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February 24, 2018
UCR Research and Economic Development Newsletter
Gillian Wilson
Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development
Grant Opportunity Search: http://pivot.cos.com
In this Newsletter
  • Message from Gillian
  • Faculty Networking Lunches
  • NSF CISE CAREER Workshop
  • SIGMA+ Sensors Proposers Day
  • Limited: USDA HSI Education Grant
  • Limited: USDA NIFA Women and Minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Fields Program (WAMS)
  • Limited: USDA Agriculture in the Classroom
  • Limited: NIH - Maximizing Access to Research Centers Undergraduate-Student Training in Academic Research (MARC U-STAR)
  • Andromeda Galaxy
Message from Gillian
Regular readers of this newsletter will know that Michael Pazzani is enjoying a well-deserved sabbatical. I will be filling in for him until the end of April. Please consider setting up a meeting with me (email vcredadmin@ucr.edu) so I can get to know you and your research better.
Faculty Networking Lunches
Over the coming weeks, I plan to continue RED's faculty networking lunches and am looking for suggestions for topics. If you have ideas for research lunch topics particularly those that cross colleges, please send your suggestions, along with a brief explanation of the topic, to vcredadmin@ucr.edu. The goal is to get faculty with common interests to meet each other in an informal setting and discuss possible collaborations.
NSF CISE CAREER Workshop
Apply by March 10
NSF CISE CAREER Workshop 2018
   
We welcome you to the 2018 NSF CISE CAREER Proposal Writing Workshop, to be held at the NSF headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia on Monday, April 9, 2018. This event will introduce junior faculty to the NSF CAREER program, and help them prepare their CAREER proposal. The NSF CAREER program serves a critical role in the National Science Foundation’s efforts to identify, foster and support the nation’s most promising junior faculty in both research and education. Junior professors who are just starting their careers often have limited experience with grant writing and evaluation. They also have little or no interaction with the program directors at NSF. In this workshop, early-career faculty members will have the opportunity to improve their skills in proposal writing, as well as interact with NSF program directors from different divisions (OAC, IIS, CNS, and CCF) as well as recent NSF CAREER awardees. The workshop is also open to multidisciplinary researchers with a CISE-specific focus, including cyberinfrastructure. The major components of the workshop include presentations on proposal writing, experience sharing, mock panels, and a proposal clinic.
 
This workshop is being organized by Dr. Jack Snoeyink, supported by National Science Foundation and the Department of Computer Science at UNC-Chapel Hill. The workshop has been designed to accommodate up to 200 junior faculty members who are interested in applying for the CAREER solicitation in any CISE program. For full consideration, please apply by March 10, with notification on March 12. Applications after this date can be accommodated only if space is available. In the event of requests for participation exceeding capacity, a lottery will be used to pick 200 participants. Please  register early.
 
Travel Support
Travel support will be made available for a limited number of HBCU/MEI faculty to attend this workshop. The workshop will be a unique opportunity for HBCU/MEI faculty to network with recent HBCU/MEI NSF CAREER awardees. This will enhance the overall research capabilities of HBCU/MEI to perform cutting edge research. For more information, visit the  Travel & Logistics  page.
 
Day 2 Opportunities
The single-day event is to be held on April 9, 2018 in Alexandria, at the National Science Foundation headquarters. The day after the workshop, Tuesday, April 10, will offer an opportunity for the junior faculty members to have one-on-one conversations with NSF CISE Program Directors from their primary research programs. If you are interested in this opportunity, please indicate so in the  registration form .
 
Note that NSF will support travel for folks from Minority Educational Institutions.
SIGMA+ Sensors Proposers Day
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is sponsoring a Proposers Day to provide information to potential proposers on the objectives of an anticipated Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the SIGMA+ initiative (sensors thrust).

The Proposers Day will be held on March 7, 2018 from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM at the Executive Conference Center ( 4075 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22203 ). The event will be webcast for those who would like to participate remotely.

Advance registration is required both for attending the Proposers Day in person and for viewing the webcast.
 
Registration and additional information on the SIGMA+Sensors proposers day webcast can be found in the link below.
 
Limited: USDA HSI Education Grant
UCR Internal Deadline: March 6, 2018
 
Agency Deadlines:
--Regular grants: April 3, 2018 
--Collaboration grants: April 4, 2018
--Conference grants: April 5, 2018

USDA NIFA Hispanic-Serving Institutions Education Grants Program
 
For FY 2018, an institution may not submit more than four Regular, two Collaboration, and two Conference applications to this program, as a lead institution. Only two awards will be made to the same lead institution and this can be any combination of two of the three grant types.
 
The purpose of the HSI Education Grants Program is to encourage innovative teaching or education proposals with potential to impact and become models for other institutions that serve underrepresented students, at the regional or national level. Projects supported by this program:
1. Attract and support undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented groups in order to prepare them for careers related to the food, agriculture, natural resources and human (FANH) sciences in the United States; 
2. Enhance the quality of postsecondary instruction within the above disciplines; 
3. Provide opportunities and access to FANH careers in the public and private sector; and 
4. Align the efforts of HSIs and other non-profit organizations to support academic development and career attainment of underrepresented groups.
 
Regular Grant: $250,000 for up to 4 years
The Regular grant type supports targeted, original, scientific Education/Teaching Projects. Applicants would be eligible HSI institutions (two or 4-year independent branch campus, or branch institution of a State system) with project activities to be undertaken principally on behalf of and for the benefit of the lead HSI. Applicants may partner with other HSI or non-HSI without the requirement of sharing grant funds with other project partners. 
 
Collaboration Grant: $1,000,000 for up to 4 years
Collaboration Grants for this program must be submitted by a group of two or more HSIs forming a linkage arrangement for the purpose of carrying out common objective(s) on the group’s behalf. Grants are designed to help institutions develop competitive projects, and to attract new students into careers in high-priority areas of national need. To ensure the cost-effectiveness of funded projects, the institutions will work together to graduate a minimum of fifteen undergraduate and ten graduate students from underrepresented groups in an Associate, Baccalaureate, MS or PhD degree program.
 
Conference Grant: $50,000 for up to 2 years
Conference Grants support scientific meetings that bring together educators to identify research, education/teaching, and/or extension needs, update information, or advance an area of education/teaching. Conference grants are not renewable. Indirect costs are not permitted on Conference Grant awards.
 
Applicants of regular, collaboration or conference grants are encouraged but not required to partner with a USDA agency in order to leverage resources and expertise to the proposed project.
Limited: USDA NIFA Women and Minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Fields Program (WAMS)
Internal Deadline: March 7, 2018
Application Deadline: March 28, 2018

For the FY 2018 award cycle, NIFA intends to support projects with a target audience of K-14  students (kindergarten through twelfth grade plus two years of post-secondary schooling (e.g., vocational technical institutions or community or junior colleges). 4 year undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral focused projects will not be awarded under this grant announcement. Projects with a primary target of 4 year undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral studies should consider NIFA’s workforce and development focused programs. 

More  information is available here: https://nifa.usda.gov/resource/nifa-reinforces-agriculturaleducation-pipeline

The WAMS grants program directly aligns with:
• 2014-2018 USDA Strategic Plan, specifically Goals 1, 2, 3, and 4;
• USDA Research, Economics and Education Action Plan, specifically Goal 6;
• 2014-2018 NIFA Strategic Plan, specifically Strategic Goal 1 Sub-goal 1.7

WAMS-funded project activities must support the creation, adaptation, and adoption of learning  materials and teaching strategies to operationalize what we know about how students learn. Many of these concepts are identified in the National Research Council’s publication: How People Learn. WAMS-funded projects shall also focus on imparting both technical knowledge as well as ‘soft’ skills such as communication, team work, and problem solving, as these are abilities expected by employers. These concepts may be found in the publication: Comparative Analysis of Soft Skills: What is Important for New Graduates?

The purpose of this program is to support research, education/teaching, and extension projects  that increase participation by women and underrepresented minorities from rural areas in STEM. NIFA intends this program to address educational needs, as determined by each institution, within broadly defined areas of food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences. 

Limited: USDA Agriculture in the Classroom
Internal Deadline: 3/13/18
Agency Final Deadline:  05/01/18

The United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture requests applications for funding opportunity USDA-NIFA-OP-006510, the Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) program to increase agricultural literacy through K-12 education.

AITC funded project activities shall support the creation, adaptation, and adoption of learning materials and teaching strategies to enhance agricultural literacy and student training for future careers in the FANH sciences.

Applicants must demonstrate how they will implement all strategies listed below.  
1. Strengthening state AITC programs; 
2. USDA AITC recognition programs; 
3. AITC website and national agricultural literacy curriculum database maintenance;  
4. Research and evaluation projects;  
5. Curriculum development and development of materials to support teacher pre- and in-service trainings;  
6. Outreach and collaborations with other organizations and agencies; and  
7. Support of the national center for agricultural literacy

Limit of one application per institution. 

Project Period: 1 year cooperative agreement with noncompetitive renewal for 4 additional years
Budget: ~$500,000 total


Limited: NIH - Maximizing Access to Research Centers Undergraduate-Student Training in Academic Research (MARC U-STAR)
Internal Deadline: March 20, 2018
Application Due Date: May 24, 2018

The Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research (U-STAR) program is designed to provide structured training programs to prepare high-achieving, underrepresented students for doctoral programs in biomedical research fields. Programmatic activities should include authentic research experiences, academic enhancements, skills development, and mentoring. The long-term goal of the program is to enhance the pool of underrepresented students earning baccalaureate and Ph.D. degrees in biomedical research fields and ultimately to contribute to the diversification of the nation's scientific workforce. 

The goal of this NRSA program is to provide structured training programs to prepare high-achieving, underrepresented students for doctoral programs in biomedical research fields. The mission of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) is to support research that increases our understanding of life processes and lays the foundation for advances in disease diagnosis, treatment and prevention. To ensure the vitality and continued productivity of the research enterprise, NIGMS provides leadership in training the next generation of biomedical scientists, enhancing the pool of individuals from underrepresented backgrounds who are available to compete in the scientific workforce, and developing research capacities throughout the country.

NIGMS seeks to enhance the pool of individuals from groups underrepresented in the biomedical workforce by providing training opportunities during multiple training and career stages at varied institutions and educational settings across the country. By providing opportunities to students from underrepresented groups to pursue advanced training in the biomedical sciences, NIGMS strives to ensure that the future generation of researchers will draw from the entire pool of talented individuals, bringing different aptitudes, perspectives, creativity and experiences to address complex scientific problems.

Andromeda Galaxy
This is not a bird. It is the Andromeda Galaxy, the closest major galaxy to our own Milky Way Galaxy. In about 4 billion years from now the Andromeda Galaxy will collide with the Milky Way Galaxy but, because of the huge distances between them, it is unlikely that any of the stars in the two galaxies will actually collide. There's a lot of space in space!
Image Credit: Wikipedia

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