Issue: ORN-2026-41
NJIT Research Newsletter includes recent awards, and announcements of research related seminars, webinars, national and federal research news related to research funding, and Grant Opportunity Alerts (with links to sections). The Newsletter is posted on the NJIT Research Website https://research.njit.edu/funding-opportunities.
Special Announcements
Open Access Week 2026: The Cost of Knowledge, October 19-23
This year's program looks at the cost of knowledge across the research lifecycle - from APCs and Open Access publishing to research visibility, access to scholarship, and tools that support researcher productivity.
The Tuesday panel may be of particular interest to the research community: it will examine who pays to publish research and who gets to read it, including NJIT's Read & Publish agreements, faculty experiences with Open Access, Pre-Award and editorial perspectives, and the institutional cost of supporting OA. The full week includes:
MONDAY, OCTOBER 19
Vendor Fair
10:00 AM-2:30 PM | Van Houten Library Lobby | Visit here
Meet the publishers. Ask the questions. Grab the swag. Meet representatives from ACS, Elsevier, IEEE, JoVE, MDPI, Springer Nature, and Wiley. Ask about journals, APCs, Open Access, predatory publishing, AI in scholarly publishing, and publishing opportunities for NJIT authors. Publisher merch and giveaways will also be available. Drop in anytime; no registration required.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20
The Cost of Knowledge: Who Pays to Publish Research and Who Gets to Read It?
1:30-2:30 PM | Zoom| Register here
APCs can cost thousands of dollars per article - but who ultimately pays? Dr. Annie Chatterjee will introduce NJIT's Read & Publish agreements and their impact on Open Access publishing. Michel Boufadel, Ph.D., Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain, Ph.D., Cristo Leon, Ph.D., and University Librarian Ann D. Hoang will bring faculty-author, editorial/research-support, and institutional perspectives. Audience Q&A will follow.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21
Textbook Affordability in Support of Student Success: OAT & OER
2:30-3:30 PM | CAB 2032 + Zoom | Register here
How can we reduce the cost of course materials while supporting student success? Explore how Open and Affordable Textbooks (OAT) and Open Educational Resources (OER) can lower costs, expand access to course materials, and support teaching and learning.
Open Access Jeopardy
3:00-4:00 PM | RIL Area | Visit here
Think you know Open Access? Put your knowledge to the test! Join an interactive round of Open Access Jeopardy covering publishing, copyright, APCs, Open Access, and scholarly communication.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22
The Cost of Knowledge: The Invisibility Price of Research
2:00-3:00 PM | Drop-in / Hybrid | Register here
What is the cost of great research if no one can find it? Explore the hidden invisibility price of research and practical strategies for strengthening researcher identity, discoverability, visibility, and scholarly impact.
Paywall: The Business of Scholarship
2:30-5:00 PM | Profeta Room | Visit here
Who controls access to scholarly knowledge - and at what cost? Join a screening of Paywall: The Business of Scholarship followed by discussion of academic publishing, paywalls, APCs, Open Access, and access to research.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23
Zotero: Productivity Cost-Saving Tool for Researchers
11:30 AM-12:30 PM | Zoom | Register here
Research smarter with a powerful tool that costs nothing. Learn how Zotero, a free and open-source research tool, can help organize sources, manage citations, create bibliographies, and streamline the research workflow.
ALL WEEK
OA Success Stories Display
Van Houten Library + Online
See Open Access in action at NJIT. Discover how NJIT researchers are using Open Access publishing opportunities to broaden access to their work, reduce individual APC costs, and increase research visibility and impact.
OAT Success Stories Display
Van Houten Library + Online
See textbook affordability in action. Learn how Open and Affordable Textbooks are helping reduce course-material costs and support student access and success at NJIT.
Full schedule and registration: Visit here
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New Jersey Health Foundation Grants Program
New Jersey Health Foundation has awarded over $80 million through this program since its inception. Faculty and personnel from NJIT are eligible to apply for a grant beginning September 14, 2026. For this cycle, applications will be accepted from September 14, 2026 through November 16, 2026. The anticipated grant start date is March 1, 2027. More detailed information, including the Policies & Procedures and FAQ’s for each program can also be found on our website.
Here is a snapshot of the procedure:
After adhering to all your applicable school protocols for submitting a grant request, an applicant submits his/her proposal through the application portal. The link to the portal will be available on the New Jersey Health Foundation website.
Following the submission deadline, applications are reviewed by the New Jersey Health Foundation review committee, composed of members of the New Jersey Health Foundation Board of Directors plus members of the medical, pharmaceutical, and business communities.
After the review process, all applicants will be notified by e-mail as to the status of their applications and next steps. New Jersey Health Foundation does not release final scores or comments.
Final narrative and financial reports for awarded grants will be due by April 28, 2028.
Please contact at e-mail researchgrant@njhf.org with any questions.
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RTI International is seeking innovative solutions to address two critical needs in military traumatic brain injury (TBI) care: Traumatic Brain Injury Hemorrhage Detection Device (TBI-HDD) and Mild Traumatic Brain (mTBI) Injury Assessment Software Application. Organizations with relevant technologies and capabilities are encouraged to review the Requests for Solutions (RFS) for detailed technical requirements and submission instructions.
Traumatic Brain Injury Hemorrhage Detection Device (TBI-HDD)
RTI is seeking a non-invasive device capable of objectively detecting brain hemorrhage in forward-deployed military environments to support the assessment of moderate and severe TBIs, including at Roles of Care 1 and 2.
Key dates:
Offeror questions due: October 21, 2026, by 5 p.m. EDT
Virtual proposers conference: October 22, 2026, at 10 a.m. EDT
RTI responses to questions: October 27, 2026, by 5 p.m. EDT
Proposal deadline: November 10, 2026, by 5 p.m. EST
Questions: HDDRFS@rti.org
Link to Request for Solutions: https://mtec-sc.org/news/rti-rfs-tbi-hdd
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) Assessment Software Application
RTI is seeking a digital mTBI assessment application that provides objective, clinically meaningful indicators of neurocognitive and motor deficits. The solution should support forward triage, recovery monitoring, and return-to-activity decisions while operating in austere environments and integrating with existing Department of War information technology ecosystems.
Key dates:
Offeror questions due: October 21, 2026, by 5 p.m. EDT
Virtual proposers conference: October 22, 2026, at 4 p.m. EDT
RTI responses to questions: October 27, 2026, by 5 p.m. EDT
Proposal deadline: November 10, 2026, by 5 p.m. EST
Questions: mTBIRFS@rti.org
Link to Request for Solutions: https://mtec-sc.org/news/rti-rfs-mtbi
Grant Opportunity Alerts
NSF: NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP); Expeditions in Computing (Expeditions); Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI): Wave-Based Computing (WBC) (EFRI-WBC); MPS Physics Research Programs (MPS Physics); MPS Astronomical Sciences Research Programs (MPS Astro)
NIH ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY FOR HEALTH (ARPA-H): Simulation-augmented, Real-time Platform Adaptive Seamless Trials (SURPASS); Emerging Health Innovators
Department of War/US Army/DARPA/ONR: Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Department of War Multidisciplinary Research Program of the University Research Initiative (MURI)
NIH: Collaborative Program Grant for Interdisciplinary Teams (RM1); NIH Research Program Projects (Parent P01)
Department of Energy: Genesis Mission Graduate Fellowship Pilot
Department of Transportation: Forecast: FY26 US DOT Drone Infrastructure Inspection Grants (DIIG) Program
NASA: Space Technology Research Institutes
Recent Research Grant and Contract Awards
In the News
Utah AI sandbox launches new health care pilots — with question marks: Utah announced three new pilots last week to test artificial intelligence capabilities that can refill chronic condition-related prescriptions, write initial acne prescriptions and offer virtual physical therapy, but a regulator acknowledged the state still has key questions to address as the model scales nationwide. Utah regulators have “evidentiary standards, [and we are] working on governance guidance. We're working on a liability bill to begin building the statutory framework around” its AI sandbox, Zach Boyd, director of Utah’s Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy — or OAIP — said at the ADAPT conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Thursday. Through the AI sandbox, Utah has allowed companies to test new technologies in exchange for regulatory relief and state oversight. Utah started AI pilots in 2024 with a mental health support app, but the sandbox did not garner national attention until this year, as the state allowed AI to refill certain prescriptions with clinician oversight through a pilot with health technology company Doctronic. The Utah Medical Licensing Board fiercely opposed that effort, calling for an immediate suspension of it in an April letter to the Utah Department of Commerce and criticizing the state for not consulting them. More information is posted on the NextGov website.
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Tech bills of the week: Cutting federal funding for Flock; Making data centers shoulder their power costs; and more: Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va., introduced a measure on Wednesday that seeks to keep communities from having to foot the bill for data centers’ power expenses by requiring large and medium-sized data centers “to pay the full incremental costs associated with their electricity use.” The bill would apply to data centers and high-density computing facilities that have electricity demands of at least 20 megawatts. “As data centers and artificial intelligence drive growing demand for electricity, we need to make sure the companies benefiting from that growth pay their fair share,” Vindman said in a statement.
Removing tax breaks for data centers: Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, also introduced legislation on Thursday that would prohibit data centers from receiving federal and state incentives for their development or operations. Details of Moreno’s measure, known as the Recapturing Excessive Corporate Largesse through Accountability and Incentive Measures — or RECLAIM — Act, were first reported by Politico. The outlet said the senator’s bill includes a provision stating that “States and political subdivisions thereof should promptly repeal or reform any tax incentive programs that are specific to data centers.” More information is posted on the NextGov website.
Webinars and Events
Research Grant Opportunities:
National Science Foundation
ARPA-H
Department of War
National Institutes of Health
Department of Energy
NASA
Proposal Submission and Streamlyne Information
The NJIT Proposal Submission Guidelines and Policy provides the expected institutional timeline for proposal submission. Streamlyne User Manuals are posted on https://research.njit.edu/streamlyne. For contact information on proposal submission, pre-award services and post-award grant management, please visit research website https://research.njit.edu/researchers and https://research.njit.edu/contact.