NSF Announces Research.gov

The National Science Foundation (NSF), has announced a new research-oriented web site called Research.gov, which seeks to improve customer service for the research community by increasing access to information and services while streamlining and standardizing business processes amongst partner agencies.

The Research.gov web portal provides a menu of services tailored to the needs of the research community. Research.gov enables institutions and grantees to access streamlined services for multiple federal agencies in one location. Research.gov currently offers the following services:

• Grants Application Status - Sponsored Projects Offices (SPOs) and Principal Investigators (PIs) can check the status of their proposals as they are received and reviewed by NSF and partner agencies and view a history of their submissions, panel summaries and reviews (PIs only), and award and/or authorization notices.

• Research Spending and Results -NSF award information available to be searched by the public in compliance with the new Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act requirements.

• Policy Library - An electronic library that consolidates Federal and agency-specific policies, guidelines, and procedures for use by Federal agencies and the awardee community.

• Research Headlines - News and highlighted research activities from NSF and partner agencies.

• Portal - Single-access portal for institutions and grantees to find information and conduct grants management business with Federal research grant-making agencies. Users will be shown the information and services relevant to their role. Institutions will be able to add new users and give them appropriate access.

Go to Research.gov to get the answers!

Foundation Center Database Search  

The Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (OSRP) is now offering faculty the ability to find grant funding opportunities through the Foundation Center website. The procedure begins with a Foundation Center search request form that interested researchers will enter their applicable keywords or search terms and send the information to OSRP.  Personnel within OSRP will then search the Foundation Center website to find grant opportunities based on those keywords and send the results back to researchers. See more information.

OSRP News

As of April 1, 2008, a new Internal Approval Form (IAF; PDF) is now in effect for all submitted application forms for NSF, NIH and PHS agencies. [continued...]

Required IRB Application; CITI Training:  

Missouri State University requires all persons engaged in human subjects research to provide valid proof of current IRB education for themselves and all personnel listed in the application. Sponsored Research and Programs will not send the CONFIRMATION letter advising of the IRB approval until the CITI certificates have been received. See more information.

Grants Resource Center:  

The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Grants Resouce Center provides grant search and funding opportunities to its member insitutions, though monthly deadlines.

OHRP offers Online Guidance on Informed Consent:  

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP) has announced the availability of a new webpage dedicated to frequently asked questions (FAQs) and answers on informed consent.

Human Subjects Web-based Training

After reviewing other training programs available online, the University has contracted with the University of Miami for use of the Collaborative IRB Training Initiative (CITI) program for Human Subjects research. The CITI program is being used by approximately 165 higher education institutions and research organizations throughout the U.S. There are 22 modules in the Basic CITI course. Each module covers a specific aspect of human subjects research, e.g., History and Ethical Principles, Informed Consent, and Research with children.

Note:  Those who met Missouri State University’s Human Subjects Education requirement prior to July 1, 2006, via use of the NIH training are not required to complete the basic CITI program, but to take the refresher courses. See more information.

NEH Grant Workshop 

Fostering the Humanities in the Heart of America; A National Endowment (NEH) for the Humanities Grant Workshop:

On March 24, 2008 at the University of Central Missouri (UCM), in Warrensburg Missouri, a regional grant workshop was conducted by the NEH. The UCM College of ARTS, Humanities, and Social Sciences and their Sponsored Programs office provided an opportunity for Missouri State University faculty to visit with Dr. Douglas Arnold, senior program officer for Education Programs with the NEH, to discuss current funding initiatives, grant-writing tips, and the application review process.

From the workshop the following information was received:

• NEH wants to help faculty develop projects.  Get in touch with them early.  Always submit at least 4 weeks before deadline so your proposal gets a good read.
• Advised against using academic jargon.  In fact, he called it “poison” to a proposal.  Reviewers will be from different disciplines and will not appreciate reading something they don’t understand;
• Good projects that are academically compelling are highly desired.  They are forgiving of technical errors and minor budget mistakes that can be corrected if the proposal is something they find interesting and strong;
• Give the 8 line abstract, on the cover sheet, considerable attention as it will be seen by more people than any other part of the grant.  Use this space wisely and make it meaningful;
• Look at Humanities Magazine which lists current programs and academic guidelines; and
• Challenge grants are available to strengthen the Institutional base of the humanities and require matching of $3/4 per $1 from NEH.  While that sounds like a lot of match, the use of the funds is not terribly restrictive and can even cover construction and renovation.

A copy of the presentation slides (PDF; opens in a new window) are made available for your perusal.

NIH; Salary Limitation on Grants, Cooperative Agreements, and Contracts: 

This notice provides updated information regarding the salary limitation for NIH grant and cooperative agreement awards and extramural research and development contract awards (referred to here as a grant). More...

Helping Faculty use Funded Proposals Effectively:

In the recent GRC Publication (10/10/07), a GRC member from Ball State University compiled a sample of agencies and organizations that provide information on successful applicants and their projects, See the GRC article that outline these federal databases which house abstracts and project information of previously funded grant proposals. 

OSRP Workshop at West Plains:

On Friday, November 19th, OSRP personnel presented a full day workshop for faculty and staff at the West Plains Campus. The workshop titled, "Competing Successfully in Identifying, Acquiring and Sustaining Grants and Contracts", introduced all participants on methods of finding the best funding opportunity using federal and foundation database searches, the essentials of a competitive proposal, developing a competitive budget and discussing on the university policies on grants and contracts.

Academic Research Enhancement Awards (AREA)  

The National Institutes of Health AREA grant program is intended for researchers at institutions that are not receiving significant amounts of NIH funding.  This is an excellent program for faculty who have not received NIH funding previously.  For an overview of the AREA program, please review a web presentation by Dr. Henry Khachaturian, of the NIH Office of Extramural Programs. There is also a PowerPoint Presentation for download.

17th Annual Showcase on Teaching and Learning; January 10, 2007:

The 17th Showcase on Teaching and Learning, held January 10, 2007, was sponsored by the Academic Development Center in cooperation with the Office of the Provost. It sought to promote collegiality and the sharing of ideas for effective learning and teaching. While teaching continues to be a major faculty responsibility, an increased emphasis on research is occurring at Missouri State and across universities in the US. For new faculty, it is important to begin a research program in the early career stages. For returning faculty, continuing or re-engaging in research may require new capabilities. For all faculty, relationships between research and teaching, and how both facilitate student learning, are important considerations.

A PowerPoint document was presented that brought together various view points from faculty as to the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to be an effective researcher in their discipline and field.

Opening Ceremony: JVIC Building:

On Wednesday, May 30th at 9:00am, the new Roy Blunt Jordan Valley Innovation Center was officially named and opened. See www.jvic.missouristate.edu/ for further details on the opening.

AREA grant opportunity: 

In a recent presentation by Dr. John Haller, NIH Grant Manager, an overview on a grant opportunity called the AREA program, was presented. A detailed presentation has been made available to us. See further information on this funding opportunity.

Rate of Success for Applicants to NSF has Declined:

A recently completed survey for the National Science Foundation found that the number of applications continues to increase, but the funding does not.  As a consequence, overall success rate for applications has declined from 30% in 2000 to 21% in 2006.  See details in a final report.

Other News:

Grants Resource Center:  

The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Grants Resouce Center provides grant search and funding opportunities to its member insitutions, though monthly deadlines.

NIH News:  

NIH Awards nearly $21 Million to Fund Cutting-Edge Research Equipment. See further details.

NSF News:

NSF Funding to Advance Research on Interplay between Biology and Society.

Recent GRC Web Conference

On April 24, 2008, the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs hosted a web conference that was conducted by the Grants Resource Council.

The presenters first provided some facts on the federal support that the NIH provided for the life sciences through its many institutes and centers as well as the breakdown of the percentage of support each of the institutes/centers accounted for under the President’s Budget Request. An important distinction was made in the funding opportunities the NIH provided. These were regular funding opportunity announcements that were made through their web site (http://www.nih.gov/) and through Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov/). The GRC also provides funding summaries through their website and funding search database (http://aascu.org/gsmodule/). See http://www.aascu.org/grc/ for more information.

We invite all faculty and staff to visit us and let us target searches for you as well as support collaborative work between departments and colleges based on those research interests. Our phone numbers (Ph: 836-5972 and Fax 836-8818) remain unchanged. Other phone numbers are listed under the About OSRP section under "Meet the Staff".

Regional ARTS Grant Workshop

On March 24, 2008 at the University of Central Missouri (UCM), in Warrensburg Missouri, a regional grant workshop was conducted by the NEH. [continued...]

Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA)

The FFATA Web Site Is Up and Running! Have you visited USASpending.gov yet? This free publicly accessible Web site contains federal funding data and was mandated under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to be available by Jan. 1, 2008. It is a "re-launch" of http://www.federalspending.gov/. The data on federal contracts are drawn from the Federal Procurement Data System, and the data on federal assistance come largely from federal agencies via the Federal Assistance Award Data System. See link: http://www.usaspending.gov/.

Technical Workshops for the Title III Program

Five technical assistance workshops for the Title III, Strengthening Institutions Program and the CCRAA programs were presented on Thursday, April 24 in San Juan and occured every Tuesday and Thursday until May 8. The other workshops were in California (April 29), Atlanta (May 1), Dallas (May 6) and Washington, DC (May 8).

On those dates, all of the Institutional Development and Undergraduate Education Service (IDUES) programs with FY 08 competitions conducted workshops concurrently. See the IDUES technical assistance workshop website for more details as they become available.

Grants.Gov; Transitioning from PureEdge to Adobe Reader 7.0.9

On the grants.gov website, a pdf document describes Frequently Asked Questions pertaining to the transition from PureEdge to Adobe Reader 7.0.9 to apply for grants. It seems that Adobe and the government have developed Adobe Reader 7.0.9 to be used exclusively to submit grants through the system. Take a look at the FAQ document (PDF Document) as it emphasizes using Adobe Reader 7.0.9 for submission of grants.

This may be a problem as the newest version of Adobe Reader is version 8.1.0 which is not compatible to be used in grants.gov. To view and apply for grants, you will be able to download and install the Adobe Reader 7.0.9 located on the Grants.Gov website at: http://www.grants.gov/resources/download_software.jsp
Please make sure you select Client Version 7.0.9*. Adobe Reader is free software and there is no cost to the users to download, install or use the software.

NEW Grants.gov Guide for National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation has released a new NSF Proposal & Award Policies and Procedures Guide (NSF07-140). This new guide is effective for proposals submitted on or after June 1, 2007. The document supercedes all prior versions of the GPG and GPM and can be accessed at http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/papp/index.jsp.  It covers both the proposal and the award process.

Due to these changes, a new version of the Grants.gov information for the National Science Foundation submissions has been released and can be accessed on the foundation website (opens in a new window).

NSF Report shows Growth in Research Funding

In a recently submitted National Science Foundation report (NSF 07-317; April 2007) on the investment in research, United States expenditures on research and development (R&D) increased 6% in 2006 to $342.9 billion. This is compared to 2005 when R&D expenditures had increased 7.8% to $323.5 billion over the previous year. The breakdown of the 2006 U.S. R&D expenditures showed that Industry provided 65% of that funding while the Federal government accounted for 28.2%. Total expenditures for Basic Research in FY 2006 was $63.6 billion of which Industry provided 16.2% while the Federal government provided 60.4%.  Total expenditures for Applied Research were $79 billion in 2006 of which Industry provided 61% while the Federal government provided 31.7%. It should be noted that Universities and Colleges (U&C) provided 13.1% and 3.8% of the Basic and Applied research funding, respectively. 

SOURCE:  National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics, National Patterns of R&D Resources (annual series).

The largest sources for R&D funding in the US continues to be the business sector and the federal government accounting for 93.2%. Further details on the US R&D Research Funding can be found on the National Science Foundation website.

Animal Hazard Assessment Tool 

A Hazard Assessment Information Tool has been provided to all covered persons (faculty, supervisors, workers and students) to help them in knowing the risks and taking the necessary safety precautions when working with animals. Each person will simply choose the species they work with, and the hazards and related infomation sheets will be provided regarding the associated risks.

Indirect Cost Distribution Policy

The University's policy on distribution of recovered indirect costs from grants and contracts is being revised. The new IDC allocations that will go into effect for FY07 are part of a number of efforts to achieve the goal of expanding research and other scholarly activity and productivity of Missouri State. The formulas for distribution of IDCs are in two categories --- Non-Center Projects vs. Center Projects.
See link to complete policy: IDCs Distribution Policy.

Upcoming Fall 2007 Workshops

Once again, OSRP grants specialists will be offering in Fall 2007, a series of three basic proposal development workshops; each will be offered twice to enable faculty and staff to attend. Assistive Technology services are available on request. More information will follow as time draws closer.

To register for the interactive workshops, simply click on the link to the Fall 2007 Workshop to enter the required information. Need additional information, e-mail Bruce or call 836-5972.

GRC Workshop:

The Provost and the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs co-sponsored a GRC workshop presented by GRC Administrators on November 26th and 27th for faculty and staff interested in pursuing external funding for research, education and service projects. All interested participants received suggestions on grant funding opportunities and writing for success. See presentation materials used in the workshop sessions.

National Science Foundation revises merit review criterion:

Effective October 1, 2007, the Grant Proposal Guide, as well as new funding opportunities issued after that date, incorporated the revised new Intellectual Merit criterion. Necessary changes also will be made to NSF reviewer systems to incorporate the revised language. All proposals received after January 5, 2008, will be reviewed against the newly revised criterion.

New G.A. Stipend Rates for 2006-07 Academic Year

Graduate Assistant stipend rates have been increased for the upcoming 2006-07 academic year.  Please start using the new rates for your AY06-07 & FA06 appointments. Any PAF’s already processed for next year at the 2005-06 rates will automatically be adjusted upward. The rates for SU06 have not changed since they are tied to the 2005-06  stipend rates.
See link to complete announcement: Personnel and Stipends

Funding from Grants.Gov:

Logon to Grants.Gov to see new funding opportunities. This search result is updated each week.

DHHS releases a New Grants.Gov SF424 (R&R) Guide. See PDF document. 

NSF, Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide, June 2007

NIH Announces new R01 Submission Process 

NSF, Grant Proposal Guide, June 2007

NSF, Award Administration Guide, June 2007