UCR Research and Economic Development Newsletter: May 22, 2016
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
· Visit
by NEH Chair: June 2, 10:am
· Limited Submission: Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical
Sciences: June 16, 2016
· BASF
and Volkswagen Science Award Electrochemistry – Energy Storage: August
12, 2016
· Limited Submission: Keck Proposal- June 16
· Fulbright Workshops: May 24th and 27th
·
Academic
Research Funding Strategies: Research Development & Grant Writing News
·
Faculty
Networking Lunches –Bio-based Materials, Health Disparities
· Bird
The following are recent USDA calls for proposals, indicating the topic, a summary, the URL for the call, deadlines, and types of awards. For more information, please contact Randall Black at randall.black@ucr.edu.
USDA
AFRI - Water for Agriculture Challenge Area
Research
including social, behavioral, policy, environment and health in water resource
issues such as drought in an agricultural context. The three areas are:
(1)
Water Availability for Diverse Agricultural Uses: The Right Water for the Right
Place and Time, which includes nontraditional sources of water, science for
institutional, policy, regulatory decisions, and communication with
non-agricultural users.
(2)
Understanding Decisions and Behaviors Connected with Agriculture and
Post-harvest Processing Industry Water Use, which includes societal responses
to changes in water price, predicting water use behavior changes due to
incentives, removal of subsidies, and implications of policy reforms.
(3) Understanding
the Human Health Impacts to Exposure from Nontraditional Water Used in
Agriculture, which includes chemical and pathogenic contaminants in
nontraditional agricultural water, human exposure pathways, health risks, and
translating research to communities and decision makers concerning community
health.
URL: https://nifa.usda.gov/funding-opportunity/agriculture-and-food-research-initiative-water-agriculture-challenge-area
Deadline Aug. 4, 2016 No LOI
Types of awards include Integrated Research, Education, and/or Extension Projects, Research-only, Food and Agricultural Science Enhancement (FASE) Grants, and conferences. UCR is eligible for the special Strengthening category, eligibility statement available from randall.black@ucr.edu.
---------------
USDA AFRI - Foundational Program
Unless otherwise noted all
awards $500,000 total; maximum; up to 5 years. None require matching.
No Letter of Intent (LOI), all deadlines at 5:00 p.m. EDT
The six priority areas a) through g) with heavily edited
descriptions are:
a) Plant Health and
Production and Plant Products;
1. Foundational Knowledge of
Agricultural Production Systems
Application Deadline – August
17, 2016
Investigate how agricultural
production systems can increase plant resilience to stressors, altering the
plant microbiome and the beneficial effects of the alterations, how
changes in production system management or biodiversity affect soil health,
synthesis and meta-analysis of the existing data to derive general principles
about agricultural production systems. Only studies involving two or more
management components will be supported
2. Pests and Beneficial Species
in Agricultural Production Systems
Application Deadline – July 21,
2016
Two program area priorities
offered in FY 2015 (Plant-Associated Insects and Nematodes; and Weedy and
Invasive Species) have been combined in this single program area priority in FY
2016. Elucidate processes affecting the abundance and spread of plant-associated
pests (insects, nematodes, pathogens and weeds) and beneficial species
(pollinators and biological control agents). Factors that affect pollinator
populations that will lead to technologies to mitigate their losses
3. Physiology of Agricultural
Plants
Application Deadline – August
11, 2016
Two priorities offered in FY
2015 (Growth and Development, Composition and Stress Tolerance; and
Photosynthesis and Nutrient Use in Agricultural Plants) have been combined in
this single program area priority for 2016. Molecular, biochemical,
whole-plant, agronomic or eco-physiological approaches to improve plant
productivity or performance through studies on plant (or weed) growth, response
to abiotic stresses, photosynthetic efficiency, carbon assimilation, metabolism,
and nutrient uptake.
4. Plant Breeding for
Agricultural Production
Application Deadline – July 28,
2016
Conventional and
genomics-enabled breeding to improve crops. Should address priority needs identified
by the USDA Roadmap for Plant Breeding
b) Animal Health and Production and Animal Products;
1. Animal Reproduction
2. Animal Nutrition, Growth and
Lactation
3. Animal Well-Being
4. Animal Health and Disease
Application Deadline for 1-4
– July 14, 2016
5. Tools and Resources - Animal
Breeding, Genetics and Genomics
Application Deadline – August
3, 2016
6. Tools and Resources - Immune
Reagents for Agricultural Animals
Application Deadline – July 14,
2016
c) Food Safety, Nutrition, and Health;
1. Improving Food Safety
Application Deadline – July 14, 2016
Develop and validate novel
concentration and purification methods for identification, detection,
isolation, capture, or control of foodborne hazards (viable or infectious human
pathogens, chemicals, microbial toxins, or engineered inorganic nanoparticles).
2. Improving Food Quality
Application Deadline – August 17, 2016
Knowledge gained should be used
to improve the quality, shelf-life, convenience, nutrient value and/or sensory
attributes of food. Technologies and materials for food processing, packaging,
and food quality monitoring to improve food security by reducing post-harvest
losses, food waste, and precisely indicating the shelf-life of foods.
3. Understanding Antimicrobial
Resistance
Application Deadline – July 14, 2016
Basic science that underpins
alternatives to traditional antimicrobials currently used in agriculture. This
will mitigate the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in crops and animals. Strategies
should not create selection pressure favoring the development of antimicrobial
resistance to medically-relevant human antibiotics.
4. Function and Efficacy of
Nutrients
Application Deadline – July 14, 2016
Investigate the role of
bioactive components of food in preventing inflammation or promoting
gastrointestinal health. Priority will be given to projects that use a whole
food approach or that address health effects of a combination of two or more
bioactive components found in food. The whole food approach may add enrichment,
fortification or micro- and nano-encapsulation to
increase bioavailability of bioactive components in food.
d) Bioenergy, Natural Resources, and Environment;
Application Deadlines for 1-4 – July 21, 2016
1. Nitrogen and Phosphorus
Cycling
High-risk/high-reward projects
that evaluate the physical and biogeochemical (including microbial) processes
affecting the flow, fate and transport, transformation, movement, and storage
of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P).
2. Agro-ecosystem Management
Investigate practices and
evaluate the connection of system diversity to production system functionality,
productivity, socioeconomic viability, sustainability, biodiversity, and the
production of other ecosystem services. System diversity includes natural
resource diversity, genetic diversity, crop and/or landscape diversity over
space and/or time, and/or species diversity in both the managed and unmanaged
components of the agro-ecosystem.
3. Cover Crops for Bioenergy
and Biobased Products
Develop and evaluate the
regional/sub-regional use and system management of new and innovative cover
crops and/or double cropping systems specifically for use in the production of
biofuels, biopower, or biobased
products
4. Socioeconomic Implications
and Public Policy Challenges of Bioenergy and Bioproducts
Market Development and Expansion
Identify best practices that
contribute to the economic, social, environmental sustainability of emerging
bioenergy and bioproduct markets; policy or socio-economic
dimensions of bioenergy or bioproducts systems.
e) Agriculture Systems and Technology
Application Deadlines for 1-3 –
July 13, 2016
1. Agricultural Engineering
Enable engineering, computing,
modeling, automation, and information systems for: forestry and natural
resources, plant and animal production and protection, and post-harvest
inspection, handling, and distribution for improved efficiency, risk reduction,
and sustainability
2. Bioprocessing and
Bioengineering
Improve the production efficiency
and capacity of biomass, biofuels, feedstock, bioenergy, and bio-based
products; expand use of waste and byproducts; engineer products and processes
that use materials of agricultural origin; or increase the sustainability of
agricultural and forestry processing systems.
3. Nanotechnology for
Agricultural and Food Systems
Novel uses and high value-added
products of nano-biomaterials of agricultural and
forest origins for food and non-food applications (projects on addition of
engineered nanoparticles into foods for human consumption are not being
solicited this year). Nanoscale-based sensors, precision agriculture
technologies, assessments of engineered nanoparticles applied in food and
agricultural systems, and analysis of the perceptions and social acceptance of
nanotechnology using social science tools.
f) Agriculture Economics and
Rural Communities (AERC)
1. Economics, Markets and Trade
Application Deadline – August
11, 2016
Economics theories, methods and
applications in the following broad areas: agricultural market structure and
performance; international trade; agricultural production and resource use;
consumer behavior; farm labor and immigration and policy; agricultural policy
design and impacts; technology development and adoption; and science and
innovation policy.
2. Environmental and Natural
Resource Economics
Application Deadline – August
18, 2016
Economic theories, methods,
tools, analyses and applications that contribute to understanding an ecological
approach to agriculture (including forestry and aquaculture).
3. Behavioral and Experimental
Economic Applications for Agri-Environmental Policy
Design
Max $250,000; up to 4 years
Application Deadline – July 14,
2016
A pilot program in behavioral
and experimental economics (BE) on factors influencing individual choices,
including perceived risk, the description of options (referred to as framing),
the decision or choice environment, and the propensity of people (including
farmers) to over-discount the future consequences of current decisions such as
the choice of payment schedules, e.g. for USDA conservation incentives, in
which many farmers do not participate.
4. Small and Medium-Sized Farms
Application Deadline – August
25, 2016
Strategies and technologies to
enhance economic efficiency and sustainability, including the viability and
competitiveness of small and medium-sized dairy, poultry, livestock, crop,
forestry, and other operations.
5. Innovation for Rural
Entrepreneurs and Communities
Application Deadline – August
31, 2016
Research and extension activities to develop and apply new knowledge to improve the well-being of people involved in agriculture, food systems and rural communities.
g) Critical Agricultural Research (CARE)
Applications must develop and implement
solutions to critical stakeholder-identified problems associated one or more of
the Farm Bill priorities a. through f. above
Standard
Grants, Strengthening Standard Grants and New Investigator Grants must not
exceed $300,000 total per project (including indirect costs) for project
periods of up to 3 years and are not renewable.
Application Deadline – July 14, 2016
h) Exploratory Research Program
The AFRI Exploratory Research
Program Area addresses priorities a. through f. above. Projects must not be
suitable for submission to other program area priorities under AFRI and address
one or more of the following:
•
Extraordinarily novel or innovative ideas
that have high potential impact;
•
Application of new knowledge or new
approaches to unsolved challenges that may result in dramatic improvements;
•
Tools required to have a paradigm shift
in the field; or
•
Rapid response to natural disasters and
unanticipated events affecting agriculture.
Letter of Intent required and
accepted any time throughout the year. Proposals invited.
Standard Grants must not exceed
$100,000 total per project (including indirect costs) for project periods of up
to 2 years and are not renewable.
URL for all the Foundational Program: https://nifa.usda.gov/funding-opportunity/agriculture-and-food-research-initiative-foundational-program
UCR is eligible for the special Strengthening category. Strengthening eligibility statement for 2016 available from randall.black@ucr.edu.
------------
USDA AFRI -
Food Safety Challenge Area
In FY
2016, applications are sought in the following priority areas:
(1)
Effective Mitigation Strategies for Antimicrobial Resistance
(2)
5-Year Assessment of the AFRI Food Safety Challenge Area
Deadline:
August 3, 2016 No LOI
Grant Types – Standard, Conference, and FASE Grants (i.e., New Investigator Standard, Strengthening Standard, Conference, Seed, Equipment, and Sabbatical grants). Strengthening grants available.
--------------
USDA
AFRI - Food Security Challenge Area
FY
2016 Program Area Priorities:
1)
New Frontiers in Pollinator Health: From Research to Application:
Integrated
Projects only Grant Types – Standard and FASE (Strengthening Standard and New
Investigator)
2) Breeding and Phenomics of Food Crops and Animals
Project Type –Research Projects only Grant Types – Standard and FASE (Strengthening Standard and New Investigator)
Deadline: July 7, 2016 No LOI
------------
USDA AFRI - Sustainable Bioenergy and Bioproducts
(SBEBP) Challenge Area
2016 priority areas:
(1) Regional Bioenergy
Coordinated Agricultural Projects (CAPs) on biomass feedstocks for bioenergy
and bioproducts in the context of a regional
sustainable bioenergy and bioproducts supply chain
systems.
Letter
of Intent: Thursday, July 14, 2016 Deadline: September 22, 2016
Project
Type – Integrated Projects
Grant
Types – Regional CAP, Conference, and FASE Grants (i.e., Strengthening Regional
CAP, Strengthening Conference, Seed, Equipment, and Sabbatical)
(2) Investing in America’s Scientific Corps: Preparing a New Generation of Students, Faculty, and Workforce for Emerging Challenges in Bioenergy, Bioproducts, and the Bioeconomy
Application Deadline – July 14, 2016 No LOI
Project Type – Education
Projects
Grant Types – Standard and FASE Grants (i.e., Strengthening Standard, New Investigator, Seed, Equipment, and Sabbatical)
Limited Submission: Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical
Sciences: June 16, 2016
The Pew
Charitable Trusts has invited UCR to submit a candidate for the 2017 Pew
Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences award. The Pew scholars program
supports assistant professors of outstanding promise in science relevant to the
advancement of human health. The award provides $240,000 in flexible
support—$60,000 per year for four years. The deadline for
submitting applicants to UCR for consideration is June 16.
Interested
applicants should submit pre-proposal materials, including a research project
summary, curriculum vitae, and a letter of support from the chair of their
division, to the office of sponsored research, which will submit them to an
internal selection committee for consideration. See http://research.ucr.edu/ord/limitedsubmissions.aspx.
Unsuccessful
candidates who still meet eligibility criteria may reapply once (two
applications in total) in a future competition by submitting new pre-proposal
materials.
Candidates
must have been awarded a doctorate in biomedical sciences or medicine.
Eligibility
for the 2017 award
· Candidates must have been awarded a doctorate in biomedical sciences,
medicine or a related field.
· As of November 1, 2016, nominees must hold full-time appointments at the rank
of assistant professor. (Appointments such as Research Assistant Professor,
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Assistant Professor Research Track, Visiting
Professor or Instructor are not eligible.)
· On July 15, 2016, candidates must have been in such an appointment for less
than three years (not appointed before July 15, 2013), whether or not such an
appointment was on a tenure track. Time spent in clinical internships,
residencies, or in work toward board certification does not count as part of this
three-year limit
· Candidates may be nominated by their institution two times in total. ALL
applicants must be nominated by their institution and must complete the 2017
online application.
· If an applicant’s
university has more than one eligible nominating institution or campus, that
applicant may only apply from one institution; they may not reapply in a
subsequent year from a different one.
A complete description of the Pew program, its terms, and its eligibility requirements can be found at www.pewscholars.org.
BASF and Volkswagen Science Award Electrochemistry – Energy Storage
BASF and VW have established the Electrochemistry Science Award in order to increase innovation in the battery value chain to contribute to sustainable energy supply and individual mobility. The research activities in focus of this Science Award contest could address, but are not limited to, battery materials, cells, battery systems, production and operations as well as recycling. All aspects of the battery value chain are included in this contest. Scientific as well as applied research is welcome. The total prize money of the Science Award is 85,000 EUR with the first rank worth 50,000 EUR for the best application selected by a high-ranked jury of experts. For detailed information, go to: http://www.science-award.com/en/sae/. The closing date for applications is August 12, 2016.
Limited Submission: Keck
Proposal- June 16
The W.M. Keck Foundation offers
the opportunity to discuss potential projects with universities before full proposals
are submitted. The foundation allows each university to submit one proposal
each in the areas of medical research and science/engineering research during
each biannual cycle (see http://www.wmkeck.org/grant-programs/research/eligibility-and-priorities for details.)
Funding is awarded for projects in
medicine, science and engineering for research that:
An ideal target as stated by Keck
is $1 Million over three years. An abstract might present a disruptive
concept that was declined by a federal agency, with reviews that indicate the
research is extremely innovative, exciting and would have a large impact, but
is too risky due to the lack of preliminary data.
Some common reasons why proposals
are rejected by Keck:
· The project is not
ambitious enough (i.e. represents only an incremental advance over the state of
the art vs. creating a new paradigm)
· The proposal does not fully
detail the scope of work and potential impact
· The proposal does not
list the reasons why Keck support is important (comments from reviewers at
federal agencies are strongly recommended)
· The project focuses on
therapies or treatments (in the case of medical research) as opposed to bench
science.
An abstract of less than one page will help focus the
conversation and is needed by June 16 in advance of the phone counseling period
which begins July 1. Please do not submit anything directly
to the Keck Foundation. Interested faculty should submit an internal
preproposal following the below format at http://or.ucr.edu/ord/limitedsubmissions.aspx
by June 17, 2016.
Single-paged concepts for the Research Program should be in
12 point font with 1 inch margins and should include:
If there’s room, the authors are free to add other details
(e.g., background to put the research into perspective, description of the
institution’s prominence in the field, etc.). Avoid illustrations in these
single-pagers – the researchers will need all the room for text. If a reference
is necessary, abbreviate it as (Science, 323, 45, ‘11). DO NOT USE (Jones et
al., 2011).
Here is more information from the Keck Foundation’s home
page:
Supporting pioneering
discoveries in science, engineering and medicine has been our mandate from the
beginning. By funding the high-risk/high-impact work of leading researchers, we
are laying the groundwork for new paradigms, technologies and discoveries that
will save lives, provide innovative solutions, and add to our understanding of
the world. Both Senior and Early Career investigators are encouraged to apply.
For more information, please contact Bryan Carlson at bryan.carlson@ucr.edu.
Fulbright Workshops: May
24th and 27th
Two open discussions
with UCR faculty who have recently completed a Fulbright experience have been
scheduled:
Tuesday, May
24 at 10 - 11am in UOB 210
Fulbright
grantees: Jennifer Doyle and David Biggs
Jennifer Doyle is
a Professor of English. David Biggs is a Professor of History.
Jennifer also
served on the interdisciplinary review panel for applications to the UK
and has offered to share some insights from her experience on the committee.
Friday, May 27
at 11am - 12pm in UOB 210
Fulbright
grantee: Lan Duong
Lan Duong is an
Associate Professor in Media and Cultural Studies.
Please RSVP by
Monday, May 23rd: http://goo.gl/forms/6arwjl4mXaDZOjdI2
Feel free to
forward this invitation to those who may be interested.
Academic Research Funding Strategies: Research
Development & Grant Writing News
The May issue of the Academic Research
Funding Strategies newsletter is now available on the web at http://research.ucr.edu/OrApps/SP/Info/GrantWriting/GrantWritingNews.aspx.
The index is below.
Note that this report is for UCR internal use only. It may not be forwarded to colleagues at other institutions or professional associations.
May 2016
·
Topics of Interest URLs
·
Positioning for Smaller Team Grants
·
Where Proposals Run Off the Road
· Human Health-Related Funding at NSF: Dos and Don’ts
· Benefits
of Packing Your Own Funding Chute
· Tracking
the 2017 Federal Research Budgets
· Research
Grant Writing Web Resources
· Educational
Grant Writing Web Resources
· Agency
Research News
· Agency
Reports, Workshops & Roadmaps
· New
Funding Opportunities
· About Academic Research Funding Strategies
There are still seats
available for the following faculty networking lunches:
· Bio-based Materials:
6/20/16 at 11:30 (please note earlier time!) Please register here: https://biobased-materials.eventbrite.com
· Health Disparities:
6/27/16. Please register here: https://health-disparities.eventbrite.com
Here’s a
photo of a California Thrasher from Oasis de los
Osos, part of the UCR James Reserve.
Michael Pazzani
Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development
Professor, Computer Science & Engineering
University of California, Riverside
200 University Office Building
Assistant: Linda Bejenaru
Email: VCREDadmin@ucr.edu