IN THE NEWS

Funds available to support open-access publication

Funding is still available for UT faculty and graduate students who need to pay article-processing charges to publish in open access journals. A pilot program sponsored by the Office of Research and the University Libraries has committed $20,000 to pay fees charged by open access publishers. Open access publications are peer-reviewed like traditional publications. Benefits of open access publishing include:

• Articles are freely available online to readers, increasing the potential for discovery and citation
• Authors retain copyright
• Costs to publish open access journals are generally lower than traditional publishing

The pilot program will be available through June 2009 or until the fund is exhausted. Any open-access journal that makes issues freely available at the time of initial publication will be considered. The Office of Research and UT Libraries will evaluate the program’s usefulness.

Program description, list of open access publishers and application form

Yale fined for misusing grant funds

Irregularities in the spending of federal research funds have cost Yale University more than $7.6 million for violations of the False Claims Act.

The U.S. Attorney for Connecticut announced in December that Yale agreed to a civil settlement of federal charges on two types of violations:

• Yale researchers allegedly transferred funds from federal accounts that were ending to other ongoing federal accounts in order to spend down remaining funds before the expiration of the grants.
• Researchers allegedly charged 100 percent of time and effort in summer months to federal accounts when the work being done was not related to the accounts charged.

Yale cooperated with the federal investigation, which covered funding from the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Science Foundation, the Department of the Army, NASA and a number of other federal agencies.

More information

StatNews name-change shows growth in scope

StatNews, a semiannual publication of the Office of Information Technology, has changed its name to Research Computing News. Robert Muenchen, who edits the newsletter, said that the number and scope of computational tools for faculty and students have expanded beyond statistical applications, necessitating the change. The newsletter serves some 500 researchers on all UT campuses with news of new analytical tools and policies for their use.

New LISTSERV email address: rcnews@listserv.utk.edu
Subscriptions available: http://listserv.utk.edu/archives/rcnews.html
Contact: Robert Muenchen at muenchen@utk.edu

Plant biology video contest begins

A competition for new YouTube videos that illustrate the remarkable aspects of plant life is being held this winter with up to $8,000 available to winners. The deadline for submitting a video is March 1, 2009, and winners will be announced on March 31, 2009. The competition, which is open to everyone, is organized by ChloroFilms, a nonprofit organization directed by Penn State Professor of Biology Daniel Cosgrove. Additional support for the video contest comes from the American Society of Plant Biologists, the Botanical Society of America, and the Canadian Botanical Association.

The goal of the video competition is to encourage a greater appreciation and understanding of plant life through the production of informative, creative, and entertaining videos. The best of the submitted videos will be posted on an easy-to-find website intended to serve the general public and educators at all levels.

Video submissions can be made in three different categories:

• General videos, which are intended for a general audience and do not assume that the viewer has knowledge of technical terms
• Technical videos, which are intended for a technical audience and assume that the viewer has some technical background
• Videos in a series, which are intended for either a general or technical audience and consist of two of more videos that are connected by a common theme

Entry forms and details

OPPORTUNITIES

NSF High-End Computing University Research Activity (HECURA)

The High-End Computing University Research Activity (HECURA) program invites research and education proposals in the areas of I/O, file and storage systems design for efficient, high-throughput data storage, retrieval and management in cases where HEC systems comprise hundreds of thousands to millions of processors.

Deadline: Completed proposal to UT Office of Research -- 8 a.m., April 9, 2009

More information

NSF Ethics Education in Science and Engineering (EESE)

The Ethics Education in Science and Engineering (EESE) program accepts proposals for research and educational projects to improve ethics education in all of the fields of science and engineering that NSF supports, especially in interdisciplinary or inter-institutional contexts. Proposals must focus on improving ethics education for graduate students in those fields, although the proposed programs may benefit advanced undergraduates in addition to graduate students.

Limited Submission: May require internal competition. The University of Tennessee, as accredited, is allowed to submit only one proposal to the ESSE competition. Faculty who are interested in submitting an EESE proposal must express intent to Bill Dockery (dockeryb@utk.edu) and Jim Mazzouccolo (jmazzouc@utk.edu).

Deadlines:
Letter of intent -- February 2, 2009
Completed proposal to UT Office of Research -- February 24, 2009 before 8 a.m.

More information

NSF Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI)

The National Science Foundation’s Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) program seeks to improve the quality of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for all undergraduate students. It especially welcomes proposals that have the potential to transform undergraduate education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for all students. The program supports efforts to create, adapt, and disseminate new learning materials and teaching strategies to reflect advances both in STEM disciplines and in what is known about teaching and learning.

Deadline: Type 1 proposals from Tennessee, May 22, 2009; Type 2 & 3 proposals, January 13, 2010. NOTE: All proposals must be submitted to the UT Office of Research five full business days before the agency due date.

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NSF CISE Pathways to Revitalized Undergraduate Computing Education (CPATH)

Through the CPATH program, CISE challenges the academic community to identify and define the core computing concepts, methods, technologies and tools to be integrated into promising new undergraduate education models, and to demonstrate effective strategies to develop and assess computational thinking competencies in the relevant learning communities. While aimed primarily at revitalizing undergraduate education, CISE encourages the exploration of new models that extend from institutions of higher education into the K–12 environment; activities that engage K–12 teachers and students to facilitate the seamless transition of secondary students into CT-focused undergraduate programs are particularly encouraged.

Deadline: Completed proposal to UT Office of Research -- April 22, 2009 before 8 a.m.

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DOD Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP)

The Department of Defense’s ESTCP has issued a Broad Agency Announcement requesting preproposals for 2010 in the following topics: remediation of contaminated groundwater; in situ management of contaminated sediments; characterization, control, and treatment of range contamination; military munitions detection, discrimination, and remediation; and energy efficiency and renewable energy for DOD installations.

Deadline: Completed proposal to UT Office of Research -- February 27, 2009 before 8 a.m.

Solicitation  |  Archived web seminar (download)

DOD Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP)

The Department of Defense’s SERDP has issued a Broad Agency Announcement requesting proposals involving advanced technologies for detection, discrimination, and remediation of military munitions on land and underwater; innovative control/eradication approaches for the brown tree snake, and replacement of ammonium perchlorate in tactical missile rocket motors.

Deadline: Completed proposal to UT Office of Research -- March 6, 2009 before 8 a.m.

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Toyota Family Literacy Program Grant Opportunity

The National Center for Family Literacy is seeking five school districts to receive an award of $600,000 to implement the Toyota Family Literacy Program in three elementary schools that provide K–3 ecducation. Awards will be made based on a competitive application process. The program focuses specifically on at-risk populations of Hispanic and other immigrant families. According to the program director, university units can apply for the program in conjunction with local school systems.

Deadline has not been announced but the qualifying survey will be posted the week of January 26, 2009.

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21st-Century Scientists Awards: Studying Complex Systems

The James S. McDonnell Foundation is soliciting proposals that will support scholarship and research directed toward the development of theoretical and mathematical tools that can be applied to the study of complex, adaptive, nonlinear systems. Such proposals should address issues in biology, biodiversity, climate, demography, epidemiology, technological change, economic development, governance, or computation. Proposals attempting to apply complex system tools and models to problems where such approaches are not yet considered usual are encouraged.

Deadline: March 27, 2009

More information

News & Opportunities is published by the Office of Research at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.