Research News and Opportunities

OIT Office Helps Researchers with Computing, Analysis

In its mission to help UT researchers use computing and analytic methods, the OIT Research Support group provides a wide array of research software and offers consulting support for faculty and student research projects.

Depending on the type of software resource needed, OIT can

Help a user get software licensed to the researcher’s computer
Provide access to software on a PC or Mac in OIT computer labs
Provide access to the OIT Windows Terminal Server (Apps@UT)
Provide computational services on the university’s Newton Linux cluster.

OIT provides two levels of support for its resources: full and minimal. Fully supported software is recommended, supported, tested, and taught. Minimal support involves only software installation and data import/export.

“When we say we support it fully, that includes support of the research problem itself,” said Bob Muenchen, manager of research computing support for OIT. “We have statisticians, mathematicians, and geographers helping provide a complete solution to research problems.”

Computational resources and consulting support are available for bioinformatics, genetics, data mining, data acquisition & web surveys, graphics & visualization, image analysis, mapping, statistics, and text analysis, as well as scientific, engineering, and math problems. Some 30 software packages are fully supported, and another 25 receive minimal support.

NOTE: Research Computing News, a newsletter about the availability of research software, has been melded with the monthly newsletter published by OIT.

Contact: Bob Muenchen (muenchen@utk.edu)

More Information

Deadline Nears for Human/Animal Health Symposium

The deadline for submission of abstracts to the Comparative & Experimental Medicine and Public Health Research Symposium is a month away. Abstracts for the event must be submitted no later than April 23, 2012, at 5 p.m. The symposium will take place on the UT agriculture campus May 21-22, 2012.

The symposium welcomes graduate students, post-docs, residents, interns, & research assistant professors who work in human or animal health. Topics may range from bacterial virulence and transmission to bovine diseases and theriogenology, from nutrition and metabolism to public health systems and services research, and other similar areas.

Sponsors of the symposium include the College of Veterinary Medicine, the Center for Public Health Systems and Services Research, the Graduate School of Medicine, Tennessee AgResearch, the UT Graduate School, and the UT Knoxville Office of Research.

Key Date: April 23, 2012, at 5 p.m. – Submission of abstracts
Contact: Misty Bailey (mrbailey@utk.edu, 865-974-7446)

More Information

Innovation Conference Set

The 2012 Governor’s Innovation Conference will be held April 26–27 at the Sheraton Nashville Downtown Hotel. The conference is part of Gov. Bill Haslam’s INCITE initiative, a $50 million program designed to support innovation across the state. The goal of INCITE is to raise Tennessee’s profile in innovation-based economic development and drive growth in the creation of knowledge-based jobs.

More Information

TN-SCORE Annual Conference Planned for June

The second TN-SCORE Annual Conference has been scheduled for June 14-15, 2012, in Nashville. The conference promotes Tennessee Solar Conversion and Storage Using Outreach, Research, and Education (TN-SCORE), the program funded by the National Science Foundation Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). EPSCoR is designed to help Tennessee’s research institutions develop a research infrastructure to win more funding support for science and engineering.

More Information

Second Solar Solutions Conference Coming in April

The 2012 Tennessee Valley Solar Solutions Conference will take place April 10-11, 2012, at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis. Julia Hamm, president and CEO of Solar Power Electric Association, will speak at the conference.

The event is sponsored by the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Tennessee Solar Institute, as well as UT-Battelle and other industry participants. There is no registration charge for attendees.

Key Date: March 23, 2012 - Registration closes. (Registration may be extended depending on number of registrants.)

More Information

SARIF’s TEPO Fund Supports Visits to Program Officers

The Scholarly Activity and Research Incentive Funds (SARIF) program provides specific support for tenure-track and research faculty members needing to visit funding agencies. The TEPO (Travel to Engage Program Officers) Fund covers one third of transportation expenses for trips to meet program directors and managers of federal, corporate, and foundation funders. Applications for TEPO support require a detailed description of the meeting(s) or conference and are reviewed as received by the associate vice chancellor for research, who administers the SARIF program.

More Information

OPPORTUNITIES

DOE Offers Energy-related Post-doc Awards

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is offering postdoctoral awards that support innovative applied research in energy efficiency and renewable energy at universities, national laboratories, and other research facilities.

The awards offer an annual stipend, health insurance and research-related allowances, and limited relocation expenses. The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education administers the awards program.

Key Date: May 1, 2012 – Submission of application

More Information

Opportunities from the 2012 Defense Appropriations Act

The FY 2012 Defense Appropriations Act provides funding for a number of programs doing research on health-related problems. The U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command administers the research programs through the Office of Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. Programs with pending deadlines are listed below.

Pre-announcement

The Army MRM Command issues advanced notice of pending announcements so that researchers can make plans and marshal resources. Pre-applications (letter of intent) may be required.

The Lung Cancer Research Program will offer three types of awards:

Concept, in which investigators at all academic levels can explore highly innovative, untested, potentially groundbreaking innovations in lung cancer research
Idea Development, in which independent investigators at least at the assistant professor level explore early-stage, high-risk/high-gain approaches
Translational Research Partnership, in which investigators at least at the assistant professor level form research partnerships involving clinicians and laboratory scientists

Key Date: April announcement on Grants.gov

More Information

Announcements

The Ovarian Cancer Research Program offers Outcome Consortium Development awards, in which an independent investigator at least at the assistant professor level develops a consortium specifically focused on identifying and understanding predictors of disease outcomes in ovarian cancer patients.

NOTE: The web link includes a total of four award mechanisms for the Ovarian Cancer Research Program.

Key Date: May 9, 2012 – Submission of pre-application

More Information

The Multiple Sclerosis Research Program will focus on the pathophysiological basis of disease progression, biological mechanisms of cortical damage in MS, pathological basis for cognitive impairment in MS, and new or improved measures for evaluating cognition in clinical research. The Idea award mechanism will be used, in which investigators at least at the assistant professor level will pursue conceptually innovative, high-risk/high-reward research on the MS topics listed above.

Key Date: April 24, 2012 – Submission of pre-application

More Information

The Bone Marrow Failure Research Program will offer two types of awards:

Idea, in which investigators at least at the assistant professor level explores innovative, high-impact approaches to bone-marrow failure research
Postdoctoral Fellowship Training, in which postdocs with less than four years postdoctoral research experience pursue high-impact research

Key Date: April 18, 2012 – Submission of pre-application

More Information

Gulf War Illness Research Programs will offer three types of awards:

Investigator-Initiated Research, in which independent investigators at all academic levels pursue new ideas in basic and clinical developmental research on Gulf War Illness
Innovative Treatment Evaluation, in which independent investigators at all academic levels pursue exploratory or small-scale studies of potential treatments not previously studied
Clinical Trial, in which independent investigators at all academic levels pursue Phase II or II clinical trials to treat the illness

Key Date: April 9, 2012 – Submission of pre-application

More Information

The Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research Program will offer two types of awards:

Therapeutic Development, in which independent investigators at all academic levels explore preclinical development of ALS
Therapeutic Idea, in which independent investigators at all academic levels explore early-stage, novel therapeutic development

Key Date: April 9, 2012 – Submission of pre-application

More Information

Office of Research \| Contact Us \| Printable PDF	March 21, 2012
IN THE NEWS OIT Office Helps Researchers with Computing, Analysis In its mission to help UT researchers use computing and analytic methods, the OIT Research Support group provides a wide array of research software and offers consulting support for faculty and student research projects. Depending on the type of software resource needed, OIT can Help a user get software licensed to the researcher’s computer Provide access to software on a PC or Mac in OIT computer labs Provide access to the OIT Windows Terminal Server (Apps@UT) Provide computational services on the university’s Newton Linux cluster. OIT provides two levels of support for its resources: full and minimal. Fully supported software is recommended, supported, tested, and taught. Minimal support involves only software installation and data import/export. “When we say we support it fully, that includes support of the research problem itself,” said Bob Muenchen, manager of research computing support for OIT. “We have statisticians, mathematicians, and geographers helping provide a complete solution to research problems.” Computational resources and consulting support are available for bioinformatics, genetics, data mining, data acquisition & web surveys, graphics & visualization, image analysis, mapping, statistics, and text analysis, as well as scientific, engineering, and math problems. Some 30 software packages are fully supported, and another 25 receive minimal support. NOTE: Research Computing News, a newsletter about the availability of research software, has been melded with the monthly newsletter published by OIT. Contact: Bob Muenchen (muenchen@utk.edu) More Information Deadline Nears for Human/Animal Health Symposium The deadline for submission of abstracts to the Comparative & Experimental Medicine and Public Health Research Symposium is a month away. Abstracts for the event must be submitted no later than April 23, 2012, at 5 p.m. The symposium will take place on the UT agriculture campus May 21-22, 2012. The symposium welcomes graduate students, post-docs, residents, interns, & research assistant professors who work in human or animal health. Topics may range from bacterial virulence and transmission to bovine diseases and theriogenology, from nutrition and metabolism to public health systems and services research, and other similar areas. Sponsors of the symposium include the College of Veterinary Medicine, the Center for Public Health Systems and Services Research, the Graduate School of Medicine, Tennessee AgResearch, the UT Graduate School, and the UT Knoxville Office of Research. Key Date: April 23, 2012, at 5 p.m. – Submission of abstracts Contact: Misty Bailey (mrbailey@utk.edu, 865-974-7446) More Information Innovation Conference Set The 2012 Governor’s Innovation Conference will be held April 26–27 at the Sheraton Nashville Downtown Hotel. The conference is part of Gov. Bill Haslam’s INCITE initiative, a $50 million program designed to support innovation across the state. The goal of INCITE is to raise Tennessee’s profile in innovation-based economic development and drive growth in the creation of knowledge-based jobs. More Information TN-SCORE Annual Conference Planned for June The second TN-SCORE Annual Conference has been scheduled for June 14-15, 2012, in Nashville. The conference promotes Tennessee Solar Conversion and Storage Using Outreach, Research, and Education (TN-SCORE), the program funded by the National Science Foundation Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). EPSCoR is designed to help Tennessee’s research institutions develop a research infrastructure to win more funding support for science and engineering. More Information Second Solar Solutions Conference Coming in April The 2012 Tennessee Valley Solar Solutions Conference will take place April 10-11, 2012, at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis. Julia Hamm, president and CEO of Solar Power Electric Association, will speak at the conference. The event is sponsored by the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Tennessee Solar Institute, as well as UT-Battelle and other industry participants. There is no registration charge for attendees. Key Date: March 23, 2012 - Registration closes. (Registration may be extended depending on number of registrants.) More Information SARIF’s TEPO Fund Supports Visits to Program Officers The Scholarly Activity and Research Incentive Funds (SARIF) program provides specific support for tenure-track and research faculty members needing to visit funding agencies. The TEPO (Travel to Engage Program Officers) Fund covers one third of transportation expenses for trips to meet program directors and managers of federal, corporate, and foundation funders. Applications for TEPO support require a detailed description of the meeting(s) or conference and are reviewed as received by the associate vice chancellor for research, who administers the SARIF program. More Information OPPORTUNITIES DOE Offers Energy-related Post-doc Awards The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is offering postdoctoral awards that support innovative applied research in energy efficiency and renewable energy at universities, national laboratories, and other research facilities. The awards offer an annual stipend, health insurance and research-related allowances, and limited relocation expenses. The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education administers the awards program. Key Date: May 1, 2012 – Submission of application More Information Opportunities from the 2012 Defense Appropriations Act The FY 2012 Defense Appropriations Act provides funding for a number of programs doing research on health-related problems. The U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command administers the research programs through the Office of Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. Programs with pending deadlines are listed below. Pre-announcement The Army MRM Command issues advanced notice of pending announcements so that researchers can make plans and marshal resources. Pre-applications (letter of intent) may be required. The Lung Cancer Research Program will offer three types of awards: Concept, in which investigators at all academic levels can explore highly innovative, untested, potentially groundbreaking innovations in lung cancer research Idea Development, in which independent investigators at least at the assistant professor level explore early-stage, high-risk/high-gain approaches Translational Research Partnership, in which investigators at least at the assistant professor level form research partnerships involving clinicians and laboratory scientists Key Date: April announcement on Grants.gov More Information Announcements The Ovarian Cancer Research Program offers Outcome Consortium Development awards, in which an independent investigator at least at the assistant professor level develops a consortium specifically focused on identifying and understanding predictors of disease outcomes in ovarian cancer patients. NOTE: The web link includes a total of four award mechanisms for the Ovarian Cancer Research Program. Key Date: May 9, 2012 – Submission of pre-application More Information The Multiple Sclerosis Research Program will focus on the pathophysiological basis of disease progression, biological mechanisms of cortical damage in MS, pathological basis for cognitive impairment in MS, and new or improved measures for evaluating cognition in clinical research. The Idea award mechanism will be used, in which investigators at least at the assistant professor level will pursue conceptually innovative, high-risk/high-reward research on the MS topics listed above. Key Date: April 24, 2012 – Submission of pre-application More Information The Bone Marrow Failure Research Program will offer two types of awards: Idea, in which investigators at least at the assistant professor level explores innovative, high-impact approaches to bone-marrow failure research Postdoctoral Fellowship Training, in which postdocs with less than four years postdoctoral research experience pursue high-impact research Key Date: April 18, 2012 – Submission of pre-application More Information Gulf War Illness Research Programs will offer three types of awards: Investigator-Initiated Research, in which independent investigators at all academic levels pursue new ideas in basic and clinical developmental research on Gulf War Illness Innovative Treatment Evaluation, in which independent investigators at all academic levels pursue exploratory or small-scale studies of potential treatments not previously studied Clinical Trial, in which independent investigators at all academic levels pursue Phase II or II clinical trials to treat the illness Key Date: April 9, 2012 – Submission of pre-application More Information The Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research Program will offer two types of awards: Therapeutic Development, in which independent investigators at all academic levels explore preclinical development of ALS Therapeutic Idea, in which independent investigators at all academic levels explore early-stage, novel therapeutic development Key Date: April 9, 2012 – Submission of pre-application More Information
News & Opportunities is published by the Office of Research at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.