UCR Research and Economic Development Newsletter: September 7, 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
·
Big
Data: Resources and Lunch
·
Tips for writing a grant application in
Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology (BICB)
·
NSF: Harnessing Data for 21st Century
Science and Engineering
·
Syngenta Crop Challenge in Data Analytics
·
Equipment Awards to Core facilities
·
SBIR/STTR
workshop: Sept 28 5:30pm
·
Research and Sponsored Projects from the State of California Agencies
·
NIH
Loan Payment Programs (LRPs): Nov 15 Deadline
· Research and Economic Development Workshops: Using UCR and Federal Electronic Systems
·
Birds of Grenada: Bananaquit
· Hooded Oriole: Pollinators beware.
This year, I attended the 22nd Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining in San Francisco, together with 2700 others. A lot has changed since the first workshop in 1989 with 67 attendees and first conferences I attended in the 90s. (For far too long, my password was kdd1997):
·
The
topic is not just of interest to computer scientists and also statisticians,
but now statisticians and computer scientists work together another and more
importantly collaborate with researchers in nearly every field and in
commercial applications.
·
Its
become much easier to collect very large datasets and much data is born
digital.
·
Data
is not just more numerous, its more complex with more variables. Image,
video, text, and speech present challenges beyond those found in structured
data.
Some resources:
·
Big
Data Across the Federal Government: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/big_data_fact_sheet_final_1.pdf
·
A
map for big data research in digital humanities; http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fdigh.2015.00001/full
·
NIH
and Government Programs and Initiatives in Biomedical Informatics and
Computational Biology (BICB). https://www.bisti.nih.gov/funding/
·
The
Fourth Paradigm: Data-Intensive Scientific Discovery. https://www.dropbox.com/s/llobz89owec5kmc/4th_paradigm_book_complete_lr.pdf?dl=0
(This 2009 book is a good introduction to the knowledge discovery)
There will be a Southern California Machine Learning
Symposium, on Friday
November 18 at Caltech!
http://dolcit.cms.caltech.edu/scmls/. The majority of the workshop will be focused on student
contributions, in the form of contributed talks and posters. Oct
4: Abstract submissions are due Oct 4
Vassilis Tsotras, Director of the UCR Data Science Center and I will be hosting a lunch on Monday, October 3 in UOB 210 for faculty interested in discussing data science. To attend, send mail to vcredadmin@ucr.edu
Tips for writing a grant application in
Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology (BICB)
The following tips are from
https://www.bisti.nih.gov/funding/fundingTips.asp
Although intended for Biomedical Informatics at NIH, many of the tips are applicable to all proposals
Tips
for writing a grant application in Biomedical Informatics and Computational
Biology (BICB)
o Since NIH no longer accepts more than one resubmission of
a grant application, make sure the first version of your grant gets reviewed
by your colleagues before you send it to the NIH. Tell them to not hold
back.
o The Project Summary should state: what is the
research; why is it important; and what are you going to do about it.
o A lot of computational projects can be thought of as:
what is the input data; what is the computational machine; and what is
the output data and information. But dont forget about the previous bullet.
o Be aware that reviewers have limited time. Every
word should count.
o The abstract and project summary should be instantly
comprehensible to a biomedical reviewer who understands your area of research,
and clear for a reviewer outside of your area of expertise.
o Do not start the project summary In the last ten years
there has been a deluge of
Try to engage the reviewers with your ideas,
and tell them something they dont know.
o Confusion is the enemy of a successful grant
application. Try not to confuse reviewers.
o Reviewers are not perfect, admittedly, but it is critical
to take responsibility for negative reviews and plan for changes you can
make. There is no opportunity to change a reviewers mind after a review
except for well-written resubmission.
o After a first submission, take time to think beyond the
content in the summary statement. In general, it is not sufficient to
simply respond to the critiques on a point-by-point basis and resubmit.
Make the resubmission substantially better.
o Consider diversifying your potential sources of funding
to multiple ICs and other agencies.
o Know your competition and set your project
apart. Check out (RePORT), in particular the RePORTer
tool for Expenditures and Results, and examine closely the
literature related to your project. Your application should clearly
describe how your proposed work is distinguished from other work in field.
Dont assume it will be obvious to the reviewer.
o If you are a young faculty member, or otherwise new to
grant writing, find a mentor who has been funded by NIH and ask for help.
Getting multiple viewpoints is even more helpful, since it can help you
anticipate questions a diverse review panel might raise.
o A lot of good programs start by like-minded investigators
getting together on a regular basis and mulling the research problems. Take
advantage of opportunities within your department or institution to talk with
your colleagues about areas of mutual interest.
o I have seen applicants successfully use the method of Use
Cases. For example, a Use Case can demonstrate how a tool you plan
to develop will be useful in a clinical research setting.
o Write in such a way that reviewers wont have to read
things twice.
NSF: Harnessing Data for 21st Century
Science and Engineering
NSF is
selecting new areas for future investment. Below is one related to big
data.
The
increasing speed at which we collect data, as well as the increasing volume and
variety of that data, are profoundly transforming research in all fields of
S&E. This deluge of data -- from large scientific facilities, advanced
cyberinfrastructure, new data analysis tools and more -- is forcing scientists
to ask and answer new types of questions.
To harness
this data revolution, the National Science Foundation (NSF) proposes Harnessing
Data for 21st Century Science and Engineering, a bold initiative to develop a
cohesive, national-scale approach to research data infrastructure and a
21st-century workforce capable of working effectively with data.
This
initiative will support basic research in math, statistics and computer science
that will enable data-driven discovery through visualization, better data
mining, machine learning and more. It will support an open cyberinfrastructure
for researchers and develop innovative educational pathways to train the next
generation of data scientists.
This initiative builds on NSFs history of data science
investments. As the only federal agency supporting all fields of S&E, NSF
is uniquely positioned to help ensure that our countrys future is one enriched
and improved by data.
Syngenta Crop
Challenge in Data Analytics
Background
As world population increases and arable land decreases, it
becomes vital to improve the productivity of the agricultural land available. Companies
like Syngenta strive to provide varieties of their crops to meet this need. Every year farmers have to make
decisions about which soybean varieties to plant given information about
soybean varieties and knowledge about the soil and climate at their respective
farms. These annual decisions are critical - once a variety is planted the
decision is irreversible. Unusual weather pattern can have disastrous impacts
on crops. A highly desirable variety may be in short supply and unavailable for
farmers. To ensure there is enough seed of the desired varieties for farmers,
it is critical to evaluate which variety or varieties are more likely to be
chosen by farmers from a growing region.
Research
Question
Which soybean seed variety or mix of up to five varieties in
appropriate proportions is more likely to be chosen by farmers in a growing
region?
The researcher is provided the following data with column
descriptions in Excel spreadsheets:
1.
Variety Dataset. This describes the current knowledge on how soybean
varieties available to the farmer perform in different seasonal and soil
conditions. It is based on more than 13000 variety-season scenarios. These
variety-season scenarios are generated from variety yield evaluations in 93
research sites taking place in the growing region between 2010 and 2015.
2.
Growing Region
Dataset: This represents the long-term
knowledge of a large band of the U.S. Midwest with a similar growing season
length. This is the region where the farmers choice of seed (or proportion of
different seeds) will be planted. It is constituted of 6276 segments, each of
36 square miles, with:
3.
Exogenous Dataset. Both variety and growing region dataset have geographic
coordinates, thus researchers can use additional geo-referenced data sources (i.e.
ISRIC, VegScape, and Drought Monitor among others). These datasets must be
available for public use and properly cited.
Deliverables
Entries should provide the variety or mix of up to 7 varieties,
with proportional increments of at least 10%, to be planted next season
Evaluation Criteria
The entries will be evaluated based on:
1.
The rigor and
validity of the process used to determine which variety or varieties are
selected for planting. It is vital, therefore, that the researcher documents
the methodology in sufficient detail for evaluation.
2.
The quality of the
proposed solution will be assessed by the alignment with historical observed
variety responses at the Evaluation Farm which are not part of the data
distributed to researchers.
3.
Additional criteria that
will be considered are:
·
Simplicity of the
solution
·
Evaluation of
factors included in the decision process
·
Clarity in the
explanation
Prizes and Timeline
The winner will receive $5,000, the runner up will get $2,500,
and the third place entry will receive $1,000.
Entries must be submitted by January 16, 2017, and finalists
will be announced February 24, 2017.
Details at: https://www.ideaconnection.com/syngenta-crop-challenge/
Equipment Awards for Core facilities
This
year, UCR has received four federal grants to expand its core facilities.
Four teams of faculty took the initiative to write grants to provide resources
that will advance not just their research but also the research of others on
campus. The following equipment will be purchased and
installed over the next year.
·
Analytical Chemistry Instrumentation Facility (ACIF) MHz. http://acif.ucr.edu/
o
400MHz NMR (PI: Ming Lee Tang, funded by DoD)
o
Upgrade to a Console with
Solid State Capabilities for 600 MHz NMR
(PI: Leonard Mueller, funded by NSF)
·
Central Facility for Advanced Microscopy and Microanalysis
(CFAMM). http://cfamm.ucr.edu/
o
Tandem EDS/STEM Mapping, SEM and 3D-Rendering System for
Chemical-Structural Analysis of Biological Composites (PI: Davis Kisailus,
funded by DoD)
·
Genomics Core: http://genomics.ucr.edu/facility/genomics.html
o
A super-resolution confocal
microscope (PIs,: Meng Chen and Xumei Cheng, funded by NIH )
SBIR/STTR workshop: Sept 28 5:30pm
NSF, NIH and DOD Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program
Workshop- 9/28, Genomics Auditorium Room 1102A, 5:30 pm-7:30 pm.
UCR
and TriTech SBDC will host a workshop on best practices to apply for funding
through the NSF, NIH and DOD Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and
Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.
The
program will feature a presentation by Martin Kleckner, TriTech SBDC Senior
Advisor and NSF I-corps instructor followed by a panel of UCR faculty, staff
and local entrepreneurs who have submitted successful proposals or managed
supporting programs.
Workshop
topics will include: best practices to win, how to seek and form industry
partnerships, agency-specific decision making process and criteria for proposal
evaluation from the reviewers perspective.
To
encourage participation in these programs, UCR waives overhead on SBIR and STTR
Phase I grants (when permitted by the agency). See: http://research.ucr.edu/About/News.aspx?K=323.
Speakers
Biography
Martin Kleckner has more than 25 years in senior level
operations, general management, marketing and business development experience.
He works with companies on corporate planning, strategy, commercialization, and
public policy throughout Europe, Asia & the Americas. He is currently
serving as Adjunct Faculty member for the National Science Foundation I-Corps.
In the last 18 months, his start-ups (portfolio clients) have won 8 SBIRs.
Panelists
Michalis Faloutsos is a faculty member at the Computer Science
Department and Director of Entrepreneurship at UCR. His research has been
supported by more than $12 M from several federal agencies and corporate
partners. He is the
co-founder of stopthehacker.com a web-security start-up, which was acquired in November
2013. In Aug 2014, he co-founded programize.com which has grown to more than 20 employees.
Paul Strasma, is the president and CEO of Capillary Biomedical a medical device
startup developing technologies for diabetes management. Prior to that he
served as Vice President of Marketing and Clinical Affairs at
GluMetrics, Inc, a venture-backed firm that developed a novel intravascular
continuous glucose monitoring system for use in critically ill patients. Paul's
prior experience includes marketing management roles with Abbott Diabetes Care,
Baxter International, and management consulting with Arthur D. Little.
Shane Cybart is an Assistant Professor in the
Department of Mechanical Engineering at UCR. Prior to joining, he was a project
scientists and principal investigator of theOxide Nano Electronics Laboratory at UC San Diego and
recipient of multiple SBIR awards. He obtained a PhD in Materials Science from
the UC San Diego in 2005 studying high-transition temperature Josephson
devices.
Brian Suh is the Director of the Office of Technology
Commercialization (OTC) at University of California Riverside (UCR). He
oversees and manages all aspects of the management of UCR intellectual
property. Prior to joining UCR, Brian was the Director of the Technology
Transfer Office of the U.S. Navy laboratory, SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific, in
San Diego, CA where he was responsible for identifying potential R&D
collaboration and commercialization opportunities to enable strategic
partnerships between government, industry, and academia. At SPAWAR, Brian
negotiated 15 licensing agreements which accounted for over $10M in anticipated
minimum royalties; this included 5 start-up companies.
RSVP: judy.swineford@ucr.edu
Research and Sponsored
Projects from the State of California Agencies
The Table
below shows various state agencies, the number of proposals submitted in FY12
through FY 15 and the acceptance rates of these proposals. The
quick summary is that the state agencies often gave a higher acceptance rate
than federal agencies. Of course, they have smaller budgets and may fund
work that is more applied than federal agencies. Nonetheless, working
with Kaitlin Chell in government relations and grant facilitators across
campus, Research and Economic Development will increasing its efforts to announcement
state programs and assist UCR faculty in obtaining state awards.
|
Agency |
# |
Acceptance |
|
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD
AND AGRICULTURE |
36 |
36.11% |
|
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION |
11 |
27.27% |
|
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE FOR
REGENERATIVE MEDICINE |
10 |
50.00% |
|
CALIFORNIA CHILD DEVELOPMENT
DIVISION |
9 |
66.67% |
|
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD
AND AGRICULTURE PLANT HEALTH A |
1 |
100.00% |
|
CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION |
43 |
23.26% |
|
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTIO |
3 |
100.00% |
|
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF
PESTICIDE REGULATION |
21 |
28.57% |
|
AIR RESOURCES BOARD |
24 |
75.00% |
|
CALIFORNIA OFFICE OF STATEWIDE
HEALTH PLANNING AND DEVELOPME |
11 |
63.64% |
|
CALIFORNIA TRANSPORTATION
COMMISSION |
12 |
25.00% |
|
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION |
7 |
57.14% |
|
CALIFORNIA STATE LIBRARY |
4 |
75.00% |
|
CALIFORNIA SERVICE CORPS, THE |
1 |
100.00% |
|
CALIFORNIA TRANS, PROJECT
DEVELOPMENT, DIVISION OF |
1 |
100.00% |
|
CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON
RULES |
1 |
100.00% |
|
CALIFORNIA COASTAL CONSERVANCY |
1 |
100.00% |
|
CALIFORNIA WILDLIFE CONSERVATION
BOARD |
1 |
100.00% |
|
CALIFORNIA TRANS, PLANNING,
DIVISION OF |
1 |
100.00% |
|
CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES
COMMISSION |
1 |
0.00% |
|
CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES
& CHANCELLOR'S OFFICE |
2 |
50.00% |
The table below shows the amount of funds provided to UC campuses and the proportion awarded to UCR, UCD and UCI in FY12-15.
|
Agency |
Riverside |
Grand Total |
Riverside |
Davis |
Irvine |
|
All Agencies |
$21,513,762 |
$1,374,159,867 |
1.60% |
34.60% |
4.20% |
|
AIR RESOURCES BOARD |
$3,687,530 |
$26,380,959 |
14.00% |
41.70% |
7.20% |
|
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE |
$3,682,615 |
$119,131,385 |
3.10% |
92.60% |
0.00% |
|
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF PESTICIDE REGULATION |
$1,291,170 |
$8,866,146 |
14.60% |
38.20% |
0.00% |
|
CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION |
$1,160,628 |
$80,574,613 |
1.40% |
22.20% |
6.70% |
|
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION |
$380,774 |
$16,374,533 |
2.30% |
21.20% |
6.90% |
|
CALIFORNIA TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION |
$245,757 |
$3,690,889 |
6.70% |
82.10% |
9.50% |
|
CALIFORNIA DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION DIVISION OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION |
$228,253 |
$19,696,743 |
1.20% |
85.30% |
0.00% |
|
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION |
$225,429 |
$26,548,075 |
0.80% |
13.60% |
1.90% |
|
CALIFORNIA POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION COMMISSION |
$223,599 |
$9,359,004 |
2.40% |
62.00% |
1.20% |
|
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH |
$311,264,890 |
0.00% |
35.00% |
1.00% |
|
|
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES |
$155,707,905 |
0.00% |
32.80% |
0.00% |
|
|
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH CARE SERVICES |
$25,698,715 |
0.00% |
23.80% |
0.00% |
|
|
CALIFORNIA HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES AGENCY |
$19,044,477 |
0.00% |
98.90% |
0.00% |
|
|
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES |
$17,474,460 |
0.00% |
50.00% |
2.00% |
|
|
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION |
$14,805,994 |
0.00% |
0.00% |
0.00% |
|
|
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG PROBLEMS |
$13,017,883 |
0.00% |
0.00% |
0.00% |
|
|
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE |
$13,013,981 |
0.00% |
61.50% |
0.00% |
|
|
CALIFORNIA NATURAL RESOURCES AGENCY/MISCELLANEOUS AGENCIES |
$9,268,938 |
0.00% |
15.20% |
0.00% |
|
|
CALIFORNIA PARKS AND RECREATION, DEPARTMENT OF |
$8,091,021 |
0.00% |
11.10% |
0.00% |
|
|
CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION |
$6,639,243 |
0.00% |
0.00% |
0.00% |
|
|
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS |
$5,170,505 |
0.00% |
0.00% |
0.00% |
|
|
STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD |
|
$4,529,330 |
0.00% |
71.20% |
2.20% |
NIH Loan Payment Programs (LRPs)
The pursuit of academic research career can be a challenge,
especially when faced with high levels of student loan debt. The
escalating costs of advanced education and training are forcing some scientists
to abandon their research careers for higher-paying private industry or private
practice careers. In exchange for a commitment to conduct biomedical or
behavioral research, the NIH will repay up to $70,000 of student loan debt
(over two years) per two-year contract through the NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs).
If you are a qualified health professional who agrees to engage
in NIH mission-relevant research for at least 20 hours per week at a nonprofit
institution, you may be eligible to apply to the one of the five extramural LRPs:
§ Clinical Research Extramural
LRP: Patient-oriented research
conducted with human subjects;
§ Pediatric Research Extramural
LRP: Research that is directly
related to diseases, disorders, and other conditions in children;
§ Health Disparities Research
Extramural LRP: Research that
focuses on minority and other health disparity populations;
§ Contraception and Infertility Research
Extramural LRP: Research
on conditions impacting the ability conceive and bear young; and,
§ Clinical Research for
Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds Extramural LRP: Available to clinical investigators from disadvantaged
backgrounds.
To qualify,
an applicant must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, possess a
doctoral-level degree (with the exception of the contraception and infertility
research LRP), and have educational loan debt equal to or exceeding 20
percent of his/her annual institutional base salary.
Thinking
of applying this year? There are a few updates that you should keep in mind:
§ All applicants (new and
renewal) are required to have an eRA Commons ID to submit an LRP application. If you dont have an eRA
Commons ID, act quickly because it could take several weeks to get one!
Check with your grants administrator and visit the eRA Commons website for more
information.
§ We have a newly redesigned,
easier to use online application! All applicants (new and renewal) will be required to
create a new log-in account. Check out the new application (online and in
pdf format) at: lrp.nih.gov.
§ All application components, including the LRP application, recommendations and and
institutional support documentation are due by November 15, 2016.
Visit www.lrp.nih.gov for more details and to apply. For additional
assistance, call or e-mail the LRP Information Center at 866-849-4047 or lrp@nih.gov, Mon-Fri 9:00
a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST. You can also follow the NIH Division of Loan Repayment
on Twitter and Facebook for more information and cycle updates. Get started on
your application today!
Research and Economic Development
Workshops: Using UCR and Federal Electronic Systems
Below is a schedule of workshops offered by Research and Economic Development on Using UCR and Federal Electronic Systems.
Although
particularly useful for new faculty - all faculty and staff are welcome to
attend.
Note: as
of January 1, Sponsored Projects will end support for direct submissions to
grants.gov. All Grants.gov submission must use CAYUSE (unless Cayuse is
not supported by the agency). Currently, 95% of grants already use
Cayuse, so this will effect a small number of users). (NSF Fastlane will
still be supported for NSF propsoals)
Click here and sign up
today.
|
Date |
Time |
Location |
Topic |
|
10/07/2016 |
10:00 11:30 AM |
Overview of PAMIS Portal Applications. The PAMIS (Proposal and Award
Management Information System) Portal provides access to essential campus
enterprise systems supporting sponsored programs. Including the electronic
Campus Approval Form (eCAF), Cayuse 424, Online Preaward Request, eAward, PI
Web Reporting, Annual Payroll Certification, Expiring Funds Notification, and
Online Material Transfer Request. |
|
|
10/14/2016 |
10:00 11:30 AM |
Show me the Money Finding Funding
Opportunities and reviewing the Request for Proposal (RFP)/solicitation
guidelines. Including a brief demo of COS Pivot. |
|
|
10/28/2016 |
10:00 11:30 AM |
Cayuse 424 Tutorial (Step-by-Step demo). |
|
|
11/04/2016 |
10:00 11:30 AM |
Submitting Proposals to the National Science Foundation (NSF). Including a brief demo of FastLane and Research.gov. |
|
|
11/18/2016 |
10:00 11:30 AM |
Submitting Proposals to with National Institutes of Health (NIH). Including a brief demo of eRA Commons. |
|
|
12/02/2016 |
10:00 11:30 AM |
Cayuse 424 Tutorial (Step-by-Step demo). |
Click here and sign up
today.
Birds of Grenada: Bananaquit
The Bananaquit is a common
colorful bird in the Caribbean, Central and South America. On a few
islands, particularly Grenada, a black morph is also seen.
(click photo to enlarge)
(click photo to enlarge)
Below is a photo of my
wife demonstrating the technique for bird watching in Grenada.
![[DSC00493.JPG]](Researchnews%20UCR%20Research%20and%20Economic%20Development%20NewsletterSeptember%207%202016_files/image003.jpg)
Hooded
Oriole: Pollinators
beware.
I was going to include just the bird photo below in the newsletter, but the reception for Joe Childers reminded me of the birding in Grenada. Below is a photo of hooded Oriole in my backyard.
(click to enlarge)
This is the first newsletter since my UCR mail was converted to gmail and a mailing list was set up. Please let me know if you see problems with the newsletter.
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