UCR Research and Economic Development Newsletter: April 21, 2013
Michael Pazzani
Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development
Back Issues of Newsletter: http://or.ucr.edu/vcr/newsletters.aspx
·
Faculty
Workshops: BRAIN, Big Data, and now Drug Discovery and Design
·
Federal
Budget Update
·
Research
Development & Grant Writing News
·
NIH
Funding presentation
·
New
NSF Summary Report of Social Science Research Benefits
·
Spotted
Towhee
Faculty Workshops: BRAIN, Big Data, and now Drug
Discovery and Design
My office has been hosting several workshops with the goal of bringing together faculty with common research interests from different departments. At the workshops, faculty are asked to give brief overviews of their research to initiate collaborations.
Workshops are scheduled for:
·
BRAIN
research: Monday,
April 22nd from 1:30 – 3pm in the University Office Building, Room
219. http://doodle.com/x7dt9ne5iszzkeri#table
·
Big
Data: Monday, May 6th
from 1:30 – 3pm in the University Office Building, Room 220. http://doodle.com/474a33emms358psg#table
It’s not too late to sign up using the corresponding doodle pool. If you are interested in a topic but can’t make the date, please add your name to the corresponding doodle poll so we can keep you informed. If you are attending and want to present a PowerPoint, please get it to Jennifer.Jazquez@ucr.edu.
A new workshop is proposed on Drug Discovery and Design. The date is not set. If you are interested, fill out the doodle poll at http://doodle.com/3wdn3tynyynny7fa
Federal Budget Update
UCR has developed a relationship with Lewis-Burke Associates to monitor federal research trends and budgets and to help network with research funding agencies. Lewis-Burke has prepared a detailed summary of the President’s proposed budget. I was intending on writing a summary but that might leave out an agency or a detail important to a faculty member. Therefore, I am attaching the rather lengthy report. For the most part, the proposed budget is good news with increases to NSF, US Department of Energy Office of Science, USDA/NIFA, NEH and NEA. The increases to NIH are minimal. While one can expect the funding numbers to change as it works its way through Congress, it is still useful to see new initiatives that agencies are proposing to get as much advance information as possible on possible new programs.
One major change is that NSF will be getting a large increase in funds for education programs at the expense of cuts in other agency programs in this area. Two new programs are
·
NSF
Research Traineeships (NRT): NRT
builds on the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT)
program. NRT would be supported at $55.1 million in FY 2014 to “encourage
effectual innovation and design of graduate programs to support opportunities
within specific disciplines.”
·
Catalyzing
Advances in Undergraduate STEM Education (CAUSE): CAUSE is a new program with proposed
funding of $123.1 million in FY 2014 that aims to maximize the impact of NSF’s
undergraduate education activities and build the future STEM workforce through:
improved learning and learning environments, broadening participation, and
increasing institutional capacity.
Note that the attached reports are for UCR internal use only. They may not be forwarded to colleagues at other institutions or professional associations. Lewis-Burke can help set up meetings at agencies to discuss programs or initiatives. However, faculty members are asked to coordinate contacting them with me to keep UCR in the loop. I have limited travel funds to faculty that are interested in visiting agencies to learn more about programs.
For other budget analysis see
AAAS: http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2013/0410_rd-budget.shtml
APLU: http://www.aplu.org/document.doc?id=4450
To read the agencies budget documents, see
NSF: http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2014/index.jsp
DOE Office of Science:
http://science.energy.gov/~/media/sc-1/pdf/2012/brinkman_2014_budget_presentation.pdf
NIH: http://officeofbudget.od.nih.gov/br.html
NEH: http://www.neh.gov/files/neh_request_fy2014.pdf
USDA/NIFA: http://land-grant.org/docs/FY2014/NUM-14.pdf
Research Development & Grant Writing News
UCR has also subscribed to a newsletter from Academic Research Funding Strategies. It is available on the web at http://research.ucr.edu/OrApps/SP/Info/GrantWriting/GrantWritingNews.aspx. I’m attaching a copy here. This report also should not be shared outside of UCR.
NIH Grants and Research Resources presentation
Karine
Le Roch recently hosted a NIH Grant officer, Glen McGugan, to give a
presentation on NIH Grants and Research Resources. That presentation is
available to UCR researchers on the web at
http://research.ucr.edu/OrApps/VCR/Talks/20130220-McGugan/default.aspx
New NSF Summary Report of Social Science Research
Benefits
The National Science Foundation (NSF) released a summary
report "Bringing
People Into Focus: How Social, Behavioral and Economic Research Addresses
National Challenges," that provides examples of the ways in which
NSF-funded, basic, social and behavioral science research bears on national
security and economic interests. As you may know, there is continued
skepticism among some in Congress as to the value of federally supported social
science research. See http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=127535&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
for examples of the impacts of NSF funded social science research.
Spotted Towhee
I have a pair of spotted towhees that have been visiting my house the past few months. They are usually pretty reclusive, staying in the underbrush, but some sunflower seed has coaxed them out.
(click to enlarge)
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: Jennifer Vazquez
951-827-4800