The Department of Justice is seeking applications to develop and strengthen victim services in cases involving crimes against women on campus including dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The Campus Program also aims to strengthen security and investigative strategies to prevent and prosecute violent crimes against women on campuses. It funds campus-based coordinated projects that include campus victim services, campus law enforcement, health providers, housing officials, administrators, and student leaders, as well as student organizations and disciplinary boards. Awards are for 24 months and up to $200,000 for new projects or $400,000 for consortia projects.

URL: www.ojp.usdoj.gov/docs/fy04campus.txt (or .pdf) and www.ojp.usdoj.gov/vawo

The Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) has announced the availability of up to five grants of up to $20,000 each in support of research, taking place during academic year 2004-2005 or summer 2004, using the National Survey of America's Families (NSAF). The NSAF is a data resource for research on issues related to poverty, welfare, health care, economic development, and social and family policy. Preference will be given to proposals that demonstrate the potential to improve understanding of the social and economic issues affecting America's disadvantaged families and neighborhoods, and to provide insights into their circumstances and efforts to overcome obstacles to their progress and success.

Finalists will be notified in May 2004, and funds will be disbursed on or about June 1, 2004. Awards will be made under a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation

Through its AREA grants program, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are making a special effort to stimulate research in institutions that provide baccalaureate or advanced training but that have not been major recipients of NIH research funding. The program supports individual research projects in the biomedical and behavioral sciences conducted by faculty and involving their undergraduate students. All NIH institutes participate in this program. AREA grants support small-scale, new or ongoing health-related research projects, including pilot research projects and feasibility studies; development, testing, and refinement of research techniques; secondary analysis of available data sets; and similar discrete research projects that demonstrate research capability. The research objectives of the AREA program are those of the individual NIH institutes or centers. Awards are made for up to three years and up to $150,000 maximum direct costs.

The Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) Program promotes the development and commercialization of products and processes through industry/university research partnerships. MIPS provides matching funds to help Maryland companies pay for the university research. Projects are initiated by the companies to meet their own research and development goals. MIPS matching grants are awarded on a competitive basis for projects based on proposals submitted jointly by Maryland companies and researchers from any of the 13 University System of Maryland institutions. The maximum MIPS award for any single project is $100,000 per year for large and small companies and $70,000 for start-up firms. The research may be in engineering, computer science, physical sciences, and life sciences. MIPS also supports projects designed to help a company plan and develop industrial training programs for its employees. Faculty whose research might be of interest to MIPS and who would like to be matched with companies wishing to participate in a MIPS project should contact the MIPS office at (301) 405-3891 or via e-mail at mips@umail.umd.edu.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has made available, on its Web site, a guide to writing successful proposals for submission to the NSF. This publication is very informative and should prove helpful in preparing NSF proposals. It is accessible in both html and pdf formats.