NSM Faculty/Staff Newsletter

From the Office of the Dean

July 2024

Did You Know?

Staff: Submit Your Honors/Achievements

Did you recently complete a degree or certification? Receive an award? Present at a conference? Let us know by completing the NSM Staff Honors/Achievements Form. The information will be used in the Honors and Recognition section of the Faculty/Staff Newsletter. Staff, co-workers, or supervisors can use the form to submit news of recent honors and achievements.

Office of Research Update

Recent Awards

Congratulations to the following faculty members for their recent awards:

  • Shiv Halasyamani (Chemistry) was awarded a $554,958 grant Drexel University: “Collaborative Hierarchical and Agile Responsive Materials (CHARM)”
  • Tony Frankino (Biology & Biochemistry) was awarded $500,000 by the National Science Foundation: “HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: Broadening Participation, Fostering Cultural Wealth, and Increasing Success through BURT, an Undergraduate Research Training Program”
  • Rebecca Zufall (Biology & Biochemistry) was awarded $242,000 by the National Science Foundation: “SG: Phenotypic Plasticity and Adaptation under Rapid Environmental Change: Experimental Evolution in a Freshwater Microbial Eukaryote”
  • Scott Gilbertson (Chemistry) was awarded $180,000 by UT Health Science Center Houston: “Characterization and Optimization of Novel Allosteric KRAS Inhibitors”
  • Krešimir Josić (Mathematics) was awarded $67,950 by Rice University: “NLM Research Training Program in Biomedical Informatics and Data Science for Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Fellows”
  • Chin-Yo Lin (Biology & Biochemistry/CNRCS) was awarded $50,000 by Golfers Against Cancer-Houston: “Novel Target Mechanisms and Targeting Agents in the Treatment of Breast and Pancreatic Cancers #3”
  • Greg Morrison (Physics) was awarded $37,381 by M.D. Anderson Cancer Center: “Salary Reimbursement Agreement for Ryan Boyce”

* The awards listed above are extracted from the awards report generated through PeopleSoft Grants system. This report includes only the awards that are fully set up with cost centers available for expenditures. Any incoming awards pending in the system will not be reported until the set up is complete.

General Reminders

Looking for new funding opportunities? Check out the NSM Office of Research’s Funding Opportunities webpage. Here you will find a list of funding opportunities curated to the interests of NSM faculty. The list is updated monthly, so check back often.

Don’t unnecessarily delay your award! The most common cause for delays in issuing a notice of award (NOA) is failing to submit just-in-time (JIT) information, such as revised budgets and current/pending support information. The biggest obstacle to award set up is congruency review—an internal review done by DOR that ensures all compliance approvals are complete (animal use, human subjects, biohazards, radiation safety). To minimize delays in getting your award, please let us know if you receive a favorable review. This typically comes in the form of a high impact score on a summary statement or a letter from the sponsor suggesting interest in the proposal. We will complete any pending JIT requests and ask DOR to begin the congruency review.

Preparing your next proposal? 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. Let us know when you have plan(s) for submission by filling out our Google Form online.

NSF now requires the use of SciENcv to generate Biosketches and Current and Pending Support documents. NSF stopped accepting the fillable pdf forms in October 2023. For all new NSF proposals, Biosketches and C&P Support documents for all key personnel must be generated with SciENcv. If you haven’t already done so, please create an account with SciENcv. There are YouTube videos on SciENcv that will explain how to use the service. See the section below titled The Time to Start Using SciENcv is NOW for more information.

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

What’s New?

Spring 2024 NSF Grants Conference - Videos Now On-Demand

Spring 2024 NSF Grants Conference was held in June in Philadelphia. Did you miss the conference, or have you been ruminating over a session you attended? All recorded conference sessions are now available on NSF’s Policy Office Outreach website in the Resource Center. Additionally, you may view the recordings on their YouTube page.

Six New Product Types in NSF Public Access Repository

Effective July 1, 2024, NSF enabled six new product types in the NSF Public Access Repository (NSF-PAR): audiovisual, data paper, educational aid and curriculum, posted content, software, and sound.

Visit the Research.gov About Public Access page for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and updated how-to guides that include the six new product types. Also see the NSF Public Access Initiative page for the latest information on open science.

DOE: Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research (PIER) Plans

All Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) and DOE National Lab Announcements and other funding solicitations now require a PIER Plan as an appendix to the proposal narrative. PIER Plans should describe the activities and strategies applicants will incorporate to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in their research projects. PIER Plans will be evaluated as part of the merit review process and will be used to inform funding decisions. Find more information about PIER plans.

Certification of Non-Participation in Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs and Disclosure of Participation in Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs

In response to new federal guidance regarding Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs (FTRPs), UH will require all key personnel to sign a certification stating that they have disclosed participation in FTRPs and that they are not participants in malign FTRPs. This certification will be a requirement for all new proposals.

New NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG, NSF 24-1)

NSF published the final version of the latest PAPPG (NSF 24-1) on January 22, 2024, and it went into effect for proposals submitted or due on or after May 20, 2024.

This version contains several significant changes to the proposal preparation:

  1. A new section (Chapter II.D.1.e(ii), Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs) is added to address the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 requirements regarding malign foreign talent recruitment programs. This applies to individuals designated as senior/key persons on a proposal.
  2. The Synergistic Activities section is removed from the biosketch. It is now its own document for each senior/key person up to 1 page and uploaded separately for NSF applications.
  3. The 3-page limitation for the biosketch is also removed. There is no longer a page limit for biosketches.
  4. The Postdoc Mentoring Plan has been replaced by the Mentoring Plan. The new Mentoring plan is required for all applications that include graduate students or postdocs.
  5. Additional language is added into the certification for biosketches and current & pending support documents in compliance with NSPM-33 and CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. You will be prompted to certify these documents each time you download them.

If you are preparing submissions after May 20, 2024, you must provide your biosketch and current & pending support document according to the NSF 24-1 requirements. You will be able to convert your biosketch in SciENcv with just a few clicks; the new format rolled out on May 17, 2024. Your current & pending documents in SciENcv automatically converted into the new format on May 20, 2024.

For more information, please review the webpages and video:

NIH Announced Increases for National Research Service Award Stipends and Childcare Subsidies

NIH announced stipend and childcare subsidy increases for early career scholars supported on NIH Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSAs). Stipends will be raised by 4% for predoctoral trainees and by 8% for postdoctoral scholars in fiscal year (FY) 2024 (compared to last year), the most substantial year over year increase since FY 2017. Additionally, the childcare subsidy will be increased by an additional $500 (from $2,500 to $3,000) in FY24.

New NSF Grants.gov Application Guide

NSF has published a revised version of the NSF Grants.gov Application Guide (NSF 24-006). Overall, the Guide has been updated to align with the revisions to NSF’s Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 24-1). A by-chapter summary of changes is provided at the beginning of the document.

The Guide is in effect for applications submitted (via Grants.gov) or due on or after May 20, 2024.

Simplified Review Framework for NIH Research Project Grant Applications Webinar

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is simplifying the framework for the peer review of most Research Project Grant (RPG) applications, effective for due dates on or after January 25, 2025. These changes are designed to address the complexity of the peer review process and mitigate potential bias. A webinar was held on April 17, 2024, to address the latest updates, timelines, and how these changes will impact existing and new funding opportunities. A Q&A with NIH experts following the presentation was also included to address additional questions.

The recording is available here: grants.nih.gov/learning-center/srf-updates-to-funding-opportunities

Additional resources/information about the upcoming changes are listed below:

NIH Invites Researchers to Participate in Pilot of Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Plan Templates

NIH, in collaboration with the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP), is conducting a pilot test of DMS plan templates. They are also soliciting feedback which NIH will use to inform possible revisions to the current NIH DMS Plan format page. The goal is to encourage greater consistency in DMS Plan requirements across NIH Institutes and Centers and mitigate the administrative burden associated with DMS Plan development and implementation for researchers. NIH encourages researchers to use the two FDP templates when preparing DMS plans, and to submit the accompanying FDP survey. The goal is to gain an understanding of what works best for researchers and to streamline the user experience once the first phase of the pilot is complete.

Reporting Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Plan Activities in the Research Performance Progress Report

NIH will be updating the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) instructions to address the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy.

Webinar Recording Available: Congruence Review (for Studies Involving Vertebrate Animals)

Congruence review is the process that ensures that the information in IACUC protocols is consistent with the application to be awarded. It is required prior to award. Did you miss this informative webinar hosted by the NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) earlier this year? The resources are now available!

Information that Must be Disclosed in the NSF Current and Pending (Other) Support Document

In recent years, all federal agencies have increased their requirements for what must be disclosed when reporting current and pending support. Here is a list of items that must be included for NSF:

  1. All projects currently under consideration (including the current proposal) from whatever source, and all ongoing projects, irrespective of whether support is provided through the proposing organization, another organization, or directly to the individual, and regardless of whether or not they have monetary value (e.g., even if the support received are in-kind contributions such as office/laboratory space, equipment, supplies, or employees).
  2. In-kind contributions not intended for use on the project/proposal being proposed and have an associated time commitment.
  3. Current or pending participation in, or applications to, programs sponsored by foreign governments, instrumentalities, or entities, including foreign government-sponsored talent recruitment programs.
  4. Postdoctoral scholars, students, or visiting scholars who are supported by an external entity, whose research activities are not intended for use on the project/proposal being proposed and have an associated time commitment.
  5. Consulting that falls outside of an individual’s appointment/agreement.
  6. Travel supported/paid by an external entity to perform research activities with an associated time commitment.
  7. Startup company based on non-organization-licensed IP.
  8. Startup packages from other than the proposing organization.

For more information, NSF offers a disclosures table and FAQ on Current & Pending Support.

Hanover Research

Hanover Grants Calendar: Early Career, STEM Research, and Minority-Serving Institutions

As part of efforts to monitor the funding landscape and facilitate strategic planning, Hanover produces bimonthly Grants Calendars centered on certain funding interests. These calendars review upcoming grant opportunities focused on Early Career Research, STEM Research and Minority-Serving Institutions, covering a range of grantmakers. Short-term targets with set deadlines are included alongside longer-term opportunities projected to occur across the next year and beyond.

Hanover Watch On-Demand

Hannover has these additional resources:

University of Houston

Announcements

PeopleSoft Functions: Subaward Invoice

As part of the ongoing efforts to enhance operations, the Office of Contracts and Grants has expanded PeopleSoft functions to include the payment of subaward invoices.

Beginning July 1, the subaward invoice process is as follows:

  • OCG will receive invoices at subaward@central.uh.edu.
  • Invoices received will be assigned a Subaward Invoice function by OCG.
  • PIs will receive an email notification informing them of an invoice requiring their review and approval.
  • PIs will review and approve in their My Inbox within PeopleSoft Grants.
  • Once PI approval is complete, OCG will be notified and will initiate the voucher for payment.

These updates were covered in the recent Research Administration Forum. Watch this segment on SharePoint

Watch on SharePoint: June Research Administration Forum

The June Research Administration Forum – Grants vs. Gifts, Subaward Invoicing Functions, Research Congruency, Updates on eRAFs and Cost Transfers, and the NSF Mentoring Plan.

New NSF Requirements on Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs

Effective May 20, 2024, the National Science Foundation requires all individuals designated as senior/key personnel to provide additional information and disclosures within proposal applications. Senior/key personnel will now need to certify that they are not a party to a malign foreign talent recruitment program.

A new Interim SAM (SAM 01.G.04) on Participation in Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs was approved on May 7, 2024. Read More

Watch: Getting Started with ORCID

Andrea Malone of UH Libraries walks you through the process of setting up your ORCID iD and adding works to your profile. Watch on SharePoint.

UH Libraries Can Help You with Research Data Management

UH Libraries offers a range of support for Research Data Management, archiving, and sharing:

  1. Guidance on data management planning for grant proposals or any research project.
  2. Assistance for sustained compliance with funder and university policies.
  3. Workshops and consultations for graduate students on collaborative work practices and strategies for handling data throughout research.
  4. 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 Data Management Resources.

Gulf Coast Consortium News

GCC Job Board

Looking for a postdoc or research position at a GCC member institution? The GCC Job Board currently lists several positions. The Job Board is where graduating Ph.D. students and postdocs from GCC institutions can post their resumes and search for jobs at GCC institutions.

To place a resume on the Job Board, register as a Job Seeker and enter the requested information. To place a job opening, register as a GCC Recruiter and enter the requested information. Anyone not from a GCC institution can register through Public Access and view job openings and resumes but cannot place anything on the Job Board.

Highlighted Core Technology of the Month: Protein Array

Houston Omics Collaborative, a Proteomics/Genomics service facility, University of Houston
Antibody-Based Proteomics Core, Baylor College of Medicine, specializing in Reverse Phase Protein Array (RPPA), Luminex technology and Alla Automated Immunoassays.

Looking for a Particular Piece of Equipment?

Did you know that the GCC has a Shared Equipment and Resource Committee composed of the Directors/Leaders in equipment inventory and acquisition from each of the GCC institutions? If you are looking for a particular piece of equipment, please email Suzanne Tomlinson (smtomlin@rice.edu), and the committee members will work together to try to locate it and introduce you to the PI who owns/administers it. View GCC Shared Core Facilities

Upcoming Events

GCC Innovative Drug Discovery and Development Fellows - Application Deadline: Aug 1

GCC invites all postdocs to apply to be considered for a limited number of 2024 IDDD Fellow positions. IDDD Fellows will be able to attend the Foundations of Cancer Therapeutics Commercialization and Careers course in person as well as participate in other exclusive networking and educational components of the IDDD program and will receive a certificate at the end of the one-year program (Aug 12, 2024-Aug 11, 2025). If you would like to be considered for an IDDD Fellow position, please send your CV along with a brief statement of your research interests and why you think the program would be beneficial to your career goals to Suzanne Tomlinson (st48@rice.edu). Please also copy your mentor with a statement confirming that they have approved your in-person attendance of the course and participation in the program. Application deadline is August 1, and those awarded Fellow positions will be notified by August 5. Note that there are a limited number of slots available.

Save the Date: Research Mentor Training Workshop for Faculty - via Zoom, Sept 17 & 24 (both dates = 1 workshop)

This Zoom workshop helps develop skills and insights in mentoring and provides interactions and discussions between mentors at different institutions and in different disciplines. Workshops will be conducted over two 3-hour sessions via Zoom and cover various aspects of mentoring young scientists in the lab. Participants benefit from case study and group discussions. Facilitators include Robert Tillman, Director of Faculty Development and Mentoring and Professional Development, BCM; Jane Grande-Allen, Associate Dean for Faculty Development, Rice. You must be able to attend both sessions.

Date/Time: Tue, Sept 17, and Tue, Sept 24, 12:00–3:00 pm (same time both days)
Registration opening soon.

Save the Date: 34th Keck Annual Research Conference and Poster Session, Machine Learning and Computational Biology in Structure, Oct 25

Machine learning and computational methods are rapidly advancing in many areas of biomedical research. In this conference, leaders in the field will highlight how these state-of-the-art developments have changed structural biology. The conference and poster session will also highlight the outstanding research underway by predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees in the seven inter-institutional training programs administered by the GCC/Keck Center in the greater Houston area. Confirmed speakers: Alisia Fadini, Univ. of Cambridge; Lydia Kavraki, Rice Univ.; Andrej Sali, Univ. of California, San Francisco; and Jeremy Smith, Univ. of Tennessee-Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 2024 Keck Conference co-chairs are Matthew Baker, Ph.D., UTHealth, and Monte Pettitt, Ph.D., UTMB.

Date: Fri, Oct 25
Location: Bioscience Research Collaborative
Conference website

Save the Date: Research Mentor Training Workshop for Faculty - In-person, Dec 6

This in-person, 6-hour, evidence-based workshop helps develop skills and insights in mentoring and provides interactions and discussions between mentors at different institutions and in different disciplines. Workshops cover various aspects of mentoring young scientists in the lab. Participants benefit from case study and group discussions. Facilitators include Sandra Haudek, Assoc Professor, BCM, Tracy Toliver-Kinsky, Assoc Dean for Recruitment - GSBS, UTMB; Vicki Alger, Training Administrator/Evaluator, GCC.

Date/Time: Fri, Dec 6, 9:30-3:30 pm.
Location: Bioscience Research Collaborative
Registration opening in the Fall.