October 15, 2007 Newsletter

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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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REMINDER: 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

Research Grants

Agency: The Spencer Foundation
Deadline: Open

The Spencer Foundation provides funding for investigations that promise to yield new knowledge about education in the United States or abroad. The Foundation funds research grants that range in size from smaller grants that can be completed within a year, to larger, multi-year endeavors. It is interested in developing more focused programs of research falling within these broad areas of inquiry:

  • The Relation between Education and Social Opportunity: The Foundation is interested in understanding how differences in educational experiences (including quality and character of schooling as well as number of years in school) translate into differences in employment, earnings, and civic and social outcomes. It seeks to identify ways to change schooling investments and outcomes in the interests of a more just and prosperous society.
  • Organizational Learning in Schools, School Systems, and Higher Education Institutions: Sustained improvement in educational performance requires continuous learning within and among schools, education systems, and higher education institutions. The Foundation is interested in advancing understanding of ways to strengthen the capacity of schools and education systems as learning organizations. Sustained improvement in educational performance requires continuous learning within and among schools, education systems, and higher education institutions. The Foundation is interested in advancing understanding of ways to strengthen the capacity of schools and education systems as learning organizations.
  • Teaching, Learning, and Instructional Resources: Spencer is interested in studies that lead to better understanding and improvements in the intellectual, material, and organizational resources that contribute to successful teaching and learning. A key aim of research in this initiative is to support investigations of questions that are grounded directly in teaching practice as well as in research about important aspects of teaching and learning processes that hold promise for enriching opportunities to learn and for guiding informed policymaking. The Foundation is particularly interested in studies of teaching and teacher development.
  • Purposes and Values of Education: The Foundation is interested in analytical, historical and empirical work that probes effectively and creatively into questions about the larger purposes and social values of education and deeply challenges these permanently important issues contributing mightily toward social decision-making that moves education along constructive paths. 
  • Field-Initiated Proposals: The Foundation is open to additional ideas for     research that does not fit into even these broad categories. The Foundation    will consider proposals that address explicitly how the proposed study aligns with the Foundation's mission of research toward educational improvement.

Initial proposals are accepted at any time, regardless of the level of funding requested. For proposals up to $40,000, a funding decision will be made on the basis of the initial submission. For funding requests over $40,000, the initial proposal will be used to decide whether to invite an expanded proposal. Deadlines for expanded proposals usually fall at the beginning of April, July and December annually.

URL: http://www.spencer.org/

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National Research Initiative (NRI)

Agency: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Deadline: November 26, 2007 Letter of Intent
                   Arthropod and Nematode Biology and Management: Organismal and
                   Population Biology, Plant Biology: Biochemistry, Plant Biology:
                   Growth and Development  

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.

USDA is currently soliciting letters of intent forresearch grants in the following areas:

  • Arthropod and Nematode Biology Management, Organismal and Population Biology: Several emerging issues are challenging the ability to provide high quality food and fiber to the Nation's global economy. This unprecedented level of population growth will necessitate increased production and protection of agricultural commodities. The ability to respond to and recover from pests and diseases that threaten the food supply has recently assumed paramount importance. Fundamental knowledge is needed to form the basis of novel management strategies for pests, which will lead to better utilization of beneficial species. Proposed research budget requests must not exceed $350,000 for single-investigator projects and $450,000 for multi-institutional or multidisciplinary projects for project periods of 2-4 years (including indirect costs). Applicants wishing to submit proposals must address at least one of the following priorities:
  1. Determine chemical-ecological or eco-physiological mechanisms that affect abundance of pests or beneficial species.

  2. Characterize population genetic processes that affect establishment and/or movement of pests or beneficial species.

  3. Elucidate multitrophic interactions between pests, beneficial organisms, or microbes and commodities (e.g. plants or livestock).
Plant Biology, Growth and Development: The goal of this program is to provide fundamental knowledge on plant growth and development over various phases of the plant life cycle to improve crop plants through modification of plant growth patterns or developmental processes.  Proposed research project budget requests must not exceed $400,000 for project period of 2-4 years (including indirect costs). Applicants wishing to submit proposals must address at least one of the following priorities.
  1. Developmental pathways leading to the formation of vegetative (particularly roots) or reproductive structures, including the development of gene profiling, genetic, and proteomic tools for these studies.

  2. Hormonal regulation of growth and development, including studies of “cross talk” between different hormones or between hormones and other signals. Use of metabolomic tools for these studies is encouraged.

  3. Characterization of cellular structures and processes that are crucial for plant development. Proposals that integrate cell biology with physiology are expected to be more competitive. In FY 2008, these studies are limited to cytoskeleton and membrane transport processes.
Plant Biology, Biochemistry: Identification and characterization of biochemical processes and pathways, as well the genes and proteins involved in these processes and pathways, will facilitate development of agricultural and forestry plants with improved or optimized productivity, quality, and sustainability. The goal of this program is to provide basic knowledge about biochemical processes, pathways, and interactions in agriculturally and economically important plants and related organisms. Proposed research project budget requests must not exceed $400,000 for project period of 2-4 years (including indirect costs). Applicants wishing to submit proposals must address at least one of the following priorities:
  1. Primary and secondary metabolism, with particular emphasis on improving plant productivity, fitness, or quality.

  2. Plant cell wall structure, formation, and modification, such as lignin, cellulose, or hemicellulose synthesis and modification.

  3. Photosynthesis and respiration with particular emphasis on increasing photosynthetic efficiency.

*For the program priorities listed above, research should be hypothesis-driven and either focus on characterization of a biochemical process or pathway important for plant agricultural production systems or address a significant problem in agricultural plant biology using a predominantly biochemical approach. Use of small-scale proteomics or metabolomics is acceptable as part of a hypothesis-driven project to gain insight into biological systems.

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.

URL: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/funding/nri/nri.html

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