Research Community

The Office of Naval Research sponsors the Summer Faculty Research Program for U.S. citizens who hold teaching or research appointments at U.S. colleges and universities. These programs provide an opportunity for science and engineering faculty members to participate in research of mutual interest to the faculty member and professional peers at U.S. Navy laboratories.

The Summer Faculty Research Program is a 10 week program, beginning in May 2010. Stipends range from $1400 to $1900 per week for the summer program. Each fellow will be reimbursed for his/her personal travel for an optional pre-program visit to the sponsoring laboratory. Relocation assistance is provided to qualifying fellows.

The program is residential and all work must be completed on site at the sponsoring U.S. Navy laboratory. Faculty members from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Minority Institutions, American Indian Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HBCU/MI/TCU/HIS), as designated by the U.S. Department of Education, are especially encouraged to apply.

The Application deadline for the 2010 Summer Faculty Research Program is December 4, 2009.

To apply online, go to http://www.asee.org/summer

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Technical Assistance Project (TAP) for state and local officials is offering a Web seminar on how state policies affect the development of markets for renewable energy technologies. Joyce McLaren, senior energy analyst at the DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory, will present state rankings for renewable energy installations based on factors such as population, gross state product and resource availability, and will use these data to make some conclusions of the effectiveness of some state policies.

The presentation will take place Wednesday, November 18, from 3:00pm to 4:15pm EST (1:00pm AZ time) and is free of charge, but you must register in advance to obtain a URL for the presentation and call in phone number. Find out more information and register by visiting http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/wip/tap_webinars.cfm

The U.S. Dept of Energy’s (DOE) Building Technologies Program is offering a webinar on Monday, November 23, 2009 from 1:00pm - 2:30pm EST (starting at 11:00am AZ time). This webinar will provide an overview of how Greensburg, KS–a town that was nearly destroyed by the largest tornado on record–found new life and purpose rebuilding as “America’s model green community.” Hear from city and government leaders how decisions were made to rebuild with the largest concentration of LEED certified buildings in the world, and where the town is headed today.

The webinar is free but you must register in advance to obtain a URL for the presentation and call in phone number. For more information and to register, visit http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/webinars.html

A “fixed price agreement” is a type of sponsored project where a university entity agrees to carry out some specified project for a given sum of money, and the sponsoring agency agrees to pay that sum whether or not the project actually expends that amount of money. As a public institution, we have a certain obligation to be reasonably careful in estimating costs for sponsoring agencies. Historically, the Comptroller’s Policy on fixed price agreements directed that any residual funds in excess of $1000 left after the completion of such a project should revert to the Vice Provost for Research. This policy has now been updated:
- the new cutoff is 5 % of the project total, or $5000, whichever is less - it is not reasonable to expect budget estimation more precise than that;
- the residual funds will revert to the Vice President for Research (rather than the previous Vice Provost);
- those residual funds will be used by the Office of the Vice President for Research to support faculty research activities.

Check the policy itself in the Comptroller’s Policy Manual:
CMP 402 02: Residual Funds

From the AIBS Public Policy Report - we have until November 10 to provide written comments on the strategic plan being developed by the US Department of Interior, and science has an important potential role to play:

“In other Department of the Interior (DOI) science news, DOI has announced an intent to elevate science to a “mission area” as it revises its proposed strategic plan framework for 2010-2015. The draft outline of the plan, released on 11 September 2009, names five major mission areas: protecting natural resources; sustainably using energy, water, and natural resources; empowering communities; creating opportunities for youth; and building a 21st century DOI. Although science was included in many of the mission areas in this first draft of the strategic plan, it was not a clear and independent priority area. The comment period for the proposed strategic plan framework is still open, and the deadline for written comments is 10 November 2009. For more information on the plan, see http://www.doi.gov/strategicplan/. “

The Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center (SWEHSC), an NIEHS funded Center at the University of Arizona, announces the availability of awards up to $40,000 for pilot projects involving research related to the mission of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Center. (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/od/strategicplan/index.cfm).

Faculty at all universities in the State of Arizona are eligible and encouraged to apply. Junior and clinical faculty, in particular, who have not previously performed research in environmental health science but who would be interested in broadening their research to include environmentally related research, are especially invited by the Center to apply. Applications must make use of technologies available in the SWEHSC Facility Cores. Projects that provide for interaction with existing SWEHSC investigators are encouraged.