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Vol. 36, No. 11 - November 2009
Office of Research Development and Administration
Editor: Joel Fritzler
CONTENTS
—excerpted from Science, Oct. 29, 2009 (http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/10/where-nihs-stim-1.html#more )
The results are in for National Institutes of Health's Challenge Grants, and the news is better than expected. The agency funded 854 projects, which puts the portion of the 20,000-plus applications funded at around 4%; compared with the usual NIH grant success rate of around 20%. But it beats the 1%-2% (200-400 grants) that NIH originally said it would fund.
The data come from a preliminary report on how NIH spent the first half of its $10.4 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The tally comes to 12,788 grants funded for $4.35 billion in 2009. (Contracts add another $379 million.) Grant categories include previously reviewed proposals that just missed the cutoff for funding from NIH's regular budget, as well as extensions of existing projects (supplements and revisions). The dollar breakdown (see chart): $1.51 billion (34.7%) to administrative supplements, $1.43 billion (32.9%) to previously reviewed applications, $1.15 billion (26.4%) to stimulus competitions, $218 million (5%) to competing revisions, and $45 million (1%) to summer supplements.
That's consistent with NIH's plan last February to use the bulk of the money to fund already-reviewed applications and supplement existing grants. The amount of money going to each type of award varies-a summer supplement averaged $34,000, a previously reviewed grant $368,000 a year. (Most investigators will receive a similar amount in 2010, so NIH has in effect spent most of its stimulus money.)
The $1.15 billion for stimulus funding competitions includes $389 million for Challenge Grants from the NIH director's office and other institutes. The other new program was the larger Grand Opportunity grants; NIH funded 376 of these "GO" grants to the tune of $625 million in FY10.
—excerpted from Science, Oct. 29, 2009 (http://science.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=2672)
The House Committee on Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Energy and Environment held the first hearing on fusion energy in 13 years on Oct. 29 to examine the next generation of fusion energy research. Specifically, the Subcommittee looked at both domestic and international partnerships in fusion energy research and programs within the Dept. of Energy (DOE) Office of Science's Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) program and DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
"Fusion energy has successfully powered the sun and the stars for billions of years, so it's no surprise that man would try to recreate and harness this energy source here on earth. However, we all know that a working fusion reactor has been much more difficult to achieve than our atomic-age scientists initially expected," stated Subcommittee Chairman Brian Baird (D-WA). "Over the years, there were also some overly optimistic or even fraudulent proclamations by self-identified fusion researchers who skipped the peer review process and went straight to the media, further complicating the popular and political assessment of the extent to which the federal government should continue to support this research."
Fusion is the process by which two atoms combine to form both a larger atom and energy. American scientists have spent the last five decades trying to replicate the fusion process. Fusion research began in the 1940s as part of the Manhattan Project, but was not successful until 1952 with the development of a deployable thermonuclear weapon. Although fusion research has been conducted for many years, there are still a number of significant questions left unanswered and engineering challenges to address, but if these issues were overcome, fusion has the potential to become a relatively inexhaustible source of energy.
—from http://improbable.com/ig/winners/
The 2009 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on October 1, at the 19th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, at Harvard's Sanders Theatre. The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative -- and spur people's interest in science, medicine, and technology.
- VETERINARY MEDICINE PRIZE: Catherine Douglas and Peter Rowlinson of Newcastle University, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK, for showing that cows who have names give more milk than cows that are nameless.
- PEACE PRIZE: Stephan Bolliger, Steffen Ross, Lars Oesterhelweg, Michael Thali and Beat Kneubuehl of the University of Bern, Switzerland, for determining - by experiment - whether it is better to be smashed over the head with a full bottle of beer or with an empty bottle.
- ECONOMICS PRIZE: The directors, executives, and auditors of four Icelandic banks - Kaupthing Bank, Landsbanki, Glitnir Bank, and Central Bank of Iceland - for demonstrating that tiny banks can be rapidly transformed into huge banks, and vice versa - and for demonstrating that similar things can be done to an entire national economy.
- CHEMISTRY PRIZE: Javier Morales, Miguel Apátiga, and Victor M. Castaño of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, for creating diamonds from liquid - specifically from tequila.
- MEDICINE PRIZE: Donald L. Unger, of Thousand Oaks, California, for investigating a possible cause of arthritis of the fingers, by diligently cracking the knuckles of his left hand - but never cracking the knuckles of his right hand - every day for more than sixty (60) years.
- PHYSICS PRIZE: Katherine K. Whitcome of the University of Cincinnati, Daniel E. Lieberman of Harvard University, and Liza J. Shapiro of the University of Texas, for analytically determining why pregnant women don't tip over.
- LITERATURE PRIZE: Ireland's police service (An Garda Siochana), for writing and presenting more than fifty traffic tickets to the most frequent driving offender in the country - Prawo Jazdy - whose name in Polish means "Driving License".
- PUBLIC HEALTH PRIZE: Elena N. Bodnar, Raphael C. Lee, and Sandra Marijan of Chicago, Illinois, for inventing a brassiere that, in an emergency, can be quickly converted into a pair of protective face masks, one for the brassiere wearer and one to be given to some needy bystander.
- MATHEMATICS PRIZE: Gideon Gono, governor of Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank, for giving people a simple, everyday way to cope with a wide range of numbers - from very small to very big - by having his bank print bank notes with denominations ranging from one cent ($.01) to one hundred trillion dollars ($100,000,000,000,000).
- BIOLOGY PRIZE: Fumiaki Taguchi, Song Guofu, and Zhang Guanglei of Kitasato University Graduate School of Medical Sciences in Sagamihara, Japan, for demonstrating that kitchen refuse can be reduced more than 90% in mass by using bacteria extracted from the feces of giant pandas.
—excerpted from Science, Oct. 9, 2009, p. 216 (http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/326/5950/216)
After decades of flat funding, agricultural research has caught the attention of policymakers. Last week, Congress gave a 30% boost to the main competitive grants program of USDA, raising it to $262 million for 2010. Two new research chiefs at the USDA also hope to parlay an administrative reorganization into greater visibility for the field. Research advocates are cautiously upbeat that their labors are finally paying off.
Many are expecting a lot from Rajiv Shah, the young and energetic deputy undersecretary for research who joined USDA in June from the Gates Foundation. Speaking with Science last week, Shah described his plans to shake up the massive department, which employs 2300 scientists and has a research budget of $2.8 billion. Lobbyists are also thrilled with this week's arrival of plant scientist Roger Beachy as head of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the new home for USDA's extramural funding.
Advocates have been trying for years to raise the profile-and funding-of agricultural research. They applauded last year's passage of an agriculture bill that will provide $426 million over 4 years in new competitive research funding for bioenergy, organic farming, and vegetables and other so-called specialty crops.
Shah, 36, was an unusual pick for the position. Not only is he far younger than previous undersecretaries, he's not a scientist. Trained as a physician and also holding a business degree, Shah worked on child immunization at the Gates Foundation before switching to agricultural development. Now he's applying those skills to a department whose research budget has remained flat for decades. USDA is also seen by many as a bit player among federal science agencies, a status that was reinforced earlier this year when USDA received no research funds from the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act while the NIH, the NSF, and the Dept. of Energy's science programs each received billions.
Shah plans to raise the USDA's visibility by focusing research on five broad areas that align with Administration priorities: climate change, bioenergy, food safety, obesity, and overseas hunger. He wants to focus on core problems-such as the development of drought-tolerant crops and perennial grasses for biofuels-and leverage USDA's investments by partnering with other agencies. Similarly, Shah hopes to give out fewer but larger grants for work that fosters multidisciplinary collaborations. He plans to hold program managers accountable by asking them to set goals for two, five, and 10 years.
Extramural research is also being reorganized. In the farm bill, Congress directed USDA to convert its Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service-which distributes extramural grants to individual scientists and so-called formula funding to landgrant universities-into NIFA and to appoint a distinguished scientist to head it.
Beachy, 65, qualifies by any measure. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, Beachy did important work on engineering virus resistance in plants and in 1998 became the founding president of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri. "My major goal is to improve the perception of the agency and gain the same level of respect as NSF and NIH," Beachy says. One crucial measure of success, of course, will be the size of NIFA's budget. A coalition of research advocates, including Glasener and Hoefner, has been lobbying for a $300 million budget for competitive grants at USDA in fiscal year 2011.
For more information about these programs, contact Joel Fritzler, ORDA Information Specialist, at 453-4530 or jcfritz@siu.edu.
The Klarman Family Foundation is interested in providing strategic investment in translational research that will accelerate progress in developing effective treatments for anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. The Program's short-term goal is to support the most outstanding science and expand the pool of scientists whose research explores the basic biology of eating disorders. The long-term goal is to improve the lives of patients suffering from these conditions.
Examples of funding areas include but are not limited to molecular genetic analysis of relevant neural circuit assembly and function; animal models created by genetically altering neural circuits; testing of new chemical entities that might be used in animal models as exploratory treatments; and brain imaging approaches that identify neurochemical pathways in patients with these disorders. Investigators conducting research in the neuro-circuitry of fear conditioning or reward behavior may also apply but must justify the relevance of their research projects to the basic biology of eating disorders. Clinical psychotherapeutic studies, medication trials and research in the medical complications of these disorders are outside the scope of this Program.
Two-year awards of $400,000 ($200,000 per year inclusive of 10 percent indirect costs) and one-year pilot studies of up to $150,000 (inclusive of 10 percent indirect costs) are made. For additional information about this program, go to: http://www.tmfnet.org/grantmake.html#klarman or contact Gay Lockwood (glockwood@hria.org).
DEADLINE: Dec. 08, 2009
Junior Faculty: Approximately 15 grants of up to $75,000 each will be awarded to junior faculty scientists for research aimed at understanding the basic mechanisms of aging. Proposed research must take place at a nonprofit institution in the United States. Eligible applicants are individuals who have an M.D. or Ph.D. and are in their first four years as a faculty member at a research institution. Faculty members at the level of associate professor or higher and former AFAR grant recipients are not eligible. For additional information about this program, go to: http://afar.org/afar99.html or contact AFAR (212-703-9977, grants@afar.org).
Julie Martin Mid-Career Award in Aging Research: Administered by the American Federation for Aging Research, with support from the Ellison Medical Foundation, two awards of $500,000 each over four years will be awarded to scientists who propose novel directions in biological gerontology and for which NIH awards or other traditional sources are unlikely because of high research risks. Eligible applicants must be an associate professor who received tenure (or the equivalent) after December 1, 2006. Proposed research must be conducted in any type of nonprofit setting in the United States. Employees in the NIH Intramural program are not eligible. For additional information about this program, go to: http://afar.org/Ellison%20Mid-Career.html or contact AFAR (212-703-9977, grants@afar.org).
Breakthroughs in Gerontology Awards: Administered by the American Federation for Aging Research and sponsored by the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research, two two-year grants of up to $200,000 each will support research on the molecular biology of aging. Eligible applicants are full-time researchers at the assistant-professor level or higher. The proposed research must take place at any type of nonprofit setting in the United States. For additional information about this program, go to: http://www.afar.org or contact AFAR (212-703-9977, grants@afar.org).
DEADLINE: Dec. 15, 2009 (for all three programs)
The IIE has partnered with the IAF to administer its fellowship program. The foundation is reactivating its fellowship support for dissertation work by candidates for Ph.D. degrees from United States universities. The foundation is now accepting applications from students in the social sciences, physical sciences, technical fields, and the professions as related to grassroots development issues. The foundation's fellowships are intended to increase awareness of grassroots development efforts while building a community of professionals and scholars knowledgeable in the subject. Fellows examine the efforts of the rural and urban poor to improve their lives, their methods of organization and production, and the policies and programs designed to alleviate their poverty. The foundation disseminates research findings of its fellows to a broad audience concerned with development.
The fellowship award includes round-trip international transportation to the field research site; a $3,000 research allowance, paid in a one-time, lump sum; a $1,500 monthly stipend covering a maximum grant period of 12 months; and attendance at a required mid-year Grassroots Development Conference.
Fellowships are available to currently registered students who have advanced to Ph.D. candidacy. The competition is open to U.S. citizens and citizens of independent Latin American and Caribbean countries (except Cuba).
Up to 12 fellowships will be awarded. For additional information about this program, go to: http://www.iie.org/Website/WPreview.cfm?WID=187 or contact the IAF Fellowships Program (iaffellowships@iie.org).
DEADLINE: Dec. 31, 2009
These awards provide grant support to new and established investigators and to investigators who have not previously worked in the field of diabetes and have an imaginative proposal related to any aspect of diabetes research. Applications will be considered in any area that is relevant to the etiology or pathophysiology of diabetes and its complications.
The funds are to be used for research activities related to diabetes for the project described. Applications for up to three years of support for amounts up to $115,000 per year will be considered. The funds are to be divided between the salary of the PI, collaborating investigators, and research support. Up to 20 percent of total costs per year may be used to support the PI's salary and fringe benefits. Research support may be used to defray the support of a postdoctoral fellow, technician, supplies, equipment, travel, etc. Up to 15 percent for indirect costs may be requested.
For additional information about this program, go to: http://professional.diabetes.org/Diabetes_Research.aspx?typ=18&cid=64376 or contact Magda Galindo (grantquestions@diabetes.org).
DEADLINE: Jan. 15, 2010
The Law and Social Science Program at the National Science Foundation supports social scientific studies of law and law-like systems of rules, institutions, processes, and behaviors. These can include, but are not limited to, research designed to enhance the scientific understanding of the impact of law; human behavior and interactions as these relate to law; the dynamics of legal decision making; and the nature, sources, and consequences of variations and changes in legal institutions. The primary consideration is that the research shows promise of advancing a scientific understanding of law and legal process. Within this framework, the Program has an "open window" for diverse theoretical perspectives, methods and contexts for study. For example, research on social control, crime causation, violence, victimization, legal and social change, patterns of discretion, procedural justice, compliance and deterrence, and regulatory enforcement are among the many areas that have recently received program support. In addition to standard proposals, planning grant proposals, travel support requests to lay the foundation for research, and proposals for improving doctoral dissertation research are welcome.
The Law and Social Science Program continues to solicit proposals that take account of the growing interdependence and interconnections of the world. Thus proposals are welcome that advance fundamental knowledge about legal interactions, processes, relations, and diffusions that extend beyond any single nation as well as about how local and national legal institutions, systems, and cultures affect or are affected by transnational or international phenomena. Thus, proposals may locate the research within a single nation or between or across legal systems or regimes.
The review process for the Law and Social Science Program is approximately six months. It includes appraisal of proposals by ad hoc reviewers selected for their expertise from throughout the social scientific community and by an advisory panel that meets twice a year. The target dates for the submission of proposals are January 15 for proposals to be funded as early as July and August 15 for proposals to be funded in or after January.
For additional information about this program, go to: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5422 or contact Wendy Martinek (703-292-4780, wemartin@nsf.gov) or Scott Barclay (703-292-7267, sbarclay@nsf.gov).
DEADLINE: Jan. 15, 2010
The Goldhirsh Foundation is pleased to announce the 2010 Brain Tumor Research Awards Program. New approaches in brain tumor research are emerging, generated by the use of new genetic tools, insights from neurogenesis and stem cell biology, and the availability of novel molecules as potential chemotherapeutic interventions. The Goldhirsh Foundation is interested in providing strategic investment in both pediatric and adult brain tumor research to accelerate progress toward more effective treatment for malignant diffuse glioma tumors. Applications are encouraged from investigators working in the continuum between basic research and clinical application, integrating and translating knowledge in various disciplines into meaningful progress for patients.
The Goldhirsh Foundation is pleased to announce the 2010 Brain Tumor Research Awards Program. New approaches in brain tumor research are emerging, generated by the use of new genetic tools, insights from neurogenesis and stem cell biology, and the availability of novel molecules as potential chemotherapeutic interventions. The Goldhirsh Foundation is interested in providing strategic investment in both pediatric and adult brain tumor research to accelerate progress toward more effective treatment for malignant diffuse glioma tumors. Applications are encouraged from investigators working in the continuum between basic research and clinical application, integrating and translating knowledge in various disciplines into meaningful progress for patients.
Examples of funding areas include but are not limited to oncogenomics and proteomics, genetically engineered models, the discovery and testing of small molecule therapies, unusual drug delivery systems, or improved brain imaging techniques. Research projects at the interface of developmental biology and cancer along the stem cell to glial axis are eligible.
Projects must be relevant to tumors within the category of malignant diffuse gliomas, i.e., glioblastomas, diffuse astrocytomas (WHO grade III), oligoastrocytomas (WHO grade III), and oligodendrogliomas (WHO grade III).
The Goldhirsh Foundation is accepting Initial Proposal Applications from applicants who meet the following eligibility requirements:
- Have an M.D. and/or Ph.D. degree(s) or equivalent degree
- Hold a faculty appointment at a nonprofit academic, medical or research institution in the United States, Canada or Israel: The applicant may collaborate with investigators from other institutions and these institutions may include for-profit companies.
- Preference will be given to originality of ideas, regardless of applicant seniority.
- Eligibility is not limited to those investigators currently working in brain tumor research: Investigators from other fields are encouraged to apply with proposals directly relevant to malignant diffuse glioma tumors.
Up to three investigators will receive grants of $400,000 (inclusive of 10 percent indirect costs) over two years at $200,000 per year. The Foundation also makes awards of $100,000 (inclusive of 10 percent indirect costs) for one-year pilot studies.
For additional information about this program, go to: http://www.goldhirshfoundation.org/application_information.htm or contact Linda Lam (Llam@goldhirshfoundation.org) or Sally McNagny617-279-2240, ext. 704, SMcNagny@goldhirshfoundation.org).
DEADLINE: Jan. 07, 2010
The Mathematical Biology Program supports research in areas of applied and computational mathematics with relevance to the biological sciences. Successful proposals are mathematically innovative and address challenging problems of interest to members of the biological community.
Projects may include development of mathematical concepts and tools traditionally seen in other disciplinary programs within the Division of Mathematical Sciences, e.g., topology, probability, statistics, and computation, etc. To receive appropriate and timely review, such proposals should be submitted directly to the relevant disciplinary program, but will be considered for co-review by the Mathematical Biology program which may be selected as a secondary program. Note that proposals that use established mathematical, statistical and computational tools to address problems in the biological sciences are typically not appropriate for consideration by the disciplinary programs within DMS. For further details on other disciplinary programs within the division, see the details of the program descriptions.
In general, if a proposal is appropriate for review by more than one disciplinary program within the Division of Mathematical Sciences, it is advisable to contact the program officers handling each program to determine when the proposal should be submitted and to facilitate the review process. Usually, it is most appropriate to submit in line with the earliest program deadline. If proposals are appropriate for co-review, but are not received in time to include them in the review process for all programs, then they may considered by only a subset of the programs or may be returned without review. In addition, the Mathematical Biology Program interacts with every division in the NSF Directorate of Biological Sciences, and its interests overlap those of the biology programs. Mathematical Biology regularly seeks joint reviews of proposals with programs in the Directorate of Biological Sciences. Investigators are encouraged to discuss their project with program officers in both areas to determine if it should be considered for co-review.
For additional information about this program, go to: www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5690 or contact Mary Ann Horn (mhorn@nsf.gov, 703-292-4879).
DEADLINE: Jan. 13, 2010
This program is a continuation of the Plant Genome Research Program (PGRP) that began in FY98 as part of the National Plant Genome Initiative (NPGI). The goal of the NPGI is to develop a basic knowledge of the structures and functions of plant genomes and translate this knowledge to a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of economically important plants and plant processes of potential economic value. By bridging basic research and plant performance in the field, the NPGI will accelerate basic discovery and innovation in economically important plants and enable enhanced management of agriculture, natural resources, and the environment to meet societal needs.
Four kinds of activity will be supported in FY 2010: (1) Genome-Enabled Plant Research (GEPR) awards to tackle major unanswered questions in plant biology on a genome-wide scale; (2) Transferring Research from Model Systems (TRMS) awards to apply basic biological findings made using model systems to studying the basic biology of plants of economic importance; (3) Tools and Resources for Plant Genome Research (TRPGR) awards to support development of novel technologies and analysis tools to enable discovery in plant genomics; and (4) Comparative Plant Genome Sequencing (CPGS) awards to support development of sequence resources to enable research in economically important crop plants and plant processes of potential economic value. Proposals addressing these opportunities are welcomed at all scales, from single-investigator projects through multi-investigator, multi-institution projects, commensurate with the scope of the work proposed.
It is estimated that 15 to 25 awards will be made from an anticipated funding amount of $20 million. For additional information about this program, go to: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09611/nsf09611.htm or contact Diane Jofuku Okamuro (703-292-4400, dbipgr@nsf.gov) or Agnes Chan (703-292-4400, dbipgr@nsf.gov).
DEADLINE: Jan. 13, 2010
The AHA funds research broadly related to cardiovascular disease and stroke. The AHA supports research in clinical and basic sciences, bioengineering, biotechnology, and public health. Applications related to obesity, women and heart disease, and resuscitation are particularly encouraged. The objective of the SDG is to support highly promising beginning scientists in their progress toward independence by encouraging and adequately funding research projects that can bridge the gap between completion of research training and readiness for successful competition as an independent investigator. Proposals will be accepted for all basic disciplines, including multidisciplinary efforts, as well as epidemiological, community, and clinical investigations that bear on cardiovascular and stroke problems.
The award duration is four years. The maximum annual amount is $77,000 ($70,000 direct plus 10 percent indirect costs) and may be budgeted for the following:
- PI Salary/Fringe: Up to $35,000 per year for salary/fringe of the PI, collaborating investigator(s), and other participants with faculty appointments.
- Project support: At least $35,000 per year (all of award may be budgeted for project support and 10 percent indirect costs if PI, collaborators, and/or other faculty salaries/fringe are not requested).
- Travel costs: Not to exceed $3,000 per year.
- Indirect costs: Not to exceed 10 percent ($7,000 per year).
For additional information about this program, go to: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3059907 or contact the AHA (grants@heart.org).
DEADLINE: Jan. 22, 2010
Note: Grant listings going back to FY2003 are available via this website's Reports and Publications section.
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