Financial Conflict of Interest webinar follow up

On November 30th NIH held a Financial Conflict of Interest webinar that described what changed since the regulation was revised and how the changes affect you.  NIH provides information for both administrators and investigators, with a Q and A session at the end.

All institutions applying for or receiving NIH funding must implement the new regulation by August 24, 2012. So if you are a current grantee or hope to be one in the future, SPO suggests you tune in! A recording of the event and the slides are located here.  

Webinar: NIH AREA: Goals, Changes, and Tips - December 6th

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has released a new program announcement for the Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA; R15), the agency’s tailor-made mechanism for supporting excellent, smaller-scale research projects at colleges and universities that receive comparatively little NIH funding. Applications are due by February 25, June 25, and October 25 annually.

 The AREA program director, Erica Brown, will conduct an informative AREA overview, touching on the goals of the program, changes to the PA, and tips for writing a competitive proposal.

This informative webinar will be hosted by the Sponsored Programs Office on Tuesday, December 6th, 2:00pm - 3:30pm. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to Augusta Wray by Monday, December 5th.

From GRC: NIH Revises AREA Solicitation

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has released a new program announcement (PA) for the Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA), the agency’s tailor-made mechanism for supporting excellent, smaller-scale research projects at colleges and universities that receive comparatively little NIH funding. Applications are due by February 25, June 25, and October 25 annually.

The most significant revisions to the PA involve the ways proposals will be reviewed, a shift that bodes well for most GRC members. AREA program director Erika Brown reports that the new PA will more explicitly drive “reviewers to focus on the goals of the program and the unique constraints of the applicants.” The following changes and clarifications are included in the new PA:

• More focus on inclusion of students in meritorious research. Applications should include plans to expose undergraduate or graduate students to hands-on research (but should not include training plans); 
• All program directors and principle investigators involved with the proposed project must have a primary faculty appointment at an AREA-eligible institution; 
• The total budget for all years of the proposed project must be requested in Budget Period 1. Do not complete Budget Periods 2 or 3. They are not required and will not be accepted with the application; 
• There is more emphasis on the opportunities for AREA awardees to apply for administrative supplements to support and recruit high school, undergraduate, and graduate students from groups that have been shown to be underrepresented in behavioral and biomedical sciences; and 
• Reviewers will be asked to provide an overall impact/priority score to reflect their assessment of the likelihood for the project to make an important scientific contribution to the research fields involved, to provide research opportunities to students, and to strengthen the research environment of the institution. 

“It’ll be interesting to see how things improve with the new review criteria next year,” says Brown. She will lead a December 6, 2011 web conference for GRC members preparing to apply for AREA awards.

Stay tuned for details on the December 6th webinar. The Sponsored Programs Office will host in our conference room. Contact Augusta Wray for more information.

Links
Grants Resource Center

Future Research in the Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences

From the National Science Foundation:

The Directorate for the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences of the National Science Foundation (NSF/SBE) seeks to frame innovative research for the year 2020 and beyond that enhances fundamental knowledge and benefits society in many ways. As a first step in engaging its community, NSF/SBE invited individuals and groups to contribute white papers in which we asked authors to outline pivotal questions that are both foundational and transformative – foundational because they reflect deep issues that engage fundamental assumptions behind disciplinary research traditions and transformative because they seek to leverage current findings to unlock new cycles of research.

The report, Rebuilding the Mosaic (October 2011), compiled out of 252 unique white papers submitted by experts in the field, sets forth major ideas, cross-cutting themes, and implications for the directorate’s programs.

Read the Report here.

IAC: Individual Artist Program Workshops

Indiana Arts Commission staff will travel around Indiana in November & December to explain the Individual Artist Program grant, online application, and panel process. All workshops are FREE. Please note, additional workshops will be added as information becomes available.

Terre Haute 
Date: Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Time: 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. (EDT)

Fort Wayne 
Date: Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Time: 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. (EST)

Valparaiso 
Date: Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Time: 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. (CST)

Lafayette 
Date: Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Time: 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. (EST)

For RSVP and location details, as well as subsequent updates, please visit the IAC: Workshops page.

For more information on the IAP, visit our previous post:
Indiana Arts Commission: Individual Artist Program now open

Ball State Research + BeneFacta Day

The Sponsored Programs Office (SPO) is pleased to publish the annual online “magazine,” Ball State Research. The publication features scholarly and creative activity of representative faculty members who have been funded by external sponsors. We welcome your feedback about the e-publication in the comments of this post or on our Facebook page!

 The release of Ball State Research comes just in time for BeneFacta Day! Please join us as we celebrate the "good works" of Ball State researchers and creative scholars. Hosted by SPO, the celebration will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, November 9, 4:30-6:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall (AR 217) of the David Owsley Museum of Art.

BeneFacta Day 

Wednesday, November 9 

4:30-6:30 p.m. 

David Owsley Museum of Art

Recital Hall, AR 217

Related Links

Ball State Research

SPO Facebook page

Pivot's YouTube Channel

In August, we posted about the new and exciting COS Pivot. Since then, Ref-Works (Pivot's parent company) has been hard at work implementing changes and updates. One of the newest additions is that of a YouTube channel!

You may be asking yourself why this is so exciting. Would you like to know how to quickly do a simple funding search in Pivot?



Check out this and other tutorials for yourself at ProQuestPivot's YouTube Channel!

Related
Introducing: COS Pivot
COS Pivot website

Indiana Arts Commission: Individual Artist Program now open

The Indiana Arts Commission: Individual Artist Program (IAP) for 2013 is now open and accepting applications.

The IAP was created in 1999 to provide support to artists in all disciplines for career development projects. The program cycle runs from July 1 to June 30 and offers flexibility to respond to artists' needs and goals. Applicants must plan a project, or phase of a project, which can be realized within the requested budget and completed within the proposed timeline. Applicants may request a maximum of $2,000.

Applicants must:

• Be at least 18 years old 
• Reside in Indiana for one year preceding the application date 
• Remain an Indiana resident during the grant period 

The IAC cannot provide funding if the artist: 

• Is enrolled in a degree-granting program 
• Received an IAC grant in the prior Fiscal Year
• Is part of a collaboration for which another artist is applying for IAC support in the same year

Deadline is February 2, 2012.

Guidelines can be found at the IAC website or by clicking here.


Related Posts
From IAC ArtsEye: The Individual Artist Program Grant from a Past Recipient's Point of View

Cohen Peace Fellowship Program: February 1

The call to submit proposals for the 2012 Benjamin V. Cohen Peace Fellowship. The Fellowship provides support to conduct basic or applied research on topics related to peace.

For the 2011-12 academic year, Ball State faculty members AND graduate students are eligible to apply!

For faculty members, funds may be used for salary, supplies, expenses, and/or travel. Preference will be given to tenure track faculty members at Ball State University.

For graduate students, funds may be used for assistantship stipend, supplies, expenses, and/or travel and may also include tuition remission during the academic time period of the fellowship.

Completed applications and all required materials are due to the Sponsored Programs Office (SPO) by 5:00 PM on February 1, 2012. SPO will route the University Clearance Sheet and forward the completed applications to the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies. The Cohen Proposal Evaluation Committee will then review the proposals.

For more information on how to apply for the fellowship, visit the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies website.

EPA P3 Competition Open!

EPA's P3 – People, Prosperity, and the Planet—Program is a unique college competition for designing solutions for a sustainable future. P3 offers students quality hands-on experience that brings their classroom learning to life. The EPA considers projects that address challenges from a wide range of categories: agriculture, built environment, materials and chemicals, energy, and water.

The P3 Award competition is a two-phase team contest. In the first phase, interdisciplinary student teams compete for $15,000 grants. Recipients use the money to research and develop their design projects during the academic year.

In the spring, all teams submit their reports and proposals, and then bring their projects to Washington, DC for judging by a panel of experts convened by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Judging takes place at the annual National Sustainable Design Expo on the National Mall.

Scores from the reports, proposals and the presentations on the Mall are combined into a final overall score for each P3 team. Based on these scores, the AAAS judges recommend to EPA which teams should receive the EPA P3 Award and the opportunity for Phase II funding - a $90,000 grant for real world application.

Applications will be accepted through Dec. 22, 2011.

For more information and guidelines, please visit the P3 website or contact your SPO Proposal Manager.