01/22/10

Online Writing Tutoring

From the desk of Jacob Blumner, Director of the Marian E. Wright Writing Center:

This message is for faculty teaching fully-online courses.

Colleagues,

The Marian E. Wright Writing Center is now offering online tutoring for students in fully online courses. We are trying to meet the needs of our students and we are proud to roll out this new service. Students will need to submit papers in Microsoft Word format and will receive feedback using the Comment and Track Changes features of Word. Students are also encouraged to attach an assignment sheet if you have one.

The form students fill out is available on our website, www.umflint.edu/writingcenter. Here is the direct link to the online tutoring form for paper submission: https://www.umflint.edu/formassembly/forms/view/562.

We try to respond to papers within 3 business days, and often it is quicker. Students can also request you be notified via email.

If you have any questions, please email me or call me at 762-0655.

01/12/10

Summer Research Internship at UM-Ann Arbor’s Survey Research Center

Applications are being accepted for the Survey Research Center’s (SRC) Summer Internship Program. The program is a 10 week, 20 – 40 hour per week paid position for undergraduate (completion of sophomore year or greater) and graduate students with an interest in social science research.  Interns typically will be assigned to an ongoing research study, attend appropriate seminars/courses on principles of survey research, and participate in a research symposium focusing on one of the research methodologies learned and/or the project in which they worked. The overall intent is to provide all interns with exposure to many facets of the survey process. Interns will be encouraged to apply for full-time positions upon completion of their internship or degree program.

The deadline to apply for this program is Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010.

If you would like an application, contact Andre Louis at [email protected] or stop by the Office of Research in 530 French Hall.

For additional information about the program, please contact George Myers at (734) 615-4883 or via email at [email protected]. Also, visit the website for more details: http://sites.isr.umich.edu/DNN/Default.aspx?alias=sites.isr.umich.edu/dnn/sip

01/12/10

Undergraduates Sought for Nanoscale Device Research

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is seeking applications for the 2010 Nanotechnology Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program. Applications are due by February 28, 2010. Selected students will spend 10 weeks, from June 1 to August 1, 2010, engaged in cutting-edge nanoscale device development research projects with faculty mentors and graduate student lab mates.

Funding from the National Science Foundation provides each student with a $3,400 stipend, lodging, travel to campus, and a number of activities and events outside the lab. Women and persons from underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

For more information, contact the SURE program director at [email protected].

01/12/10

New NIH AREA Program Announcement Released

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has published new guidelines for the Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) program. AREA awards support small-scale health-related research projects proposed by faculty members otherwise unlikely to participate extensively in NIH programs. The AREA program is a research grant program, not a training grant or fellowship program. However, the active involvement of undergraduate (preferred) and graduate students in the proposed research is highly encouraged, and reviewers will consider whether a project will expose students to meritorious research. Applications are due by February 25, June 25, and October 25 annually.

The new guidelines include several changes:

  • The maximum award has increased to $300,000 in total direct costs over three years.
  • The eligibility threshold has increased to campuses that have received no more than $6 million per year (in both direct and F&A/indirect costs) in each of four or more of the last seven years.
  • The Research Strategy section may not exceed 12 pages, including tables, graphs, figures, diagrams, and charts.
  • Applicants requesting more than $250,000 in annual direct costs must complete and submit budget requests using the Research & Related Budget component

Applicants are strongly advised to review the AREA program website and direct questions to one of the AREA program representatives listed. NIH applications undergo two steps of review: peer review and institute/center (IC) review. While peer reviewers evaluate an application, the IC funds it, so early program officer contact is an important factor in application development, especially where a new program announcement is concerned.

01/11/10

Director Search Update

From the desk of Chris Waters, Acting Associate Provost and Dean of Graduate Programs:

I am pleased to announce the Director of Research Search has been successfully completed. Very soon, on January 19th, Dr. Terry W. Van Allen will assume the duties of Director of Research at the University of Michigan-Flint. Dr. Van Allen comes to us with 11 years experience as Community Builder and Operations Specialist, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Previous to that he was Director of the Office of Research Administration, Contracts, Grants and Sponsored Programs at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Dr. Van Allen’s PhD is in Public Administration and Policy and he also holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree. He has held faculty positions at a number of institutions. I am sure he will be eager to begin the process of knowing us and helping us identify and capitalize on funding for our research and creative activities.

Many thanks to the Search Committee, headed by Dr. Marianne McGrath and supported by Mary Deibis. Other committee members included, Dr. Judith Ablesser, Dr. Quamrul Mazumder, Dr. Seyed Mehdian, Dr. Constance Creech and Joel Rash.

01/6/10

Funding awards

Congratulations go out to Peggy Kahn of Political Science and Tendaji Ganges of Educational Opportunities Iniative.

Tendaji Ganges; Director of Educational Opportunity Initiatives was awarded two grants from from the State of Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth. He received $145,000 for “Bridges to Success – Year 4” and $124,349 for “Transitions Program – Year 4.”

Peggy Kahn, Associate Professor of Political Science received a $750 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Flint for the following project: “The Status of Women and Girls in Genesee County.”

Congratulations to our recepients!

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.