UCR Research and Economic Development Newsletter: September 25 2014
Michael Pazzani
Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development
Back Issues of Newsletter: http://research.ucr.edu/vcr/newsletters.aspx
Grant Opportunity Search: http://pivot.cos.com
TEDxRiverside: Oct 16, 2014: http://www.tedxriverside.com
Google Faculty Research Awards:
Google gives faculty research awards (to be in an amount approximately equivalent to the amount necessary to support one graduate student for one year plus travel). Most awards are in the $40,000 to $70,000 range. The maximum amount a PI can request is $150,000. The intent of the Google Research Awards is to support cutting-edge research in Computer Science, Engineering, and related fields. There are two items worth noting in applying for these awards:
http://research.google.com/university/relations/research_awards.html
Deadline: October 15, 2014
Google ask applicants to categorize their proposals into one of the following broad research areas of interest to Google:
Computational neuroscience, Economics and market algorithms, Geo/maps, Human-computer interaction, Information retrieval, extraction, and organization (including semantic graphs) , Machine learning and data mining, Machine perception, Machine translation, Mobile, Natural language processing, Networking, Online education at scale, Physical interactions with devices, Policy and standards, Privacy, Robotics, Security, Social networks, Software engineering and programming languages, Speech, Structured data and database management, Systems (hardware and software)
Funding Opportunity: DOD Releases FY 2015
MURI BAA
The Department of Defense (DOD) released the broad agency
announcement (BAA) for the fiscal year (FY) 2015 Multidisciplinary University
Research Initiative (MURI). MURI is one of the signature DOD research programs
for the university community and stand as the benchmark for building a
defense-oriented research capability on campus
UCR has done well in the MURI
competition in the past few years, leading projects in 2013 and 2014 and being
part of other projects as well.
This yearfs topics are:
Army Research Office (ARO)
Air Force Office of Scientific
Research (AFOSR)
Office of Naval Research (ONR)
As expected, FY 2015 topics map
largely to Director for Basic Research Robin Staffinfs research
priorities. Engineered materials, quantum information, and synthetic
biology continue to receive strong emphasis. Across all topics,
computational approaches continue to be valued.
DOD encourages faculty to engage
with program managers assigned to each topic area through the white paper
process to assess the feasibility of proposed topics. Topics listed above
describe the focus areas important to each branch and are not meant to restrict
the possible directions awarded research could take. DOD notes that for
topics 5, 13, and 14, faculty are encouraged to partner with universities from
the United Kingdom in an effort to expand DODfs capabilities in these fields.
Due Dates: White papers are due November 24. Full Proposals are due by
4:00 PM (EST) on February 23, 2015.
Total Funding and Award
Size: DOD expects $145 million
dollars to be made available, pending congressional appropriations.
Individual awards will range from $1 million to $2.5 million annually for up to
five years, but MURI awards typically fall between $1.25 million and $1.5
million annually. Each topic in the solicitation specifies approximately
how much will be made for that topic and how proposed teams should be arranged
based on budgets. For reference, DOD issued 24 awards for a total of $167
million in FY 2014.
Eligibility
and Limitations: The competition is open
to U.S. institutions of higher education with degree-granting programs in
science, mathematics, or engineering. While industry, DOD laboratories,
and foreign universities may not receive funding, DOD encourages universities
to work with entities focused on applied and transitional research to
collaborate on potential commercial applications for MURI-funded research.
Sources and Additional
Background:
Funding Opportunity: DOD Releases FY
2015 DURIP BAA
The Department of Defense (DOD) released the broad agency announcement (BAA) for the fiscal year (FY) 2015 Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) competition. DURIP, a part of DODfs University Research Initiative (URI) suite of programs, provides acquisition funding for equipment used to support defense-related research activities on campus. DURIP funding may be used to purchase instrumentation to advance defense-relevant research, but according to DOD cannot be used to fund construction or modification of buildings, building support systems, or fixed equipment (i.e. clean rooms or fume hoods).
Faculty already funded by DOD or collaborating with the DOD on projects have a greater chance of being awarded a DURIP since they can justify the relevance of the project to DOD. Communicating with a DOD program manager to gauge interest or steer the project in a particular direction is strongly encouraged before writing a full proposal. If youfd like assistance with identifying a program manager, please contact me.
Due Dates: Proposals are due by 4:00 PM (EST) on November 17. Award decisions are expected in the spring of 2015.
Total Funding and Award Size: DOD expects $46 million to be available for this program, with individual awards ranging from $50,000 to $1.5 million. For FY 2014, DOD made 149 awards averaging $268,000.
Sources and Additional Background:
The following is an
excerpt from the Office of Research Integrity of Health and Human Services
regarding a finding of research misconduct. Faculty are advised to avoid
these practices. See https://ori.hhs.gov/case_summary
for more examples of what not to do.
ORI found that
an Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of
Medicine Cancer Research Center (BUSM), engaged in research misconduct in
research supported by National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of
Health (NIH), grants R01 CA102940 and R01 CA101992.
ORI found that the Respondent engaged in research misconduct by fabricating
data that were included in two (2) published papers. Specifically, ORI found
that Respondent Fabricated RT-PCR and ChIP experiments represented in Figures
1b, 2b, 3a,b, 4b,c, 6a,b, 7c in Mol. Endocrinol. 23(12):2075- 85, 2009; RT-PCR
and/or ChIP experiments were included in six (6) of seven (7) figures in this
publication; and Fabricated RT-PCR and ChIP experiments represented in Figures
2a,b, 3a,b, 4a,c, 5a,b, 6b,c, 8a,b in Oncogene 28(5):651-61, 2009; RT-PCR
and/or ChIP experiments were included in six (6) of eight (8) figures in this
publication.
Respondent has entered into a Voluntary Exclusion Agreement (Agreement).
Respondent and the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) want to conclude this
matter without further expenditure of time or other resources. Respondent
accepts ORI's findings of research misconduct as set forth above but neither
admits nor denies committing research misconduct.
As a condition of the Agreement, Respondent agrees that the Mol. Endocrinol.
23(12):2075-85, 2009, and Oncogene 28(5):651-61, 2009, publications be
retracted.
In entering into the Agreement, the Respondent has voluntarily agreed for a
period of two (2) years, beginning on July 18, 2011:
(1) To exclude himself from any contracting or subcontracting with any agency
of the United States Government c
(2) To exclude himself from serving in any advisory capacity to PHS, including
but not limited to service on any PHS advisory committee, board, and/or peer
review committee, or as a consultant.
During one recent 100 degree weekend, I went to the mountains to cool off and go birding. Below is a photo of the white-headed woodpecker which also likes the cooler mountain regions of Southern California
Michael Pazzani
Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development
Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
University of California, Riverside
200 University Office Building
Riverside, CA 92521
Assistant: Linda Bejenaru
Email: VCREDadmin@ucr.edu