(C) Rutgers University.
February 14, 2009
By Michael J. Pazzani
Vice President for Research and Graduate and Professional Education
Posted: 02/14/09. Updated 2/16/09.
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(C) Rutgers University. |
Sponsored Research News February 14, 2009 By Michael J. Pazzani Vice President for Research and Graduate and Professional Education Posted: 02/14/09. Updated 2/16/09. | |
Back issues of this newsletter are available at http://vpr.rutgers.edu.
Economic Stimulus and Federal Agencies The economic stimulus plan has now passed the house and senate and is expected to be signed by President Obama on Monday. Here are some key provisions of one-time funds that affect federal agencies.
This section outlines current plans on how NSF, DOE Office of Science, and NIH may spend economic stimulus funds. In general, in the short term, the best approach is to apply to existing programs and talk with your program officer for supplementary funding (e.g., for equipment) or special opportunities. In the intermediate term, some new programs will be created at all these agencies. The information on NSF and DOE was obtained at the Universities Research Association Council of Presidents Annual Meeting and Policy Forum that I attended in Washington, D.C. on February 4, 2009. Dr. Arden Bement, Director of the National Science Foundation, and Dr. Patricia Dehmer, Acting Head, Department of Energy, Office of Science, spoke at this meeting. Acting NIH Director Raynard Kington has been quoted in the press on NIH plans. The National Science Foundation mostly plans to spend funds on proposals submitted through existing mechanisms in FY09 with a goal of having a 30% acceptance rate. In addition, a higher acceptance rate for NSF Graduate Fellowships is anticipated. There will not be an additional solicitation for the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program but NSF hopes to have a high acceptance rate for proposals under review. NSF will encourage the use of EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) awards, two-year awards of up to $300,000 (see http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf09_1/gpg_2.jsp#IID2), particularly for proposers that have been recently declined with promising ideas that do not have enough preliminary results to be promising. If you have recently been declined by NSF and were close, it pays to talk with the program officer about the availability of an EAGER grant to fund the first year or two of the project. If you have an NSF grant, supplements may be available for equipment or undergraduate support (see http://aresty.rutgers.edu/infoforfaculty.htm for an example two-page proposal). NSF is considering reinstating (and updating) the Academic Research Infrastructure Program from the 1990s for one time (see http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/stis1992/nsf91140/nsf91140.txt). This program provided funds for refurbishing buildings, laboratories and included the purchase of new equipment. NSF is also considering a program that would support greater broadband capability at research universities. NSF will also create a program to support students enrolling in professional sciences master’s programs. Details on these future programs may be announced in the next few months. Patricia Dehmer, Department of Energy, indicated that the Office of Science has existing proposals under review for $4.6B competing for $1.6B of funding and the Office of Science is not likely to create additional new competitions. It should be noted that DOE also has a large amount of funding outside of the Office of Science and some funds will be used to enhance facilities, particularly at national labs. (see http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do?mode=AGENCYSEARCH&agency=DOE for all DOE funding announcements). It should be stressed that good communication with program officials is very helpful in identifying opportunities, areas, and strategies. Acting Director Raynard Kington reports that NIH is planning three mechanisms to spend the stimulus funds. The first would be a new call for challenge grant proposals involving "topics in which there have been scientific or technical challenges.” Researchers would apply for accelerated review for awards of up to $500,000 a year for 2 years. The second means by which NIH may spend some of the stimulus money is on standard investigator grants (R01s) that score well in peer review. Finally, Kington reports that NIH might also add to the size of the awards made to investigators. See http://www.niaid.nih.gov/ncn/qa/supplements.htm for information on NIH supplements. Like other agencies, communications with program officials on the status of submitted proposals, supplements and new opportunities is essential. Please note that Sally J. Rockey, NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research, will be visiting Rutgers on Feb 20. She will give a talk on NIH Funding at 11:00 AM in the Fiber Optics Auditorium, Busch Campus — 101 Bevier Rd., Piscataway, NJ 08854. It is hoped that the NIH plans for FY2009 will be clearer then, particularly for infrastructure funds and any special two-year program that may be created. One NIH supplement worth pointing out in these times provides funding for adding a female researcher returning to academic research to a grant. (see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-04-126.html). This may include researchers let go from jobs in the pharmaceutical industry. If you are interested in applying for such a grant, Joan Bennett, Associate Vice-President for Promotion of Women in Science, Engineering and Mathematics, has offered to help identify candidates. This section is intended to highlight only the federal agency portion of the economic stimulus package. Additional portions of the package relevant to higher education but not covered here include increases in student aid and block grants to states for infrastructure including academic infrastructure. http://www.aau.edu/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=8328 has a summary of how the economic stimulus package affects universities. The entire bill is online at http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/Recovery_JS_DivA.pdf. The stimulus package is intended to be one-time funds awarded to the agencies in FY2009 and FY2010. Finally, it should be noted that the stimulus package is an addition to the FY2009 budget of these agencies and the FY2009 budget has not yet been passed. Of course, the proposed increase in the base budget of federal agencies is of importance to the long-term health of academic R&D. [Top] Department of Education Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need. The Department of Education has begun accepting applications for Fiscal Year 2009 Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) awards. Approximately 107 new awards will be made, at an estimated average amount of $213,000. The program is expected to have funding of $22.7 million available for new awards, although final FY 09 appropriations have not yet been enacted. GAANN fellowships are available to institutions whose graduate students are pursuing the highest degree available in their field, are financially in need of assistance, and are excelling academically. Applications must be for the following fields of study: biology, chemistry, computer and information sciences, engineering, mathematics, nursing, physics, and educational assessment, evaluation, and research. There is an invitational priority for educational assessment, evaluation, and research programs that focus on preparing students to become psychometricians. Applications are due March 16, 2009. Applications are available at http://www.ed.gov/programs/gaann/applicant.html Several faculty and senior grants specialist Michael Mueller attended a workshop on GAANN in Washington recently. A sakai site has been set up with examples of funded proposals. A workshop will be held for those interested in applying. Contact Michael Mueller (micmuell@vpr.rutgers.edu) to gain access to the sakai site. There is no limit on the number of proposals Rutgers may submit. Drafts of proposals completed by March 6, 2009, will receive an internal review with the goal of identifying areas to improve to increase the chance of success. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of following the instructions and format of the GAANN proposal. Stephen Greenfield, of the Math Department, has reviewed for GAANN and he reports being instructed to subtract 3 points from a proposal (eliminating it for funding), because the proposal did not mention that the university had a library, although he had been in that library. [Top] Workshops: NSF CAREER Awards - Mar 4 (NB) & Mar 6 (Newark & Camden) NSF’s CAREER Award is prestigious and opens doors for further funding opportunities. Although the deadline for the CAREER award to ORSP is July 14, 2009, it pays to plan early. Last year, Rutgers faculty had an acceptance rate of greater than 50% for CAREER proposals although the overall acceptance rate was less than 25%. This year, NSF plans on trying to increase the acceptance rate of CAREER. The Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate and Professional Education is sponsoring Rutgers 7th annual NSF CAREER Award Workshop. The purpose is to provide valuable information to faculty AND DEPARTMENT CHAIRS of faculty eligible to submit proposals to the NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503214. This workshop will support faculty in obtaining these awards by giving them knowledge and insight to compete effectively. New Brunswick Campus Wed - March 4 3:00-5:00 p.m. CoRE Building, Rm 701, Busch Campus Directions to CoRE - http://maps.rutgers.edu/building.aspx?id=88
Fri.- March 6 1:00-3:30 p.m. Conklin Hall, Rm 449, Newark Campus Directions to Conklin Hall - http://maps.rutgers.edu/building.aspx?id=457 (Will be teleconferenced to the Dean's Conference Room, Armitage Hall, Camden). Directions to Armitage Hall - http://maps.rutgers.edu/building.aspx?id=442 But wait, there’s more… Attendees at either event will be eligible for a free train ticket to Washington to visit the National Science Foundation. [Top] It never pays to take shortcuts in preparing proposals. With electronic submissions, it is simple to identify sections of proposals that are taken from the literature or other proposals. Below are two recent examples from the Office of Inspector General at NSF. A Utah university received an allegation that a professor took an unfunded postdoctoral fellowship grant his former doctoral student wrote, copied the text, made a few minor changes, and submitted the proposal to NSF as sole PI. The professor’s proposal, which was funded by NSF, did not acknowledge the student, and the student was apparently unaware of its submission. The university’s inquiry concluded a full investigation was warranted. The university’s investigation committee found a preponderance of the evidence proved the subject recklessly plagiarized the student’s words. The committee, however, found insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegation of intellectual theft. The subject resigned from the university and the university took no further action. The university terminated the award prior to the expenditure of any funds, and NSF was able to put the $120,000 to better use. A PI from an Illinois institution plagiarized text and citations from multiple source documents into four NSF proposals. Our office initiated an inquiry based on an allegation that a PI plagiarized into three proposals. During the inquiry, the PI stated he had permission to use some of the text, and he claimed he had not paid close attention to work by his students that he incorporated into some of the proposals. We were not persuaded by the PI’s explanation of events, and decided to refer the investigation to his institution. The institution’s inquiry committee reviewed the matter and determined there was no misconduct because: 1) the plagiarism was in the background section of the proposals; 2) none of the proposals was funded; 3) the PI admitted his mistake; and 4) the PI had received permission, albeit after the fact, to use much of the material. The institution counseled the PI, closed the case, and recommended no sanctions be imposed. After carefully reviewing its report, we determined that the institution’s inquiry was not sufficiently thorough. The committee did not verify the PI’s explanation that he used his students’ project reports in copying the material, and it did not look into what the PI told the authors of some of the source documents when he sought and received after-the-fact permission to use their text. We initiated our own investigation, and discovered a fourth proposal that contained a significant amount of copied text, which the PI also failed to adequately explain. We contacted the authors of two source documents that according to the PI, had given him after-the-fact permission for him to use portions of their text. Both authors responded with deep concern and surprise at the amount of copied text involved, and both said that the PI had not adequately described the full degree of copying. We concluded that the PI committed research misconduct when he plagiarized text in four NSF proposals. NSF agreed with our recommended finding, debarred the subject for one year, required certifications and assurances for 3 years, barred him from peer review for 3 yrs, and required him to complete a course in research ethics. Source: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/oig0901/oig0901.pdf Getting undergraduates and high school students involved in research There are numerous programs at Rutgers, e.g., RISE, Aresty, Rutgers Futures Scholars, etc. that seek faculty mentors for undergraduates, high school, or middle schools students. The type of mentoring varies from giving a single talk appropriate for the age group to involving students in a summer research project. Of course, this interests students in pursuing higher education and research careers. It also is a way of meeting the “broader impact” requirement of NSF and other proposals. It is useful to have a record of participating in such activities before apply for grants. If you are interested in mentoring one or more students, please send an e-mail to Brianne Yuen (bryuen@vpr.rutgers.edu) with just a sentence on your research area and the type of mentoring (single talk or research experience) you would like to participate in. My office will help to provide matching between faculty and the various programs. Funding of students is usually provided by the existing programs, but if you have funding as well, please make that known. [Top] General Electric Talk – Feb 16 On 2/16/09 at 10:45 a.m., Mr. Scott Forbes, V.P. of GE Technology Ventures, will give a presentation about ways in which GE is looking to collaborate with university researchers and support commercialization of Rutgers technologies. The presentation will take place at CAIT Building, Auditorium, 100 Brett Road, Busch Campus. Parking is available in Lots 54 or 68. http://maps.rutgers.edu/building.aspx?id=1087 NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research at Rutgers - Feb 20 Sally J. Rockey, PhD Deputy Director for Extramural Research Topic: NIH Opportunities Dr. Rockey will discuss opportunities for funding at NIH. Dr. Rockey received her PhD in Entomology in 1985 from The Ohio State University. She is active on a number of Federal intergovernmental committees related to science, research, grants management and electronic government, and collaborates closely with the scientific community. She has been honored by receiving the Presidential Rank Award in 2004 which recognizes and celebrates a small group of senior career employees. More than 80% of the annual NIH budget, or approximately $25 billion, is disbursed as extramural funding. http://www.nih.gov/about/almanac/historical/deputy_directors.htm#rockey
Directions to Fiber Optics Building - http://maps.rutgers.edu/building.aspx?133 Rutgers Distinguished Faculty Talk Series: 4:00 PM - Mar 2 March 2, 2009, 4:00 pm (Refreshments at 3:30 pm) Introduction by Dean Douglas Greenberg. In recent years scholars have been exploring the visual languages of painting and sculpture not just "as a formative tool for political struggle," but as a "location for ongoing political conflict" [David Craven] Sculptural themes of the 1940s suggest that this art production is more divergent ideologically than has been previously recognized. This paper will introduce themes that appear in sculpture of the 1940s, and the historical factors that problematize these works. Sculptors are revealed as both subverting American attitudes toward technological developments, while serving her cultural ascendancy. Advances in technology which had evoked positive responses among artists of the 1930s, now assumed sinister connotations. The promise of a world of peace and prosperity based on the successful utilization of scientific progress was irrevocably broken. Professor Marter is the author of books on sculptors Alexander Calder (Cambridge) and Theodore Roszak (Washington) and many articles and essays. She has organized numerous exhibitions and written catalogue essays, including Off Limits: Rutgers University and the Avant-Garde, 1957-63, and she was co-author of American Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, volume II (Yale). Her recent publication is Abstract Expressionism, The International Context (Rutgers). Marter has been editor of the Woman's Art Journal since 2005. Broadcast live on RU-TV http://rutv.rutgers.edu/ruiptv.shtml Directions to Fiber Optics
Building - http://maps.rutgers.edu/building.aspx?133 Next Talk: Monday Apr 6 2009 Putting the Breaks on Alzheimer’s Disease, Karl Herrup, Cell Biology & Neuroscience [Top] The Rutgers Green Computing Initiative Computing Coordination Council (CCC)Second Call for Proposals (Deadline 04/06/09) Program Contact: Prof. Manish Parashar; CCC Chair: D. Raychaudhuri Motivation: Computing and communications are an integral part of society’s IT infrastructure, affecting every aspect of life, including services related to health, banking, commerce, defense, education and entertainment. The increasing demands for computing and storage, and as a result, the growing scales of enterprise computing environments, networks and datacenters have made issues related to power consumption, heat generation and cooling requirements of critical concern – both in terms of the growing operating costs (power and cooling) as well as their environmental and societal impacts. Many current datacenters consume more power than the cities they are in, which is not a sustainable model as the rate at which we are adding computing resources far exceeds the available and planned power capacities. The EPA recently reported that energy used by datacenters by 2011 is estimated to cost $7.4 B (15 power plants, 15 Gwatts/hour peak). In fact, one survey by the Uptime Institute (http://uptimeinstitute.org/) showed that 42% of respondents claim that they would run out of power capacity in 2-5 years. Power and cooling rates are increasing by an alarming 8 fold every year and are becoming the dominant part of IT budgets. Green computing is the study and practice of realizing environmentally friendly computing ecosystems, and includes issues ranging from maximizing energy efficiency and power and cooling requirements to promoting recyclability or biodegradability of defunct products and factory waste. This is a topic of current interest in both industry and academia, and motivates a number of challenging research issues ranging from low-power hardware design to power efficient protocols and software. Objective: The overarching goal of the Rutgers Green Computing Initiative is to build upon existing strengths and ongoing research efforts at Rutgers to nucleate a university-wide multi-disciplinary research and education program that will establish Rutgers as a national and international leader in this emerging and important area. This initiative plans to bring together faculty, researchers, graduate and undergraduate students, as well as industrial partners to conduct fundamental and applied multi-disciplinary research in the field of green computing and communications. At the same time, the CCC Green Computing Initiative aims at changing the way research and education are coupled together by providing students with new and attractive opportunities to study inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary green computing-infused programs. It is also expected that this initiative will provide great opportunities for technology transfer into new products as well as the development of a highly trained workforce in the field. For further information about this initiative, please visit http://nsfcac.rutgers.edu/greencomputing/ or contact Manish Parashar at parashar@rutgers.edu or Dipankar Raychaudhuri at ray@winlab.rutgers.edu. Second Call for Proposals: Seed-funding for Multi-disciplinary Research Initiatives in Green Computing: Limited funding for young faculty (Assistant and Associate Professors) will be available to seed multi-disciplinary collaborative projects relative to the focus theme of green computing. The program will be managed by the office of the VP of Research and Graduate and Professional Education in consultation with CCC members. A key goal of the funding is to seed cross-disciplinary collaborations across Rutgers that are responsive to current or upcoming initiatives at the state and federal levels. Proposals will be due in on April 06, 2009, and funding decisions will be made in 4-6 weeks. Note that the proposals must have an Assistant or Associate Professor as lead PI. The proposal may include senior faculty members as Co-PIs. Additional details, including proposal format and other requirements and submission details, will be posted at the http://nsfcac.rutgers.edu/greencomputing/. Please contact Michael Pazzani, VP Research and Graduate and Professional Education at pazzani@rutgers.edu or Dipankar Raychaudhuri at ray@winlab.rutgers.edu for more information on the program. Call for Participation: Investigative Workshop on Green Computing: The CCC will host an investigative workshop aimed at identifying opportunities and for cross-disciplinary research synergies and collaborations at Rutgers. The workshop will be scheduled in Spring 2009 semester (tentatively on March 11, 2009) and will involve invited presentations, discussion about applications, technologies and underlying research issues relevant to green computing as well as current and upcoming national initiatives and funding opportunities. Additional information will be posted at the website listed above. The workshop organizing committee will include faculty from related units at the university. Individuals interested in presenting or participating in the workshop should contact Manish Parashar at parashar@rutgers.edu. Research Council Grant Program – Due Apr 6 The Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate and Professional Education announces the FY2009-10 Research Council Grant Program. By means of small grants, the Research Council supports studies leading to significant outside funding and publication in all fields of learning represented in the University as well as creative work in the arts. Applicants may request funds for a variety of needs, such as equipment and supplies, help, publication subvention, research colloquia, and essential travel related to research - in short, funds to cover expenses directly related to research and to other creative endeavors. Additional information, application forms and instructions for completing the application are available on the Office of the Vice President for Research website at http://vpr.rutgers.edu. Applications must be submitted through the electronic submission website. Instructions for electronic submissions will be posted to the website on March 2. Proposals are due by 5:00 P.M. on April 6, 2009. Hard copy and late applications will not be accepted. [Top] Error in Last Newsletter: $191M not $191K In the last newsletter, I mentioned that Rutgers received over $191,600 in new grants in the first six months of the fiscal year. The actual figure is over $191,600,000. I’d like to thank the numerous people who pointed out this error, as well as the over 2000 faculty that did not. [Top] Here are NSF programs whose deadlines have not yet passed that are likely to receive additional funds and have higher acceptance rates in FY09. Supplement opportunities are shown first. More details on upcoming programs are available at http://nsf.gov/funding/pgm_list.jsp?org=NSF&ord=date.
Michael J. Pazzani Last Updated 2/16/09. |
