IN THE NEWS
Purchasing offers acquisition guide for researchers
The UT Purchasing Office has issued a set of guidelines to help principal investigators understand their options when they need to acquire equipment or services.
The guidelines detail four options for purchasing equipment costing less than $5,000, two options for purchases between $5,000 and $25,000, and the process for purchasing items costing more than $25,000. The Purchasing Office can offer assistance when PIs have found an alternate vendor whose price is less than the price in an already-existing contract.
Visit http://purchasing.tennessee.edu/ or call Purchasing at 865-974-3311.
Office of Research to provide interim support for research projects
The increasing competition for declining governmental dollars for research has prompted the Office of Research to create a Bridge Funding program. The program will provide interim support to continue externally funded research projects that have demonstrated a likelihood of continued funding pending resubmission. Bridge funding is not intended to substitute for outside research funding, but rather to provide limited, interim funding to an investigator who has applied for, but failed to receive, funding for ongoing well-established research.
Any full time faculty member who is a PI on a grant funded for at least three consecutive years by a national agency or organization with a bona fide scientific peer-review and whose application for continued support from that or another national funding agency has not been funded, shall be eligible for bridge funding for up to $50,000 from the Office of Research. Only grants and contracts that support a research project will be eligible for bridge funding. Grants that are primarily for a demonstration project, a training program, or a postdoctoral fellowship are ineligible.
Having repeatedly applied for funding is one of the major requirements for receiving bridge funding. Normally, the applicant should have submitted a competitive application during the last year of the extramural funding cycle. Eligible requests for review are restricted to proposals having an outstanding chance of obtaining funding in the next round of submission.
If funding runs out without a renewal application for continued funding having been submitted and scored, then the PI is not eligible for bridge funding. Furthermore, the faculty member must agree to continue reapplying for extramural funding in the same research area. Awards may not cover budget reductions in existing awards or cost overruns from previous awards.
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Vice chancellor holds meeting to introduce budget process for centers, institutes
Vice Chancellor Brad Fenwick has announced a budgeting process that will let existing research centers and institutes, as well as newly formed centers, compete in an open, transparent, and productivity-based process to seek support from the university’s limited research resources.
“Emerging centers associated with a defined group of faculty working in defined areas of inquiry are also invited to participate,” Fenwick said.
The new process will be explained in an informational meeting at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, November 21, in the Shiloh Room at the University Center.
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Nominations for Chancellor’s Awards
The nominating process has opened for the faculty awards the chancellor of UT Knoxville makes at the yearly Chancellor’s Honors Banquet. Greg Reed, associate vice chancellor for research, is soliciting 2009 nominations for:
- Professional Promise in Research and Creative Achievement Awards, which honor assistant or associate professors who have no more than 10 years professional experience beyond their terminal degree; and
- Research and Creative Achievement Awards, which recognize tenured faculty with more than 10 years of professional experience.
The awards are intended to recognize national or international achievement among faculty and to stimulate research and creative achievement among faculty at all levels. Four faculty in each category will be honored. Winners of the awards will receive a certificate and a $3,000 award at the banquet on April 8, 2009.
More information for Professional Promise in Research and Creative Achievement Awards
More information for Research and Creative Achievement Awards
OPPORTUNITIES
National Science Foundation
Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE)
The NSF PIRE program seeks to encourage a high level of international engagement in the U.S. science and engineering community by supporting innovative international research and education collaborations. The program will enable U.S. scientists and engineers to establish collaborative relationships with international colleagues in order to advance new knowledge and discoveries at the frontiers of science and engineering and to promote the development of a diverse, globally-engaged U.S. scientific and engineering workforce.
NOTE: May require internal competition. The solicitation specifically encourages preproposals that go beyond the level of a PI’s research group, among other desirable characteristics.
Submission limits: UT as accredited may submit no more than three preliminary proposals. Full proposals will be by invitation only.
Deadlines:
Internal notification of interest byDecember 1, 2008
Completed preliminary proposal to UTOR by February 20, 2009
ADVANCE—Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Careers
The goal of the ADVANCE program is to develop systemic approaches to increase the representation and advancement of women in academic science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers, thereby contributing to the development of a more diverse science and engineering workforce. The program supports three types of project: (1) Institutional Transformation (IT), (2) Institutional Transformation Catalyst (IT Catalyst), and (3) Partnerships for Adaptation, Implementation, and Dissemination (PAID).
NOTE: May require internal competition.
Submission limits: UT as accredited may submit either one IT proposal or one IT Catalyst proposal. There are no institutional limits on the number of PAID proposals that can be submitted.
Deadlines:
PAID letter of intent to NSF by January 20, 2009
Full proposal to UTOR by February 18, 2009
IT and IT-Catalyst statement of intent to UTOR by March 2, 2009 (competition will be announced if necessary)
Letter of intent to NSF by August 4, 2009
Full proposal to UTOR by November 6, 2009
ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
Cancer Research Grant Program
The Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation is accepting applications for innovative grants for translational research in ovarian, uterine, breast, or cervical cancer. At least eight grants of up to $100,000 will be awarded for a two-year project.
Submission limits: Only one application will be accepted from each eligible institution.
Deadlines:
Internal statement of intent by December 1, 2008
Proposal to UTOR by February 9, 2009 at 8:00 a.m.
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William A. Klinger Memorial Award
The Associated General Contractors of America is soliciting proposals for applied research that provides technological and managerial advancements with applications that are specific to the construction industry and that explore potential remedies for existing and projected escalating materials costs for general contractors.
Submission limits: UT can submit only one proposal.
Deadline: Proposal to UTOR by December 2, 2008 at 8:00 a.m.
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Studying Complex Systems--21st Century Science Collaborative Activity
The James S. McDonnell Foundation’s Complex Systems program supports scholarship and research on the development of theoretical and mathematical tools that can be applied to the study of complex, nonlinear systems. Research funded by this program will likely be in biology, biodiversity, climate, demography, epidemiology, and similar fields. The focus is on the development and application of theoretical models.
Deadline: Proposals accepted continuously.
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School-Based Interventions to Prevent Obesity
The National Institutes of Health is sponsoring a program to form partnerships between academic institutions and school systems in order to develop and implement controlled, school-based strategies designed to reduce the prevalence of obesity in childhood and evaluate different intervention strategies.
Deadline: Complete proposal to UTOR by January 30, 2009 at 8:00 a.m. (NOTE: A second round of proposals is due June 5, 2009)
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Environment and Sustainability Grants
The Compton Foundation is soliciting proposals that advance ecologically healthy, economically sustainable, and socially just visions for the management of water in the western United States, reduce the country’s contribution to global climate change, and promote community-based strategies to support healthy ecosystems and thriving rural communities. While some of the programs are prioritized around states in the American West, the foundation also funds projects of national significance.
Deadlines: March 7 and September 7, 2009
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Environmental Education Grants Program
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) solicits Environmental Education Grant proposals to support environmental education projects that promote environmental stewardship and help develop knowledgeable and responsible students, teachers, and citizens. This grant program provides financial support for innovative projects that design, demonstrate, or disseminate environmental education practices, methods, or techniques.
Deadline: December 18, 2008
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Next Generation Design Competition
Metropolis Magazine’s competition promotes activism, social involvement, and entrepreneurship in young designers. Project must embody the core values of good design while forwarding thinking on what designers can accomplish. The 2009 competition seeks entries that address rising energy costs.
Deadline: January 30, 2009
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