Institute: Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (MTECH)
Date: October 19, 2007
The Technology Start-Up Boot Camp is an intensive, one-day workshop and networking event about launching new ventures. The Boot Camp is hosted by the University of Maryland's Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute, whose mission is to educate a new generation of entrepreneurs, create new technology ventures, and connect companies with university resources, technology and innovation. The Boot Camp is FREE for university students, faculty and staff.
REGISTER TODAY at www.bootcamp.umd.edu
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National Science Foundation Issues New Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide
Agency: National Science Foundation
Deadline: January 1, 2008
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has issued a new Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide. This document is effective for all proposals and awards submitted and/or awarded on or after January 1, 2008, The Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide is comprised of documents relating to the NSF’s proposal and award process. It has two parts:
- Part I is comprised of NSF’s proposal preparation and submission guidelines -- the NSF Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) and the NSF Grants.gov Application Guide. Both the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) and Grants.gov Application Guide provide guidance for the preparation and submission of proposals to NSF, whether by NSF FastLane or Grants.gov. Some NSF programs have program solicitations that modify the general provisions of these guides, and, in such cases, the guidelines provided in the solicitation must be followed. It is important that proposers use the appropriate guidelines when preparing proposals for submission to NSF.
- Part II is comprised of the documents used to guide, manage, and monitor the award and administration of grants and cooperative agreements made by the NSF. Coverage includes the NSF award process, from issuance and administration of an NSF award through closeout. Guidance regarding other grant requirements or considerations that either is not universally applicable or which do not follow the award cycle also is provided.
A summary of significant changes available in the January 1, 2008 of interest are as follows:
- Chapter III – Section A, Review Criteria, includes revised language to the intellectual merit review criterion. The criterion now specifically includes evaluation of proposals for potentially transformative concepts.
- Chapter III – Section F, Review Information Provided to PI, has been added to clarify what review information is available to the PI when a decision has been made on his/her proposal.
- Chapter IV – Section C, Declinations, has been revised to provide more information on what is available to a PI if his/her proposal has been declined.
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Reminder: Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Participants (IRB) Workshop
Agency: Towson University Institutional Review Board for the Protection of
Human Participants (IRB)
Deadline: October 11, 2007, 10 am - noon
The Towson University Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Participants (IRB) will hold a workshop on human participant protections and seeking Towson University approval for projects involving human participants on Thursday, October 11, 2007, from 10:00 am until noon in the College of Graduate Studies and Research Conference Room, 7800 York Road, room 218A. Faculty members and students, both undergraduate and graduate, are encouraged to attend to learn more about human participant protections and about obtaining approval for research that involves the use of existing personal data or of surveys, interviews, questionnaires, or other methods of collecting data from human participants. Faculty members teaching classes in which students are expected to carry out research projects involving human participants will find this workshop especially useful and may want to encourage their students to attend. Light refreshments will be served.
Faculty members and students who would like to attend the workshop are asked to pre-register by calling the Office of University Research Services at extension 4-2236 or by emailing us at ours@towson.edu by October 9, 2007. Pre-registration will allow us to prepare handouts and order refreshments for all attendees.
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Faculty Mini-Grants
Agency: Towson University Institute for Teaching and Research on Women
Deadline: October 31, 2007
The Towson University Institute for Teaching and Research on Women (ITROW) seeks to promote scholarship, course development and programming on issues related to women/gender, including the intersections of gender with race/ethnicity, nation, class, disability, and/or sexuality. To this end, ITROW is initiating a faculty mini-grants award program. Awards will range from $100 to $500, are limited in number, and will be awarded on a competitive basis. ITROW seeks to sponsor activities such as:
- New course development within the faculty’s department/discipline which will produce a course to be cross-listed (counted toward) the Women’s Studies major. Substantial restructuring/transformation of a current course with the goal of integrating women/gender topics throughout the syllabus will also be considered. Faculty receiving course development awards will consult with the Director of ITROW in the development or restructuring of a course and will be expected to offer the new or transformed course within a year of having received the grant.
- Scholarship focused on women/gender issues, or scholarship which contains a significant women/gender component. Faculty receiving awards for scholarship will be required to present their research/artistic creation in ITROW’s Women and Gender Faculty Colloquy series. Travel funds for presentation of such scholarship at conferences will also be considered.
- Campus-wide or departmental events focused on women/gender issues such as speakers, film series, and conferences.
During the academic year, grants may be requested to cover specified expenses e.g., books or materials purchases, travel expenses to conduct research, transcription costs, etc. (application Deadlines: October 31, 2007 and February 29, 2008).
During summer monetary awards can be granted (application Deadline April 15, 2008)
For further information contact Karen Dugger (kdugger@towson.edu). Application forms can be found on the ITROW website as shown below.
URL: http://www.towson.edu/itrow
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Institutional, Multi-Disciplinary, or Interdisciplinary Opportunities
National Research Initiative (NRI)
Agency: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Deadline: November 15, 2007 (Topic Area: Animal Reproduction)
The United States Department of Education, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) is accepting applications for the National Research Initiative (NRI) Program for FY 2008 to support:
- high priority fundamental and mission-linked research of importance in the biological, environmental, physical, and social sciences relevant to agriculture, food, the environment, and rural communities and
- competitively awarded research, extension, and education grants that address key problems of national, regional, and multi-state importance in sustaining all components of agriculture, including farming, ranching, forestry (including urban and agroforestry), aquaculture, rural communities, human nutrition, and processing. This will necessitate new efforts in education and extension that deliver science-based knowledge to people, allowing them to make informed practical decisions. Hence, the NRI is accepting applications for fundamental research, mission-linked research, and integrated research, extension, and education projects.
Proposals may be submitted for integrated and/or research projects depending on the topic area. Topical areas of interest to faculty include, but are not limited to, plant biology, organismal and population biology, microbial biology, animal genomics, plant genomics, global and climate change, and human nutrition and obesity. USDA’s NRI has multiple deadlines throughout the year. Program deadlines of interest will be announced as they approach.
An integrated project brings together at least two of three components: research, education, and extension around a problem or issue. In FY 2008, integrated project proposals should interweave at least two of the three components throughout the course of the project. In general, strong integrated projects will be stakeholder driven, issue focused, and outcome based. They will exhibit a collaborative team approach, contain strong plans for project management and project evaluation, and produce sustained education/extension initiatives. Please note, integrated project eligibility requirements are different than for research applications.
Research grants support fundamental or mission-linked research that is conducted by individual investigators, co-investigators within the same discipline, or multidisciplinary teams. Under Research Project Proposals, TU faculty are eligible for new investigator awards and equipment grants.
- New Investigator Award: A new investigator is defined as an individual who is beginning his/her research career, does not have an extensive research publication record, and has less than five years postgraduate, career-track research experience. The new investigator may not have received competitively awarded Federal research funds with the exception of pre- or postdoctoral research awards or USDA NRI Seed Grants. A separate peer review panel will not be assembled to review these applications.
- Equipment Grants: These awards are not intended to replace requests for equipment in individual research projects. Rather, they are intended to help fund items of equipment that will upgrade research infrastructure. Requests for computer equipment are allowed only if the equipment is to be used in an activity integral to the proposed project. Each request shall be limited to one major piece of equipment within the cost range of $10,000-$250,000.
USDA is currently soliciting applications in Animal Reproduction for the November 15 deadline. Both research and integrated projects are eligible under this solicitation. The objective of this program is to increase the knowledge base for reproductive biology of agriculturally important animals with the goal of reducing infertility and improving overall reproductive management in animal production systems. New knowledge is needed to improve fertility and facilitate implementation of integrated animal production systems that will contribute to sustainability of the animal production unit. Applicants are strongly encouraged to read the entire program description section for current priorities and additional information.
CSREES anticipates that approximately $190 million will be available for support of this program. Of this amount, CSREES anticipates that no more than 22 percent will be made available to fund integrated projects. The remaining funds will be used to fund research various funding mechanism
URL: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/funding/nri/nri.html
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Research on Research Integrity (R03)
Agency: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Deadline: November 21, 2007
The purpose of this small grant program is to foster research on research integrity in areas of study that have little published data. The sponsoring NIH agencies and institutes are particularly interested in research that will provide clear evidence (rates of occurrence and impacts) of problem areas in community standards, self-regulation, practice norms, and non-adherence to accepted codes of conduct. The application should address the societal, organizational, group, or individual factors that affect integrity in research, both positively and negatively. Applications must have relevance to health sciences research including, for example, those biomedical, behavioral health sciences, or health services research areas having particular positive or negative research integrity issues. Applicants must address problems or issues that have relevance to the specific interests of ORI or NIH institutes. Relevant research perspectives and disciplines include: anthropology, applied philosophy, biomedical informatics, business, economics, education, information studies, law, organizational studies, health services, political science, psychology, public health, sociology, and survey and evaluation research, plus the physical, biomedical, and clinical sciences.
Areas of interest include:
- Factors that enhance or undermine integrity
- Standards for Responsible Conduct
- Self Regulation
- Economic, policy, and scientific impacts
- Research on issues that would impact clinical and translational research
This program will use the R03 mechanism. Applications submitted under this mechanism must propose projects of limited cost or scope that use accepted approaches and methods within established disciplines. Direct costs are limited to $100 thousand over a two-year period, with no more than $50 thousand in direct costs allowed in any single year.
URL: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RR-07-004.html
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Reminder: Improving Teacher Quality Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund Partnership Grant Program
Agency: Maryland Higher Education Commission
Deadline: December 12, 2007
The Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) has announced the availability of approximately $800,000 for projects providing teacher and principal professional development in the core subject areas. For purposes of this program, the term “core subject areas” means English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography. Funds will be awarded on a competitive basis to eligible K-16 partnerships that aim to improve teacher quality; increase the number of highly qualified teachers and principals; and increase the academic achievement of Maryland students.
Eligible partnerships must include at least:
- A Maryland public or private institution of higher education (IHE) and the division of the institution that prepares teachers and principals;
- A Maryland public or private institution of higher education and its school of arts and sciences;
- A Maryland high-need local education agency (LEA). For purposes of this grant program, LEAs meeting the definition of “high-need” are Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, and Somerset County.
In addition, partnerships may include another LEA (which need not be high-need), a public charter school, an elementary school or secondary school, an existing professional development school, an educational service agency, a nonprofit educational organization, an entity carrying out a pre-kindergarten program, a teacher organization, a principal organization, a business, or a combination of any of these. The lead applicant must be an IHE.
Professional development that will be funded includes, but is not limited to, activities that:
- Improve and increase teachers’ knowledge of academic subjects and enable teachers to become highly qualified.
- Are an integral part of broad school-wide and district-wide educational improvement plans.
- Give teachers and principals the knowledge and skills to help students meet challenging State academic standards.
- Improve classroom management skills.
- Are sustained, intensive, and classroom-focused and are not one-day or short-terms workshops.
- Advance teacher understanding of effective instruction strategies that are based on scientifically based research.
- Are developed with extensive participation of teachers, principals, parents, and administrators.
Activities might also include instruction in the use of data and assessments to inform classroom practice or, to the extent appropriate, provide training for teachers and principals in the use of technology consistent with the Maryland Teacher Technology Standards.
Proposed projects should be related to K-12 student content standards, take into consideration teacher certification requirements and other relevant assessments, and support the Maryland Teacher Professional Development Standards.
The deadline for submission of applications is Wednesday, December 12, 2007. Notification will be by February 1, 2008, at which point funded projects may begin. The period of award is eighteen months (February 1, 2008 through July 31, 2009).
Please note: This announcement last appeared in the August 13, 2007 and September 10, 2007 issue of the Alive Line. We are repeating it now to remind interested applicants that program information and notes are available from the MHEC technical assistance meeting held on September 21, 2007. Interested faculty can contact OURS at 4-2236 to request copies.
URL: http://www.mhec.state.md.us/Grants/ITQ/ITQ.asp
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