Month: December 2009

12/15/09

Initiative from the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)

The Obama Administration is seeking public input on policies concerning access to publicly funded research results, such as those that appear in academic and scholarly journal articles. Currently, the National Institutes of Health require that research funded by its grants be made available to the public online at no charge within 12 months of publication. The Administration is seeking views as to whether this policy should be extended to other science agencies and, if so, how it should be implemented.
 
The Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President and the White House Open Government Initiative is launching a “Public Access Policy Forum” to invite public participation in thinking through what the Federal government’s policy should be with regard to public access to published federally funded research results. To that end, OSTP will conduct an interactive, online discussion beginning Thursday, December 10. The discussion will focus on three major areas of interest:
 
• Implementation (Dec. 10 to 20): Which Federal agencies are good candidates to adopt Public Access policies? What variables (field of science, proportion of research funded by public or private entities, etc.) should affect how public access is implemented at various agencies, including the maximum length of time between publication and public release?

• Features and Technology (Dec. 21 to Dec 31): In what format should the data be submitted in order to make it easy to search and retrieve information, and to make it easy  for others to link to it? Are there existing digital standards for archiving and interoperability to maximize public benefit? How are these anticipated to change?

• Management (Jan. 1 to Jan. 7): What are the best mechanisms to ensure compliance? What would be the best metrics of success? What are the best examples of usability in the private sector (both domestic and international)? Should those who access papers be given the opportunity to comment or provide feedback?
 
Each of these topics will form the basis of a blog posting that will appear at www.whitehouse.gov/open and will be open for comment on the OSTP blog at http://blog.ostp.gov.

12/15/09

2010 Research Partnership Program

From Stephen R. Forest, Vice President for Research and Janet Weiss, Dean and Vice Provost of  the Rackham School of Graduate Studies:

We are pleased to announce the 2010 Research Partnership Program, which includes the following funding opportunities available to faculty and graduate students:

This year we announce a significant expansion of the Spring/Summer Research Grants Program. We will award up to 100 grants to faculty members who plan to work with Ph.D. students on scholarly projects during the spring and summer terms. These grants provide a stipend of $6,000 to the doctoral student. The grants support faculty scholarship while also providing financial support opportunities for professional and intellectual development for participating students. Preference is given to faculty members who include a thoughtful plan for student mentoring in their applications. For the summer of 2010, the stipend for students will be $6,000. Additional information is available at http://www.rackham.umich.edu/rhd.php?id=39.

The Distinguished Faculty and Graduate Student Seminars Program will provide a maximum of 5 awards to groups of faculty, students or graduate programs proposing innovative seminars and colloquia to foster collaboration and stimulate new research. Guidelines and application forms are available at the OVPR website: http://www.drda.umich.edu/funding/um_sources/RPP_Seminars_Guide.html

Please review the materials and websites carefully to note the differing purposes of the two types of awards in order to guide your faculty and students to apply to the most appropriate program for their planned activity. Please make these application materials available to all instructional and research faculty and librarians.

Please note that the application deadline for the two awards is Monday, February 1, 2010.

Stephen R. Forrest
Vice President for Research

Janet A. Weiss
Dean and Vice Provost, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies

12/10/09

Michigan Journal Call for Abstracts

From the desk of Jeff Howard, editor of the Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning:

The Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning (MJCSL) is seeking articles for their upcoming publication.

The MJCSL is a national, peer-reviewed pubication with a circulation of about 1200 (with subscribers all over the world), and includes articles on research, theory, pedagogy, and other issues pertinent to curriculum-based service-learning in higher education, campus-community partnerships, and scholarship of engagement for a faculty and administrator audience.

Please consult submission guidelines for more information – www.umich.edu/~mjcsl/ – as well as review abstracts of past articles the MJCSL has published.

There are no length guidelines for abstracts. Please submit a description that adequately conveys the focus/plan for the article, along with your e-mail address. Invitations to submit an article will be made by e-mail no later than mid-January, with invited articles due the last Monday in March. The first step in the submission process is to send an abstract or precis by December 20th.

If you have any questions after reviewing the submission guidelines, please contact Jeff Howard, MJCSL editor at [email protected].

And please consider subscribing. The cost is only $22 for an individual and $28 for an institution. It would contribute to sustaining the Michigan Journal.

12/10/09

Research and Creative Activity Awards

 
The Research and Creative Activity Committee (RCAC) received 10 internal faculty funding proposals; totaling over $141,000.  In total, 5 awards were made and nearly $56,000 was distributed.  Below are the awardees for Fall 09 Research and Creativity funding:  
 
“Complexity and Resiliency-Identities of Children Adopted from China”: Wei Cao, Education, SEHS, Principal Investigator 
 
“Numerical Simulations for Vibrio Cholerae Colonization of the Human Small Intestine”: Daniel J. Coffield, Jr., Mathematics, CAS, Principal Investigator
 
“The Medicaid Payment’s Impact on Nursing Home Quality of Care:  A Multilevel Analysis Using 2004 National Nursing Home Survey Data”: Yu (Sunny) Kang, Health Sciences & Administrations, SHPS, Principal Investigator
 
“Building the Theoretical Model for Investigations and Reaction Mechanism of Matalloproteins”: Jie Song, Chemistry, CAS, Principal Investigator
 
“The Effectiveness of a Combined Unloaded Passive/Active Exercise Program and a Self-Management Education on Function and Self-Efficacy”: Edgar Torres, Physical Therapy, SHPS, Principal Investigator; Becky Rodda, Physical Therapy, Co-investigator; Jason Hamilton, Urban Health & Wellness Center, Co-Investigator

Congratulations to all of our recipients!

The tentative date for the Winter 10 RCAC Request for Proposals is February 1, 2010 with an application submission deadline of March 12, 2010.

12/1/09

White House Announces New STEM Initiative

The Obama administration has launched a new initiative, the Educate to Innovate campaign, which it says will support partnerships among colleges and universities, foundations, and businesses to “motivate and inspire young people across the country to excel in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.” Education secretary Arne Duncan and Office of Science and Technology Policy director John Holdren took to Facebook on November 23, 2009, to publicize the campaign, and the New York Times has published initial details on how this “first wave” of the sweeping STEM innovation partnerships pledged by Obama in April will be implemented.

12/1/09

Federal Outreach Materials Available

The University of Missouri hosted a national webinar on federal FY 10 research priorities and budgets on November 10, 2009. The PowerPoint presentations delivered by the U.S. Department of Education, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and Office of Naval Research have been posted and are available for download. Agency presenters gave details on FY 10 budget requests, updates on FY 09 expenditures (including American Recovery and Reinvestment Act awards), and award processes and recipient reporting.