UCR Research and Economic Development Newsletter - December 7, 2018
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December 7, 2018
UCR Research and Economic Development Newsletter
Michael Pazzani
Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development
Grant Opportunity Search: http://pivot.cos.com
In this Newsletter
  • Federal Research Expenditures
  • UCR Rankings at NSF
  • W.M.Keck Foundation Pre-proposal Information
  • Limited – NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program)
  • Limited – NSF Advanced Computing Systems & Services: Adapting to the Rapid Evolution of Science and Engineering Research
  • Funding Opportunity – NASA ROSES Strategic Astrophysics Technology
  • Funding Opportunity - L'Oreal USA Women in Science Fellowship Program
  • Humanities Funding Opportunities
  • Mandarin Duck
  • Banded Pitta
Federal Research Expenditures
Each December, NSF releases data on the ranking of all universities on research expenditures of funds from at ALL federal agencies. UCR grew 8.9% over the previous year and 30% since 2013. Most other UC campuses grew more slowly (or shrank) over this time except Merced. Of course, its easier to grow 35% when your base is is small, butt then again, I'm sure that's what UCLA is saying about us.


UCR Rankings at NSF
NSF also releases data on it's own funding in December. Below is the ranking of UCR overall and in each directorate at NSF. In general, UCR is climbing in these rankings, with a few exceptions.
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W.M. Keck Pre-Proposal Information
The Keck Foundation offers the opportunity to discuss potential projects with universities before full proposals are submitted. UCR can submit one proposal in the area of Medical Research and one in Science/Engineering research on May 1 and November 1 annually. The ideal target is $1 Million over three years.  
 
Interested faculty should submit an internal preproposal following the below format at  http://or.ucr.edu/ord/limitedsubmissions.aspx  by January 7, 2019. Keck requires abstracts of one page or less to focus the conversation, with the next phone counseling period to begin on January 1. Please do not submit anything directly to the Keck Foundation. When submitting your concept as a Limited Submission, you must include reviewer comments following rejection by a federal agency. Keck requires proof that a project has been denied due to being outside the scope of the reviewing agency, or too high-risk (and not for other reasons such as a weak hypothesis, incomplete methodology, etc.)  
 
Single-paged concepts must be in 12 point Times New Roman font with 1-inch margins and should include:
  1. an overview of the proposed project emphasizing any unique aspects and pilot studies (indicate the of emphasis for the project - Medical Research or Science and Engineering Research);
  2. a description of the methodologies and key personnel;
  3. a brief justification of the need for W.M. Keck Foundation support (including reasons for federal rejection); and
  4. an estimated budget broken down, if possible, by major areas, e.g., personnel, equipment, consumable supplies, etc. The budget can be a rough approximation at this stage.
 
If space allows, researchers may 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 – all the room is needed for text. If a reference is necessary, abbreviate it as (Science, 323, 45, ‘11). DO NOT USE (Jones et al., 2011).
 
A successful project:
  • Has the potential to develop breakthrough technologies, instrumentation or methodologies
  • Demonstrates a high level of risk due to unconventional approaches, or by challenging the prevailing paradigm
  • Has strong potential for transformative impact, such as the founding of a new field of research, the enabling of observations not previously possible, or a new perception of a previously intractable problem
  • Demonstrates that private philanthropy, particularly from the W. M. Keck Foundation, is essential to the project’s success (following rejection from a federal funding agency for being too risky or out of scope for the agency, which must be documented at this stage)
 
Some common reasons why concepts are rejected by Keck:
  • Federal agency feedback is not included in the concept paper.
  • Federal agency feedback points out weak research design or a faulty hypothesis.
  • The project is not ambitious enough (representing a small advance vs. creating a new paradigm).
  • The proposal does not fully detail the scope of work and research plan, or fails to describe the potential impacts.
  • The project focuses on disease-related therapies or treatments (in the case of medical research) as opposed to bench science.
  • The project focuses on policy or implementation.
  • The project focuses on scaling (mass-producing or downsizing) existing technology, which is rarely competitive.

See  http://www.wmkeck.org/grant-programs/research/eligibility-and-priorities  for details. Questions can be directed to Bryan Carlson, Executive Director of Foundation Development, at bryan.carlson@ucr.edu or 827-4592.
Limited - NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program)
Internal Deadline: 1/8/19
SPA Deadline: 3/4/19
Agency Deadline: 3/6/19
Number of Submissions Allowed: 1

The Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program) seeks to enhance the quality of undergraduate STEM education at HSIs and to increase retention and graduation rates of undergraduate students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) at HSIs. In addition, the HSI Program seeks to build capacity in undergraduate STEM education at HSIs that typically do not receive high levels of NSF grant funding. The National Science Foundation (NSF) established the HSI Program in response to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (P.L. 115-31) and the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act (P.L. 114-329). The HSI Program is aligned with NSF’s commitment to increase access for underrepresented groups to the Nation’s STEM enterprise.

In designing the HSI Program, NSF sought community input by several mechanisms ( https://nsf.gov/ehr/HSIProgramPlan.jsp ) and has continued to gather community input to inform future components of, or modifications to, the HSI Program.

The HSI Program will accept proposals in two tracks, however only track 1 is limited in the number of proposals allowed.

Track 1: Building Capacity funds projects up to $2,500,000 for up to 5 years and is open to all eligible institutions. This track has three priority areas: Critical Transitions; Innovative Cross-Sector Partnerships; and Teaching and Learning in STEM.
Limited - NSF Advanced Computing Systems & Services: Adapting to the Rapid Evolution of Science and Engineering  
Internal Deadline: 1/8/19
SPA Deadline: 2/28/19
Agency Deadline: 3/4/19
Number of Submissions Allowed: 1

The intent of this solicitation is to request proposals from organizations willing to serve as service providers (SPs) within the NSF Innovative High-Performance Computing (HPC) program to provide advanced cyberinfrastructure (CI) capabilities and/or services in production operations to support the full range of computational- and data-intensive research across all of science and engineering (S&E). The current solicitation is intended to complement previous NSF investments in advanced computational infrastructure by provisioning resources, broadly defined in this solicitation to include systems and/or services, in two categories:

Category I, Capacity Systems: production computational resources maximizing the capacity provided to support the broad range of computation and data analytics needs in S&E research; and

Category II, Innovative Prototypes/Testbeds: innovative forward-looking capabilities deploying novel technologies, architectures, usage modes, etc., and exploring new target applications, methods, and paradigms for S&E discoveries.

Resources supported through awards from this solicitation will be incorporated into and allocated as part of NSF’s Innovative HPC program. This program complements investments in leadership-class computing and funds a federation of nationally-available HPC resources that are technically diverse and intended to enable discoveries at a computational scale beyond the research of individual or regional academic institutions. NSF anticipates that at least 90% of the provisioned system or services will be available to the S&E community through an open peer-reviewed national allocation process and be supported by community and other support services [such as those currently supported through eXtreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) 2.0 project-managed allocations recommended by the XSEDE Resource Allocation Committee (XRAC), and other activities intended to foster efficient coordination across resources], or an NSF-approved alternative that may emerge. If this is not feasible for the proposed system/services, proposers must clearly explain in detail why this is the case and how they intend to make the proposed system/services available to the national S&E community.

An organization may submit only one proposal but may be a subawardee on other proposals responding to this solicitation. The restriction to no more than one submitted proposal as lead institution is to help ensure that there is appropriate institutional commitment necessary for responsible oversight, by the potential awardee institution, of a national resource.

Collaborative projects may only be submitted as a single proposal in which a single award is being requested (PAPPG Chapter II.D.3.a). The involvement of partner organizations should be supported through subawards administered by the submitting organization.
Funding Opportunity - NASA Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science (ROSES) Strategic Astrophysics Technology
Over the next decade and beyond, NASA's Astrophysics Division (APD) expects to undertake space flight missions that will explore the nature of the Universe at its largest scales, its earliest moments, and its most extreme conditions; missions that will study how galaxies and stars formed and evolved to shape the Universe we see today; and missions that will seek out and characterize the planets and planetary systems orbiting other stars. 

To enable implementation of these missions, ADP has established the Strategic Astrophysics Technology (SAT) program to support the maturation of key technologies to the point at which they are feasible for implementation in space flight strategic missions. 

The SAT program is designed to support the maturation of technologies whose feasibility has already been demonstrated (i.e., TRL 3), to the point where they can be incorporated into NASA flight missions (TRL 6-7). 

The Astrophysics Division has three science themed programs: Exoplanets Exploration (ExEP), Physics of the Cosmos (PCOS), and Cosmic Origins (COR), which cover, respectively, the search for planets outside the Solar System, the origin and evolution of the universe, and the birth of stars and galaxies. These focus areas are all represented with the SAT program. 

Awards will be made as grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, and inter- or intra-agency transfers depending on the nature of the proposing organization and/or program requirements. 


Notice of Intent Deadline: 1/24/2019
SPA Deadline: 3/19/2019
Proposal Deadline: 3/21/2019


more on ROSES:

Funding Opportunity - L'Oreal USA Women in Science Fellowship program
Applications for the 2019 L’Oréal USA For Women in Science fellowship program are now open and will close on Friday, February 1, 2019. 
 
The L’Oréal USA For Women in Science fellowship program honors female scientists at a critical stage in their careers with grants of $60,000 each. Since 2003, they’ve awarded 75 postdoctoral women scientists nearly $4 million in grants. They’re seeking five exceptional female scientists looking to advance their research and serve as role models for the next generation of girls in STEM.
 
Candidates are selected from a variety of fields including the life and physical/material sciences, technology (including computer science), engineering, and mathematics. Candidates must have completed their PhD and have started in their postdoctoral position by the application deadline.
 
The application and more information about the L’Oréal USA For Women in Science program can be found at www.lorealusa.com/forwomeninscience
Upcoming Humanities Grants
Here is the next listing (through January 31, 2019) for Upcoming Humanities Grants for Mike’s newsletter: Details for these opportunities are on the CHASS website: https://chass.ucr.edu/resources_for_research/grant_fellowship_funding_calendars.html

Saturday, December 15
The Anne van Biema Fellowship

Monday, December 17
9:00am: Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation Venetian Research Program U.S.

Saturday, December 15
The Anne van Biema Fellowship

Wednesday, December 19
California Arts Council, Arts Education Exposure
California Arts Council, Veterans in the Arts

Thursday, December 20
NSF Archaeology/Sr. Research

Wednesday, January 9, 2019
California Arts Council, Youth in Action
3:00pm: Haynes Fnd Archival Grants
5:00pm: NSF EAGER on AI & Society (prospectus only)

Monday, January 14, 2019
Russell Sage Visiting Scholar fellowship application OPENS

Tuesday, January 15, 2019
NEH Sustaining Cultural Heritage

Thursday, January 17, 2019
National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC)

Friday, January 18, 2019
Will Eisner Foundation (library)

Thursday, January 24, 2019
8:59pm: CAORC Inaugural NEH Humanities Sr. Scholar Fellowships (FPIRI) for Post-Doctoral Fellowships
8:59pm: CAORC Multi-Country Research Fellowship

Monday, January 28, 2019
5:00pm: NSF EAGER on AI and Society (by invitation only)

Thursday, January 31, 2019
Center for Retirement Research
NEH Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions
Mandarin Duck
Here's a photo of a Mandarin Duck from Yorba Regional Park in Anaheim that I took in 2013. You may have heard that single Mandarin Duck in Central Park has Manhattan fascinated. The bird is native to China.

Recent report from Yorba Regional Park on ebird have up to 11 of these colorful ducks.

The original in both cases is likely escapees from cage or backyard birds, but the Yorba group is likely breeding in that park.


Banded Pitta
Here's a photo of a Banded Pitta from Thailand.


I wouldn't have found it without hiring a local bird guide, but even that may not have been enough. While walking along side him on a rural road, he was knocked down by a 6-8 foot snake, most likely a python and struggled with it for a few seconds before kicking it away,

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