Please note for all proposals that must be submitted via Grants.gov,
the Office of University Research Services must have the final
complete proposal, with all required attachments, no later
than 48 hours prior to the agency deadline. Because of the
higher possibility of technical difficulties with this new
submission engine, the OURS cannot guarantee that proposals
received later than 48 hours prior to the deadline will be
submitted on time. Please direct any questions to the Office
of University Research Services, 4-2236 or ours@towson.edu.
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The Towson University Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Participants (IRB) has set its meeting schedule for the spring semester 2009. Individuals planning to carry out research involving the use of human participants should plan to submit an IRB application no later than two weeks prior to the meeting at which they would like the application reviewed. The meeting schedule is as follows:
Wednesday, April 15 (submit applications by April 1)
Wednesday, May 13 (submit applications by April 29)
Although not all applications require full IRB review, submitting your application two weeks prior to a scheduled meeting will ensure that the application is reviewed and approved, or granted an exemption (as appropriate) in a timely manner.
Questions should be directed to the IRB at 4-2236.
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Agency: Committee for the Towson Academy of Scholars
Deadline: March 25, 2009
The Towson Academy of Scholars is pleased to announce that it will be accepting applications for Towson Scholars for the academic year 2009-2010. All full time faculty up to the rank of Assistant Professor or Librarian I and II who have been at Towson three years or less are eligible to apply. The purpose of the Academy is to gather senior-mentors with junior faculty in a seminar setting that will give the latter an opportunity to share their research projects, reflective thinking essays, or portions of their dissertations under revision. The research, thought-analyses, or revisions will be undertaken during the year preceding presentation with support provided by the Towson Academy of Scholars.
A committee of senior faculty members will oversee this initiative, and will serve as a review panel to select participating scholars. Applications may be blind reviewed by external reviewers. The committee will select up to three scholars from applications submitted from across the university community in the spring. For the academic year 2009-2010, junior scholars will receive $1,000 in cash from the University.
In the spring of 2010, at a date to be arranged by the committee, each of the junior scholars selected will present his or her seminar paper in the Towson Room, Cook Library. In consultation with the scholars, the committee will arrange for one or two authorities in their fields to serve as discussants.
Faculty members who are selected to be Towson Scholars will be encouraged to invite their students to their presentations. Seminars are open to the university community, and junior faculty will be required to make their papers available upon request.
While papers, essays, and/or chapters may reflect the academic discourse of their discipline, the oral presentations must communicate broadly to the University community.
Closing date for applications is March 25, 2009 (Wednesday).
Applications may be obtained on-line at the Office of University Research Services Web site, http://www.towson.edu/ours. Completed applications should be submitted to the Office of University Research Services, 7800 York Road, Room 225, by 5:00 pm March 25. Applications emailed to mhealy@towson.edu by 5:00 pm March 25 will also be accepted.
Committee for the Towson Academy of Scholars
Patricia W. Romero, College of Liberal Arts and Chair
Sharon Buchbinder, College of Health Professions
Matthew Chambers, College of Business and Economics
Debi Gartland, College of Education
Mary Louise Healy, Office of University Research Services
Peter Lev, College of Fine Arts and Communication
Brian Masters, Fisher College of Science and Mathematics
Deborah Nolan, Library
URL: http://www.towson.edu/ours
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Institutional, University-Wide, or Cross-Disciplinary Opportunities
Recovery Act Limited Competition: NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research (RC1)
Agency: National Institutes of Health
Deadline: April 27, 2009
As part of the Recovery Act, the NIH invites, through this limited competition, NIH Challenge Grant (RC1) applications from domestic (United States) institutions/organizations proposing novel research in areas that address specific knowledge gaps, scientific opportunities, new technologies, data generation, or research methods that would benefit from an influx of funds to quickly advance the area in significant ways. Within each broad Challenge Area the NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices have specified particular Challenge Topics that address their missions. Potential areas of interest to Towson faculty are:
NIH has designated at least $200 million in FYs 2009 - 2010 to fund 200 or more grants, contingent upon the submission of a sufficient number of scientifically meritorious applications. Budget requests should be commensurate with project needs up to a two-year project period. The requested budget may not exceed $500,000 total costs per year for a maximum of $1,000,000 total costs over a two-year project period.
URL: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-09-003.html
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Early Reading First Program
Agency: US Department of Education
Deadline: April 2, 2009 (Pre-application)
This program supports local efforts to enhance the oral language, cognitive, and early reading skills of preschool-aged children, especially those from low income families, through strategies, materials, and professional development that are grounded in scientifically based reading research. All applications must include a description of the
following:
(1) The programs to be served by the proposed project, including demographic and socioeconomic information on the preschool-aged children enrolled in the programs;
(2) How the proposed project will enhance the school readiness of preschool-aged children in high-quality oral language and literature-rich environments;
(3) How the proposed project will prepare and provide ongoing assistance to staff in the programs, through professional development and other support, in providing high-quality language, literacy, and prereading activities using scientifically based reading research, for preschool-aged children;
(4) How the proposed project will provide services and use instructional materials that are based on scientifically based reading research on early language acquisition, prereading activities, and the development of spoken vocabulary skills;
(5) How the proposed project will help staff in the programs to meet more effectively the diverse needs of preschool-aged children in the community, including such children with limited English proficiency, disabilities, or other special needs;
(6) How the proposed project will integrate such instructional materials and literacy activities with existing preschool programs and family literacy services;
(7) How the proposed project will help children, particularly children experiencing difficulty with spoken language, prereading, and early reading skills, to make the transition from preschool to formal classroom instruction in school;
(8) If the eligible applicant has received a subgrant under the Reading First program, subpart 1, part B, title I of the ESEA, how the activities conducted under the Early Reading First program will be coordinated with the eligible applicant’s activities under the Reading First program at the kindergarten through grade 3 level; and
(9) How the proposed project will evaluate the success of the activities supported under the Early Reading First program in enhancing the early language, literacy, and prereading development of the preschool-aged children served by the project.
For the FY 2009 competition four invitational priorities have been identified:
- Invitational Priority 1—Intensity:Programs that operate fulltime, full-year, early childhood educational programs and that serve children for the two consecutive years prior to their entry into kindergarten.
- Invitational Priority 2—English Language Acquisition Plan: Applications that include a specific planfor the development of English languageproficiency for these children from thestart of their preschool experience.
- Invitational Priority 3—KindergartenTransition: Applications that include a specific planto transition preschool-aged children tokindergarten.
- Invitational Priority 4—Community-Based Organizations: Applications that propose to engagecommunity-based organizations in thedelivery of services under this program.
Please note that applications addressing the above invitational priorities will not receive a competitive or absolute preference over other applications.
Under this competition, eligible applicants are: (a) One or more LEAs, including charter schools that are considered LEAs under State law, that are eligible to receive a subgrant under the Reading First program; (b) One or more public or private organizations or agencies (including faith-based organizations) located in a community served by an eligible LEA; or (c) One or more eligible LEAs, applying in collaboration with one or more eligible organizations or agencies.
The Department of Education uses a two-phase system to select recipients for Early Reading First that includes a pre-application and a full application. All applicants must submit a pre-application that briefly addresses certain key concepts. Applicants invited to submit full applications will be expected to respond to more specific selection criteria.
The estimated available funds for this program is $111,424,000 depending on final congressional action. The US Department of Education (ED) plans to make 24–74 awards at an estimated average size of $3,000.000 for up to 36 months.
URL: http://www.ed.gov/programs/earlyreading/index.html
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Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement
Agency: National Science Foundation
Deadline: May 21, 2009 (Type 1 proposals)
January 13, 2010 (Type 2 and 3 proposals)
This announcement was previously featured in the January 26, 2009 Alive Line. It is being featured again due increased NSF funding for research through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Towson has experienced prior success in obtaining funding under this solicitation and interested applicants are urged to contact OURS to discuss possible submission.
The 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. It funds projects that develop faculty expertise, implement educational innovations, assess learning and evaluate innovations, prepare K-12 teachers, or conduct research on STEM teaching and learning. It also supports projects that further the work of the program itself, for example, synthesis and dissemination of findings across the program. The program supports projects representing different stages of development, ranging from small, exploratory investigations to large, comprehensive projects.
Typically, projects include one or more of the components described below and they build on prior knowledge, both in the STEM fields and in undergraduate education. In addition, CCLI welcomes proposals describing untested, forward-looking, and unconventional activities that could have a high impact and contribute to transforming undergraduate STEM education. Prospective principal investigators for this kind of project should discuss their ideas with a CCLI Program Officer in advance of proposal submission to help gauge the appropriate scope and scale of the proposal.
- Creating Learning Materials and Strategies: Projects developing new learning materials and strategies for improving courses, curriculum, and laboratories should be guided by research on teaching and learning and should incorporate and be inspired by advances within the disciplines. Instrumentation and equipment requests are appropriate but must be based on their impact on student learning.
- Implementing New Instructional Strategies: Proposals are welcomed that change undergraduate STEM courses, curricula, and laboratories by implementing strategies to reflect proven or promising pedagogical techniques in ways that encourage widespread adoption. These strategies may come from previous CCLI projects or from other sources in the STEM community. Instrumentation and equipment requests are appropriate in implementation projects, based on their impact on student learning, and provided a convincing case is made that the planned acquisition contributes to understanding how to achieve widespread adoption of the approach they support. Implementation projects should contribute to the community’s understanding of how new strategies are transferred to diverse settings and how they impact student learning. Evaluation plans for implementation projects should explore the challenges and opportunities for adapting new strategies in diverse educational settings. Projects that specifically address the challenges to achieving widespread adoption of proven practice are especially welcome.
- Developing Faculty Expertise: Projects focused on developing faculty expertise can range from short-term workshops to sustained activities. They should include evaluation efforts to describe the impact on the faculty participants, and in large, later stage projects, on student learning in classes taught by these faculty. Projects should provide professional development for a diverse group of faculty so that new materials and teaching strategies can be widely implemented.
- Assessing and Evaluating Student Achievement: Proposals for designing processes and instruments to measure the effectiveness of new materials and instructional methods are responsive to this solicitation. Some projects may develop and disseminate valid and reliable tests of STEM knowledge; other projects may collect, synthesize, and interpret information about student understanding, reasoning, practical skills, interests, attitudes, or other valued outcomes. Projects that apply new and existing processes and instruments to conduct broad-based evaluations of educational programs or practices are appropriate if they span multiple institutions and are of general interest. In discussing these aspects of curricular change, projects should carefully document institutional demographics and characteristics. Projects using established instruments and strategies and likely to have only a local impact are discouraged.
- Conducting Research on Undergraduate STEM Education: Results from assessments of learning and teaching as well as from projects emphasizing other programmatic components provide a foundation for developing new and revised models of how undergraduate STEM students learn. Research to explore how effective teaching strategies and curricula enhance learning and attitudes, how widespread practices have diffused through the community, and how faculty and programs implement changes in their curriculum are appropriate. Research results should provide a foundation for creating learning materials, teaching strategies, faculty development approaches, and evaluation methodologies that have the potential for a direct impact on STEM educational practices.
The CCLI program is accepting proposals under this solicitation for awards at three levels of support, designated Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3, as well as for awards for projects that support the work of the program itself. The types reflect a combination of the scale, scope, and stage of the proposed work. The scale of the work refers to the number of institutions, faculty, and students with whom the work engages. Scope refers to the range of project components involved. Stage refers to the place of the work along a continuum from early conceptual development through deployment of mature, well-tested approaches. Type 2 and 3 projects will typically reflect greater dependence on previous work, supported by the CCLI program or by other sources, and may be at a more mature stage of development than Type 1 projects. However, the Types are independent, and the choice should be made based on the resources required to achieve the desired outcomes. In every case there should be the potential for lasting improvement in the quality of instruction.
Type 1 projects are expected to be significant enough to contribute to understanding undergraduate STEM education. The total budget is up to $200,000 ($250,000 when four-year colleges and universities collaborate with two-year colleges) for 2 to 3 years. NSF expects to make 90 to 100 awards.
Type 2 projects will typically address more than one program component, or, if they focus on a single component, will address it at a scale that goes well beyond a single institution. The total budget is up to $600,000 for 2 to 4 years. NSF expects to make 25 to 35 awards.
Type 3 projects are intended to support large scale efforts. Projects that continue from previous work should include an explicit discussion of the results and impact produced by that work. Proposals for projects that are designed to break new ground at a large scale should discuss evidence that supports the validity of the approach, and must reflect current understanding of how students learn. The budget is negotiable, but not to exceed $5,000,000 over 5 years.
URL: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09529/nsf09529.html?govDel=USNSF_25
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