with Sandra Degen at sandra.degen@uc.edu.
Faculty and Staff Campaign
UC is beginning its annual faculty and staff giving campaign. The goal this year is to increase participation, so any contribution you can give would be appreciated. Please note that there are several initiatives within this campaign that support research at UC. They include undergraduate scholarships for students interested in conducting research, endowment funds for recruitment of internationally recognized faculty involved in interdisciplinary research, and research infrastructure, such as support for the Intellectual Property Office and entrepreneurial activities, establishment of an endowment to support graduate stipends in interdisciplinary research and a fund supporting Office of Research initiatives. All of these opportunities are university-wide programs that are not located in one college or discipline. More information is available giveto.uc.edu/giving_initiatives/research_initiatives. If you would like to give now, visit www.donateproudlycincinnati.org.
Fund Established to Support Discovery and Innovation
Steven Boyce, PhD, chairman of the intellectual property (IP) committee, led a year-long committee effort to establish the Intellectual Property Endowment Fund to support discovery and innovation at the University of Cincinnati. The fund is established to help UC faculty protect and commercialize their discoveries that will benefit the region and society. It will support patent protection for UC faculty and help the IP office grow to better serve the needs of the UC faculty and advance technology commercialization. Committee members responsible for creation of the fund include Jason Heikenfeld, PhD, engineering; William Heineman, PhD, chemistry; Christy Holland, PhD, engineering; Antoinette Larkin, PhD, applied science; Dan Vance, PhD, applied science; Doug Nienaber, general counsel, and Anne Chasser, intellectual property office.
Special Event: Biotech Commercialization Forum
Plan to attend the “Forum on Commercializing and Funding Biotechnology Opportunities,” presented by BioEnterprise of Cleveland and sponsored by CincyTechUSA. The event will take place from 4 to 6 p.m., Thursday, May 28, at the Phoenix, 812 Race St., Cincinnati. Experts from BioEnterprise will provide an overview of funding trends, requirements/approaches for obtaining funding and “what’s hot/what’s not” in medical devices, biotechnology and health care services. The discussion will include venture and angel funding, governmental sources, and foundation opportunities. Following the presentation, a panel of investors will provide their perspective as well as address audience questions on funding strategies in the area of biotechnology. A reception with the experts immediately after the presentations will offer another opportunity for networking and asking questions related to your specific interests. For additional information or to register, please contact Dorothy Air, PhD at (513) 558-7339 or e-mail dorothy.air@uc.edu. RSVPs are requested by Monday, May 25.
Shipping Training
In response to your feedback we’ve developed four online training modules on how to ship infectious substances. By regulation anyone who ships infectious substances must be trained biannually. Completion of this training is the responsibility of the individual shipping the infectious substance. For details, visit the news and announcements section under the “Education/Training” link on Researcher’s Gateway.
Grant Application Update
April was a busy month for investigators and Sponsored Research Services (SRS). Nearly 300 grant applications were submitted, as compared with 105 in April 2008. Of the grants submitted, 90 were American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)-supported “challenge” grants. ARRA supplement submissions totaled 93. Cincinnati Children’s researchers submitted 84 challenge grants and 74 supplements. This is an extremely busy time and there are more deadlines to come. Your hard work—and the work of SRS—is very much appreciated. We’ve already had one stimulus grant success and are looking forward to many more.
New Grants Awarded in April
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.
GREEN BITS
The university, as part of the Green Partnership for Greater Cincinnati, is working collaboratively with four other major organizations in the Greater Cincinnati area to reduce its carbon footprint. The coordinator for the group works in the MSB and is looking for opportunities in our labs and offices to improve energy and waste management. Research Update—with the help of Eric Gruenstein, PhD, professor of molecular genetics—provides monthly “greening” tips for research faculty and staff.
Tip #13: Investing My Savings From 'Ecodriving'
So far, these Green Bits have been primarily concerned with things we can do at work to reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) production while saving money for the university or our departments at the same time. This month and next month, for a change, I’m going to focus on a simple way we can save money for ourselves. It’s easy, painless and also reduces GHG production. That’s right, you heard me—this one really does violate the “no pain, no gain” principle.
It’s called “ecodriving.” With just a few, simple behavioral modifications it’s possible to increase the miles per gallon we’re currently getting by about 15 percent. And that’s using only the moderate level of ecodriving principles, not the advanced level which can get 25 percent more mpg!
If you’ve been reading these columns in the past, you know I like numbers, so you won’t be surprised to learn that as soon as I saw these percentages I sat down and did a little calculating to figure out how many dollars I could save for myself. It turns out that I can save about $270 per year. That’s based on my driving 12,000 miles in my 1996 Honda which gets an average of something under 20 mpg and figuring that gas will average out to about $3 per gallon. Over the expected lifetime of my car (I’m guessing 15 years) that would come to about $4,000. So what changes in my lifestyle do I have to make to reap this reward?
I’ll have to stop those jack rabbit starts. It takes a lot more energy to get a car moving than to keep it moving and just a few seconds of high-powered driving can use up as much gas as driving for several minutes at a more measured speed.
If possible, when in heavy traffic, I’ll want to keep on rolling rather than having frequent starts and stops. It can take 20 percent more gas to accelerate from a full stop up to speed than from 5 mph up to speed. Truckers practice this all the time, which is why it sometimes happens that when I glance at my rearview mirror it’s filled with the grill of a giant 18 wheeler that looks like it’s going to ride up my tailpipe. In order to avoid unnecessary stopping and starting, I’m also going to look ahead and try to anticipate stops so I can coast or at least lighten up on the gas pedal. And I’ll have to promise not to honk at the guy in front of me who has a few extra car lengths of space in front of him, since he may be practicing the same kind of ecodriving.
Where traffic lights are synchronized, as many of them are in downtown Cincinnati, I’ll travel at a steady pace. There’s no point in speeding up just to get to a red light before it’s about to change.
Here’s one that surprised me. When I’m going over about 40 mph in the summer time, I should use my air conditioner and keep my windows up. That’s because open windows spoil the aerodynamic flow around the car. Below 40 mph the aerodynamics are not so important. Once the temperature inside is comfortable, I’ll use the recycler position on my A/C so that I’m not constantly cooling off new, hot outside air.
There are additional ways in which I’m going to modify my driving and I’ll talk about those next month. But for now, I figure that even with these few changes in my behavior I’ll be well on my way to those savings I calculated.
I’m planning to use the extra money to buy stock in General Motors.
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