IUSB GrantsLetter December 2001 For more information on the Office of Research and how it can help you please contact Erika Zynda at 237-4181 or ezynda@iusb.edu.

The next Dean's Seminar in the 2001-2002 series will be held on Friday February 15, 2002 at noon (or after the Senate meeting). Steve Shore will speak on "Interstellar Weather: You Don't Need a Weatherperson to Know Which Way the Wind Blows."

Holiday Hours: IU's Sponsored Research Service Office is going to be closed from December 21, 2001 through January 3, 2002 any proposals due on or before January 4, 2002 must be in my office before December 18, 2001.

Recent Funding Opportunities

This is a very short, unrepresentative list of funding opportunities. It only reflects those hard copy RFPs that have been received by my office in the last month or so. A more comprehensive list of current funding opportunities can be found on the IU Granstlink. You can also search for funding opportunities using keywords from COS.
 

01-4 Defining a Sponsored Project vs. a Gift
Due to the varied but sometimes overlapping paths by which funding for sponsored projects and corporate and foundation giving are solicited, it can be unclear to those involved whether the awarded funds fall under the purview of the Indiana University Foundation or the research offices of Indiana University.  The intended purpose of this policy is to provide guidance in defining sponsored projects as well as provide a review process for those cases that may seem unclear in the face of this guidance. 

Impact of Research Getting More Emphasis At NSF
For a long time, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has had two review criteria. Many people have been uncertain how to address the second criterion, which addresses the broader impact of the proposed work (copied in full below), and frequently PIs choose to ignore this criterion altogether. In the recent past, this criterion has been used as the tie-breaker to determine which proposal gets funded. In the future, NSF plans to take the response to this criterion much more seriously. We have been advised that if the PI does not adequately address this criterion, most program managers will return the proposals without review. The program officer's attention to the broader impact criterion will be tracked at NSF now, so we can probably expect more attention to be paid to it at most program levels. Reviewers will also be receiving more guidance on how to consider this criterion in their reviews.

Please note that the broader impact criterion is to be addressed in both the project summary and the project description. NSF has provided the following paragraph to help explain what should be addressed in response to this criteria:

All broader impacts resulting from the proposed activity, e.g., one or more of the following: how the activity will advance discovery while promoting teaching, training, and learning, broaden participation of underrepresented groups (gender, ethnicity, disability, geography), enhance the infrastructure for research and education, broadly disseminate results, and/or benefit society.

The following is the Grant Proposal Guide section on the broader impact criterion:

• What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity?
• How well does the activity advance discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training, and learning?
• How well does the proposed activity broaden the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)?
• To what extent will it enhance the infrastructure for research and education, such as facilities, instrumentation, networks, and partnerships?
• Will the results be disseminated broadly to enhance scientific and technological understanding?
• What may be the benefits of the proposed activity to society?
   

PIs should address these elements in their proposals to provide reviewers with the information necessary to respond fully to the above-described NSF merit review criteria. NSF staff will give these elements careful consideration in making funding decisions.

INTEGRATION OF RESEARCH AND EDUCATION One of the principal strategies in support of NSF’s goals is to foster integration of research and education through the programs, projects and activities it supports at academic and research institutions. These institutions provide abundant opportunities where individuals may concurrently assume responsibilities as researchers, educators, and students, and where all can engage in joint efforts that infuse education with the excitement of discovery and enrich research through the diversity of learning perspectives.

INTEGRATING DIVERSITY INTO NSF PROGRAMS, PROJECTS, AND ACTIVITIES  Broadening opportunities and enabling the participation of all citizens -- women and men, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities -- are essential to the health and vitality of science and engineering. NSF is committed to this principle of diversity and deems it central to the programs, projects, and activities it considers and supports.

NIH is now requiring that all researchers show that they have passed an IRB Certification program in order to submit a proposal to them.  IUPUI is now requiring **ALL** researchers using human subjects to have this certification in place before a protocol will be reviewed. This includes student researchers. It is not far off, that all researchers at IU doing research involving human subjects will have to have this certification. IU has developed an on-line certification program that meet NIH standards.  I encourage everyone involved in human
subjects research to go through this online program at http://www.iupui.edu/~resgrad/Human%20Subjects/HumanSubjectsCourse.html and become certified.

Research and Sponsored Programs has been tracking our common questions regarding the Protection of Human Research Subjects?  Concise, direct answers have been posted to a new web page giving specific information regarding:

• The Test
• Contact Information
• Documentation and Proof
• Collaborators and Subcontractors

• Added the Electronc Signature section under Proposal Submission;
• Modified PDF File Conversion section for using Adobe Acrobat 5.0;
• Replaced screen shot for Change User Permissions to include Authorized Organizational Representative Functions;
• Replaced screen shot for Demonstration Server and deleted the text stating that Advisories and Contact numbers are not on the Server;
• Moved the Add/Delete Non Co-PI Senior Personnel section in front of the Biographical Sketches section; and
• Updated the number of current registered FastLane Organizations and Users.