Office of Research Update
Looking for new funding opportunities? The NSM Office of Research launched a new Funding Opportunities webpage. Here you will find a curated list of funding opportunities specific to the interests of NSM faculty. The list will be updated twice a month, so check back often.
Please review our proposal submission timetable. We routinely have multiple grants due at or near the same time, so it is imperative that everything is in order well ahead of the deadline. This also gives us time to properly check for errors.
For those of you who submit or plan to submit proposals to NSF, please create an account with SciENcv. You will use SciENcv to create your biosketch and current and pending support documents. There are links to YouTube videos on the SciENcv website that will explain how to use the service.
Let us create your budgets! Many of you like to fill in the UH budget worksheet yourself, but we end up transferring that information to the most current version and looking up everyone’s salary and benefits information anyway. It is simpler to just send us an outline of what you would like in the budget, and let us create it for you. A great way to do this is to make a draft of your budget justification. We can use that to create the budget.
Please check out the NSM Office of Research website for useful links and information.
– The NSM Research Team
Awarded Research Grants
Congratulations to the following faculty members for their recent awards:
Brad Carrow (Chemistry) was awarded a $1,156,329 grant from NIH: “Aliphatic Effects in Transition Metal Catalysis.”
Yingcai Zheng (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences) was awarded a $799,932 from DOE: “Seismic Elastic Double-Beam Characterization of Faults and Fractures for CO2 Storage Site Selection.”
Eva Harth (Chemistry) was awarded a $321,385 grant from NSF: “Collaborative Research: Polar-Polyolefin Block Copolymers via Milrad Functionalization: A Platform for Amphiphilic Nanostructured Material Synthesis.”
Frank McKeon (Biology & Biochemistry) was awarded a $237,500 grant from Tract Pharmaceuticals, Inc.: “TRACT SRA-1.”
Scott Gilbertson (Chemistry) was awarded a $146,233 grant from the University of Texas Medical Branch: “Sponsored Research Agreement with UTMB: Novel Molecular Therapeutics to Modulate Serotonin 5-Ht2a Receptor Function.”
Ioannis Kakadiaris (Computer Science) was awarded a $94,994 grant from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley: “Texas CEAL Consortium.”
Claudia Ratti (Physics) was awarded a $50,000 grant from DOE: “Nuclear Science in Texas to Enhance and Advance Minorities (NuSTEAM).”
Yuxuan Wang (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences) was awarded a $20,000 grant from TCEQ: “Global Modeling of Future Emissions.”
Chin-Yo Lin (Biology & Biochemistry, Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling) was awarded a $10,000 grant from Golfers Against Cancer: “Novel Target Mechanisms and Targeting Agents in the Treatment of Breast and Pancreatic Cancers.”
Announcements
New NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide Now Available
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 22-1) has been issued.
The new PAPPG will be effective for proposals submitted or due on or after October 4, 2021. Significant changes include:
- A new section covering requests for reasonable and accessibility accommodations regarding the proposal process or requests for accessibility accommodations to access NSF’s electronic systems, websites, and other digital content.
- A table entitled, NSF Pre-award and Post-award Disclosures Relating to the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support. This table identifies where pre- and post-award current and pending support disclosure information must be provided. Proposers and awardees may begin using this table immediately.
- Increasing the page limit for the biographical sketch from two to three pages.
- Updates to the current and pending support section of NSF proposals to require that information on objectives and overlap with other projects is provided to help NSF and reviewers assess overlap/duplication.
- Adding planning proposals and Career-Life Balance supplemental funding requests as new proposal types.
- Updates to travel proposals will require that AORs certify that prior to the proposer’s participation in the meeting for which NSF travel support is being requested, the proposer will assure that the meeting organizer has a written policy or code-of-conduct addressing harassment.
You are encouraged to review the by-chapter summary of changes provided in the Introduction section of the PAPPG.
NSF plans to conduct a webinar covering these changes. Visit the NSF policy outreach website to sign up for notifications about this and other outreach events.
While this version of the PAPPG becomes effective on October 4, 2021, in the interim, the guidelines contained in the current PAPPG (NSF 20-1) continue to apply.
If you have any questions regarding these changes, please contact the DIAS/Policy Office at: policy@nsf.gov
Recent Changes to the Biosketch and Other Support Format Page
In an effort to support strong collaboration between Federal research agencies, NIH has made every effort to align the Biographical Sketch (Biosketch), Other Support format page, and Application Form Instructions with the guidance issued by the Office of Science and Technology Policy Joint Committee on the Research Environment.
As a result, this NIH Guide Notice informs the extramural community that NIH has updated its application forms and instructions to support the need for applicants and recipients to provide full transparency and disclosure of all research activities, foreign and domestic.
Use of the updated forms and instructions is required for applications and Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPR) submitted for due dates on or after May 25, 2021.
The revisions serve as updates to the Biosketch and Other Support format page templates used as attachments in the NIH’s current Forms-F application packages and RPPRs. The forms updates do not change the policies for Biosketch or Other Support.
Guide Notice: Upcoming Changes to the Biographical Sketch and Other Support Format Page for Due Dates on or after May 25, 2021
Hanover Bimonthly Grants Calendar
As part of efforts to monitor the funding landscape and facilitate strategic planning, Hanover produces a bimonthly Grants Calendar centered on certain funding interests. The linked calendar reviews upcoming programmatic grant opportunities focused on STEM Education, covering a range of federal grant-making agencies and private funders. Short-term targets with set deadlines are included alongside longer-term opportunities projected to occur across the next year and beyond. This year, Hanover will produce two Grants Calendars each month, while also holding a monthly grantsmanship webinar.
Please view Hanover’s upcoming schedule and double check that you are signed up for updates that are of most interest to you.
UH Research Data Management Librarian
Did you know that UH has a Research Data Management Librarian? UH Libraries offers a range of support for research data management, archiving, and sharing. Contact the Research Data Management Librarian, Reid Boehm, for questions about the following:
- Guidance on data management planning for grant proposals or any research project. Let her help you to prepare the Data Management Plan for your next proposal!
- Assistance for sustained compliance with funder and university policies.
- Workshops and consultations for graduate students on collaborative work practices and strategies for handling data throughout research.
- An institutional data repository for archiving and sharing data and related content at no cost for up to 10 GB per project.
For more information about data management, see UH Libraries Research Data Resources or reach out to Reid at riboehm@uh.edu.
NIH New COVID-19 Website
The new NIH COVID-19 website launched in January. The site provides a central location for trusted, up-to-date, accurate information about NIH research and the NIH’s strategic role in COVID-19 research. The site complements information made available on the COVID-19: Information for NIH Applicants and Recipients of NIH Funding webpage.
The new site includes information about key programs such as the Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines public-private partnership and the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics initiative to develop state-of-the-science diagnostic tests for COVID-19. Users are also able to search information on funded research by state, institution, Congressional district, and more.
NIH New Vertebrate Animals Section Training Module
Calling all applicants proposing research with vertebrate animals – check out the latest online learning module on the Vertebrate Animals Section in grant applications. This interactive module will assist applicants in preparing this section of the application and will serve as a valuable resource for reviewers in evaluating the Vertebrate Animal Section of applications and proposals.
This engaging module takes 30 minutes or less to complete and includes:
- An overview of the requirements,
- A checklist for applicants and reviewers,
- Detailed instructions, and
- Responsibilities of applicants, reviewers, and NIH staff.
See additional resources on the humane care and use of animals in PHS-supported research on NIH’s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) website.
Internal Awards
Update: Limited Submissions
The Limited Submissions page has been updated to clarify the documents that are required for an internal limited submission application. Specifically, the requirements include a two-page limit for the abstract.
Click on the “Apply for Limited Submissions” button on the right-hand side of the page to find a list of open, internal limited submission opportunities and/or to apply for an internal limited submission opportunity.