Office of Research Update
New Proposal Submissions
In February and March, NSM faculty submitted 60 research proposals (including 10 to NSF, 10 to NIH, 7 to DOE, 4 to DOD CDMRP, 4 to American Chemical Society/Petroleum Research Fund, 2 to NASA, 1 to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, 1 Dreyfus Foundation, 1 to NATO, 1 to CPRIT, 1 DOD AFOSR, 1 to Melanoma Research Foundation, 1 to AAAS and more) corresponding to $26.7M in requested funding.
Awarded Research Grants
James Flynn (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences) was awarded a $808,295 grant from TCEQ: “Black and Brown Carbon (BC)2 Monitoring in Houston and El Paso in 2020.”
James Flynn (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences) was awarded a $242,000 grant from TCEQ: “Monitoring Related to Ozone Formation in and Ozone and Particulate Matter Transport into the Houston Region and the Dallas-Fort Worth Region.”
Thomas Lapen (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences) was awarded a $75,000 grant from USRA: “Transformative Lunar Science and Exploration: Integrating Sample Analyses, Mission Studies, and Next Generation Training to Meet the Strategic Goals of Science and Human Exploration.”
Yuxuan Wang (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences) was awarded a $75,000 grant from TCEQ: “Impact of Global Model Configurations on Boundary Conditions.”
Mehmet Sen (Biology & Biochemistry) was awarded a $66,000 grant from East Carolina University: “Identifying Structural Differences between Fibrinogen and Fibrin to Provide Novel Therapeutic Targets.”
Zhigang Deng (Computer Science) was awarded a $61,200 grant from Electronic Arts Inc.: “Learning 3D Facial Modeling and Animation from Public Large Video Dataset.”
Thomas Lapen (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences) was awarded a $50,000 grant from Chevron: “Element Abundance Mapping, Radionuclide Isotype and U-TH-PB Testing of Geological Samples.”
Omprakash Gnawali (Computer Science) was awarded a $30,000 grant from NSF: “NSF Student Travel Grant for 2020 Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet-of-Things Week (CPS-IOT Week).”
Kerri Crawford (Biology & Biochemistry) was awarded 4 grants totaling in $29,834 from Braun & Gresham Attorneys at Law: “Harnessing the Hidden: Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Across Texas Natural Precipitation Gradient” (Graduate Student: J.H. Dudenhoeffer); “The Relative Importance of Plant-Insect Interactions Across a Natural Precipitation Gradient” (Graduate Student: H. Locke); “The Effect of Texas’s Precipitation Gradient on Plant-Microbe Interactions Using Little Bluestem” (Graduate Student: N. Luecke); and “Importance of the Soil Microbial Community for Coastal Prairie Grasses in Texas” (Graduate Student: D. Lagueux).
Wa Xian (Biology & Biochemistry) was awarded a $21,068 grant from Brigham & Women’s Hospital: “Early Precursor Escape and High Grade Serous Carcinogenesis.”
Wa Xian (Biology & Biochemistry) was awarded a $15,931 grant from Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer: “Resistant Cancer Stem Cell Profile in Multi-Site Metastasis of HGSC.”
James Flynn (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences) was awarded a $9,500 grant from TCEQ: “Hands-On Training for Zero-Dimension (0-D) Photochemical Box Modeling.”
Steven Pennings (Biology & Biochemistry) was awarded a $7,137 grant from Braun & Gresham Attorneys at Law: “Testing the Mechanism of Plant-Pathogen on Grasshopper Diet Choices Along a Temperature Gradient (Graduate Student: T. Adams).”
Richard Meisel (Biology & Biochemistry) was awarded a $7,116 grant from Braun & Gresham Attorneys at Law: “Understanding Bacterial Community Composition in Male Houseflies with Different Sex Chromosomes (Graduate Student: K. Adhikari).”
Announcements
National Science Foundation (NSF) Biosketch and Current/Pending Support Formats
The new Proposal & Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) will be effective for proposals submitted or due, and awards made, on or after June 1, 2020. NSF will require use of an NSF-approved format in submission of the biographical sketch and current and pending support documents, once the PAPPG (NSF 20-1) becomes effective.
NSF-Approved Formats
- SciENcv: NSF has partnered with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to use SciENcv: Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae as an NSF-approved format for use in preparation of both the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support sections of an NSF proposal. SciENcv will produce an NSF-compliant PDF version of the documents which proposers can save and submit as part of their proposals via FastLane, Research.gov or Grants.gov. Additional information about the NSF-approved SciENcv formats is available on the NSF biographical sketch and current and pending support webpages.
The SciENcv tool integrates with ORCID, enabling proposers to populate their Biographical Sketches by importing data directly from their ORCID records rather than having to manually enter all the required information. Additionally, Biographical Sketch data maintained in SciENcv can be quickly and easily updated on an ongoing basis for subsequent proposal submissions.- NSF Fillable PDF: NSF is also providing a fillable PDF as an NSF-approved format for use to prepare both the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support sections of an NSF proposal. Proposers can download the respective fillable PDF form from the NSF biographical sketch and current and pending support webpages and then submit the completed forms as part of their proposals via FastLane, Research.gov or Grants.gov. Note that the NSF fillable PDF for the Biographical Sketch does not integrate with ORCID.
National Science Foundation Research Submissions Portal
Beginning in early 2020, NSF will discontinue FastLane, and all proposals will need to be submitted through Research.gov. In order to become familiar with the system and to troubleshoot errors, NSM will immediately begin using Research.gov for all non-last-minute NSF submissions.
National Science Foundation Separately Submitted Collaborative Proposals
Effective March 30, 2020, the research community can prepare and submit separately submitted collaborative proposals from multiple organizations in Research.gov. Proposers can now prepare Full, Research proposals in Research.gov that are:
- Single submissions from one organization (available since April 2018)
- Single submission collaborative proposals with subawards (available since June 2019)
- Separately submitted collaborative proposals from multiple organizations
Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)
CPRIT is suspending the first cycle of grant applications for fiscal year 2021 (FY 21.1) for Academic Research, Product Development Research and Prevention Program awards. CPRIT is taking this action in response to the unexpected impact to the State’s budget from the COVID-19 pandemic and a projected decrease in oil and gas revenues. CPRIT continues to evaluate releasing Requests for Applications (RFAs) for fiscal year 2021 and is committed to doing so if circumstances support it.
Internal Awards
National Centers Planning Award
The National Centers Planning Award funding is intended to provide up to 14 months of support to teams of researchers led by a UH faculty member to prepare for the submission of a proposal to a targeted funding opportunity.
Applications accepted through September 30, 2020, or until the funds are exhausted.