ARCHIVED NEWS FOR JANUARY 2004

posted 1/29/04
NSF Reorganizes CISE Division

The National Science Foundation is in the process of reorganizing the Directorate of Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) into four new divisions: the Division of Computing & Communication Foundations (CCF); the Division of Computer and Network Systems (CNS); the Division of Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS); and the Division of Shared Cyberinfrastructure (SCI).
       
The leaders of the new divisions have also identified a number of cross-cutting CISE emphases for FY 2004 that require multidisciplinary collaboration and directorate- and/or NSF-wide involvement. These are Cyber Trust, the Science of Design, Information Integration, and Education and Workforce. The goal is to create a broad portfolio of awards (individual, group and, in some cases, center) within each of these areas.
       
To assist researchers during the transition, a “crosswalk” has been developed to map former CISE programs to new ones.

posted 1/27/04
NCURA and SRA To Hold Joint Research Administration Meeting in April

Workshops and a joint meeting of the Midwest regions of the Societyof Research Administrators (SRA) and the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) will be held Saturday, April 24 through Tuesday April 27, 2004.
       
This regional conference is a great way to expand yourprofessional knowledge, meet new colleagues in other areas of research administration, and learn from their experiences, too.
       
The theme of this year’s conference is “Research Administration from Start to Finish,” and a wide variety of concurrent sessions aimed at those new in their jobs as well as those who have been around a while. Two members of the Office of Research are assisting in the planning: Ellen Rogers is on the Concurrent Sessions committee and Pam Krauser is NCURA Region IV Chair-Elect.
       
There is an additional fee for workshops and attendees must register for the workshops in addition to the conference. Schedule,registration, workshops, room rates, etc.

posted 1/26/04
Change in F & A Rates Allowed on NIH Training Program

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is informing potential applicants of a change in RFA-RM-04-008: Short Programs For Interdisciplinary Research Training regarding allowable Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs of the grants. Although R13 awards typically do not provide F& A (or indirect) costs, the R13 awards funded through this RFA will provide 8% indirect costs. This is due to the longer than normal duration of these R13 awards. All other aspects of the RFA remain unchanged.

posted 1/26/04
NASA/NIH Workshop: Overview of the Meeting on the NIH Campus

NASA’s Office of Biological and Physical Research and the NIH Office of Extramural Research exchanged information about current research planning and funding during a meeting on December 11, 2003. The other purpose of the meeting was to identify opportunities for collaborative efforts.
The workshop began with presentations by NASA staff on the organization andenterprise strategy of NASA’s Office of Biological and Physical Research. These presentations were followed by brief presentations by NIH staff, both intramural and extramural, on past and current collaborative studies with NASA. Discussion then ensued concerning potential areas for future collaboration between the two Agencies.

In addition to the Agenda and roster of attendees is a PowerPoint presentation that combines the main parts of NASA’s presentations. Four “Organizing Questions” are detailed in this PowerPoint presentation, each followed by specific questions that NASA wants to address, along with potential areas for scientific collaboration under each Organizing Question.
       
Anyone interested in pursuing discussions about potential collaborations, either within the intramural or extramural programs, may contact David Liskowsky of NASA (202-358-1963) for advice on appropriate NASA staff contacts.

posted 1/22/04
New Consultant Rate for NSF

The National Science Foundation has increased the consultant rate to $521 per day. This became effective January 1, 2004.

posted 1/22/04
REMINDER: Proposals for Office of Research's Faculty Research Program Due Jan 23 by 4pm

Grants of up to $10,000 are available through the Faculty Research Program sponsored by the Graduate School's Office of Research. Proposals are due tomorrow, January 23, by 4pm in the Office of Research, 511 Main Building.

posted 1/20/04
OR Sponsors Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference on Campus in March

The Office of Research is among the sponsors for the Midwest Ecology and Evolution Conference (MEEC) to be held at Notre Dame on March 5-7 (Friday - Sunday). This is an annual conference hosted by midwestern universities, organized and mostly attended by postdoctoral researchers and graduate students.
       
This professional conference provides a low cost, informal environment for graduate and postdoctoral researchers to present their research ideas and findings. It is also a great way to meet other ecology and evolutionary scientists in the Midwest eco-region.
       
The graduate students in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame are inviting graduate students and post-doctoral associates from the Midwest to submit abstracts for oral and poster presentations at the conference. Deadline for submissions is January 31, 2004.
       
MEEC is highly regarded by the scientific community not only in the Midwest, but also throughout the United States.

posted 1/08/04
NSF Releases New Guide to Programs

The National Science Foundation has released its Guide to Programs for FY 2004...

NOTE: Some of the programs contained in this guide are new for fiscal year 2004 (FY04) and were created with the intention of being supported from the FY04 budget, once it takes effect. However at this time, the National Science Foundation is operating under a Continuing Resolution at FY03 funding levels. Therefore, there is no budget to initiate these new programs until the FY04 VA/HUD and Independent Agencies appropriations bill becomes law. If you are interested in one of these new programs, you are encouraged to contact the office indicated for further information pertaining to this situation.

posted 1/08/04
January 15 Deadline for Faculty Researchers To Submit New Conflict of Interest Forms

All institutions receiving federal support for research or other scholarly projects are required to develop and implement a financial conflict of interest policy. Federal guidelines stipulate that all individuals who design, conduct or report research must be covered by the institutional policy. These regulations require annual updates by faculty.
       
The University of Notre Dame policy for dealing with perceived or actual financial conflict of interest in research or other externally sponsored programs has been developed to be consistent with the current University policy on conflict of interest and the University policy concerning outside activities by the faculty. It has also been developed to minimize the amount of paperwork involved for all parties.
       
Faculty researchers are asked to read the policy materials, complete the Screening Form, have their Department Chair and Dean sign it, and return it to the Office of Research, 511 Main Building, by January 15, 2004. After January 15, the Office of Research will not submit a proposal unless a completed Screening Form is on file. If you have questions about completing the form or about the University Policy, please contact Richard Hilliard at 631-5386 or hilliard.1@nd.edu.
       
If you have completed the forms and sent to the Office of Research after June 1, 2003, you do not have to send a new form.

posted 1/07/04
New Proposal Routing Form To Track F & A Return

With our new effort to return some of the Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs to the colleges, we must now keep track of these numbers by department on each project. While this will not result in any more paperwork, it does require a revision of the Proposal Routing Form. Please visit the forms section to download the new version dated January 2004.
       
For routing forms recently completed, or in progress, we ask that you manually add this information in the Investigators area (section 6) if you would rather not start over with the new form. This grace period will be brief.
       
Also, delete any previous versions of the routing form on your computer as they are now obsolete.