Research NewsletterIssue: ORN-2020-16

Open Forum on Research and Graduate Studies WebEx

Event Date: Friday, May 1, 2020
Time: 11.30 AM - 1.00 PM

Brief Description: In response to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic crisis, NJIT activated a Research Continuity Plan halting non-essential research operations for the safety of faculty, staff, students, and our community in compliance with the emergency regulations and stay-at-home order by the State of New Jersey.

The open forum will provide an update on the current status of the NJIT research enterprise with a potential research restoration plan as we expect to return to campus in the near future. The panel will answer questions related to the COVID-19 impact on research operations and productivity, grant management, the potential impact on Ph.D. dissertation and MS thesis research, online process for dissertation and thesis defense, and the path to student graduation.

Panel:

• Fadi Deek, Provost and Senior Executive VP
• Andrew Christ, Senior VP for Real Estate Development and Capital Operations
• Basil Baltzis, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Student Services
• Atam Dhawan, Senior Vice Provost for Research
• Sotirios Ziavras, Vice Provost for Graduate Studies & Dean of the Graduate Faculty
• Eric Hetherington, Executive Director, Sponsored Research Programs Administration
• Cristiana Kunyczka, Director, Office of Global Initiatives

NJIT community members wishing to submit questions should do so in advance by sending them via email to ResearchOpenForum2020@njit.edu. Below is information regarding how to participate in the virtual open forum via Webex.

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NSF New Proposal Submission Guidelines with Biographical Sketches and Current and Pending Support

NSF recently recorded a webinar about the requirement to use an NSF-approved format for both the biographical sketch and current & pending support documents as part of proposals submitted to NSF. The policy, outlined in the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 20-1), goes into effect for proposals submitted or due, on or after June 1, 2020. The two NSF-approved formats are SciENcv: Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae, and an NSF Fillable PDF.

Webinar topics include:

• the policy guidance for preparation of the biographical sketch and current and pending support sections of the proposal;
• a walk-through of the user experience in accessing these formats in NSF systems;
• detailed guidance from NIH on using SciENcv for preparing both documents; and
• answers to a number of frequently asked questions.

For additional information, see the NSF pages for the biographical sketch and current and pending support. We would like your feedback on these formats prior to the June 1st requirement. Please provide your comments and questions to policy@nsf.gov. For additional information on the changes in NSF proposal submission guidelines, please see the website.

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Research Continuity Plan Update Guidance on Financial Management of Grants and Contracts

The Office of Management and Budget issued a memorandum on 19 March 2020 (OMB 20-17) providing guidance on issues related to grant management during the COVID-19 disruption. This memorandum provides short term relief for administrative, financial management, and audit requirements under 2 CFR Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, for the management of grants and contracts from all federal and non-federal sources under the COVID-19 public health emergency without compromising federal financial assistance accountability requirements.

Funding agencies such as NSF and NIH are following the OMB guidance with respect to grant management during this disruption to university business and research. The OMB Memorandum M-20- 17 with the important information on the financial management of the research grants and contracts is posted on the research website. Links to current notifications from federal agencies are provided below. Principal investigators should check with the websites of their specific funding agencies for more information.

COVID-19 Information for NSF applicants and award recipients FAQ is regularly updated on the website. COVID-19 Information for NIH applicants and recipients of NIH funding is regularly updated on the website. A multiple Funding Agencies Research Impact Guidance Matrix by the Council of Government Relationships is posted on the website.

Keywords and Areas Included in the Grant Opportunity Alert Section Below

NSF: Program: Coastlines and People (CoPe); NSF Program on Fairness in Artificial Intelligence in Collaboration with Amazon (FAI); NSF Convergence Accelerator Phase I and II; Cybersecurity Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence; Opportunities for Promoting Understanding through Synthesis (OPUS); Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS); Civic Innovation Challenge; Disrupting Operations of Illicit Supply Networks (D-ISN); PFE: Hydrologic Sciences (HS); Research Initiation in Engineering Formation (PFE: RIEF)

NIH: Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Networks for Clinical and Translational Research (IDeA-CTR) (U54); National Centers for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NCBIB) (P41); Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Short-Term Institutional Research Training Grant (Parent T35); BRAIN Initiative: Exploratory Team-Research BRAIN Circuit Programs - eTeamBCP (U01) NIH Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) (R25); Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) regarding the Availability of Urgent Competitive Revisions for Research on the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV); Partnerships for Countermeasures against Select Pathogens (R01)

Department of Defense/US Army/DARPA/ONR: DoD Multiple Sclerosis, Investigator- Initiated Research Award; Biological Technologies; Invisible Headlights (IH); PRMRP Investigator-Initiated 4 Research Award for Emerging Viral Diseases and Respiratory Health; UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY Broad Agency Announcement; Department of Defense (DoD) – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Educational Outreach Programs; Newton Award for Transformative Ideas during the COVID-19 Pandemic; Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program Idea Award; DoD Spinal Cord Injury, Investigator- Initiated Research Award; Air Force Fiscal Year 2021 Young Investigator Research Program (YIP); 2020 Broad Agency Announcement; Microsystems Technology Office (MTO); FY 2021 Multidisciplinary Research Program of the University Research Initiative (MURI); Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP); Quantum Information Sciences; NRL Long Range BAA for Basic and Applied Research

Department of Transportation: UTC PROGRAM TIER 1 COMPETITION 2020; FY 2020 National Infrastructure Investments

Department of Agriculture: Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grants; Biotechnology Risk Assessment Grants Program; REAP-Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements

Department of Labor: Youth Apprenticeship Readiness Grant Program

EPA: Source Reduction Assistance Grant Program; National Environmental Education and Training Program

Department of Energy: Quantum Information Science Research for Fusion Energy Sciences; Scientific Machine Learning for Modeling and Simulations; Artificial Intelligence and Decision Support for Complex Systems; Novel Research and Development for the Direct Capture of Carbon Dioxide from the Atmosphere

NASA: ROSES 2020: Advanced Component Technology; Living With a Star Science; ROSES 2020: Space Weather Science Application Operations-to-Research; Heliophysics Supporting Research; HELIOPHYSICS - Early Career Investigator Program; Astrophysics Research and Analysis

National Endowment of Humanities: Research and Development; Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities; Fellowships

Brain Health Foundation: 2021 Scientific Innovations Award

Facebook: Facebook Research

(National and Federal News Related to Research Funding and Grant Opportunities)

Supplements for Undergrad Research

The National Science Foundation's Computer and Information Science and Engineering directorate is making two exceptions to its prior guidance (NSF 20-016) on Research Experiences for Undergraduates supplemental funding for grantees: "(i) CISE will accept REU supplemental funding requests to active CISE awards through July 1, 2020; and (ii) CISE will also consider requests for an additional number of students per active project beyond the limitations specified in NSF 20-016, at a funding level of $8,000 per REU student. For example, for single-investigator projects, CISE will consider requests in excess of two students per project for this summer. Proposers who received REU supplements earlier this year are also eligible to apply for additional supplements if they are able to identify opportunities to mentor additional REU students. CISE will prioritize REU supplemental funding requests most responsive to the mitigation of adverse undergraduate employment and education circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic."

$484 Billion CAREA Act Relief Measure

Stimulus 3.5 will replenish small business loan funds authorized in the $1.8 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that were swiftly depleted. But at Democrats' insistence, it also contains $75 billion for financially drained medical centers and $25 billion for testing. The CARES Act is posted on the website.

Universities Seek Additional $46.6 Billion Funding Congress

The American Council on Education and 40 other groups urge that this sum be included in the next congressional spending package. It would be "equally divided between students and institutions" and allocated and distributed according to the same formula used in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, ACE says. Schools expect student need for financial aid to skyrocket, requiring an additional $12 billion. They also project that "enrollment for the next academic year will drop by15 percent, including a projected decline of 25 percent for international students, resulting in a revenue loss for institutions of $23 billion." The Association of Public and Land Grant Universities says in a letter: "Many institutions are providing significant refunds of expenses such as on-campus housing and meal plans. At the same time, institutions are incurring additional costs to move instruction online."

The new requested sum would be in addition to the $14 billion that higher education received in the CARES Act. The letter to lawmakers requests:

• $47 billion in emergency funding for students and institutions through the funds disbursement mechanism set up in the CARES Act;
• Extending institutions’ access to low- or zero-interest loans, existing tax credits to offset paid leave and for employee retention, and other tax measures to support institutions and students;
• $26 billion for supplemental funding for federal research agencies to sustain the research workforce until campus operations return to full speed. This includes support for graduate students, postdocs, early career researchers, principal investigators, and technical support research staff;
• Temporary regulatory flexibility across federal agencies to allow institutions to focus precious resources on their response to the spread of COVID-19. Similarly, APLU requests agencies suspend regulatory proposals that would impose substantial new burdens on colleges and universities at this time.
• $80 million for the Cooperative Extension System to strengthen its capacity to support communities during the crisis.

More information and letter is posted on the APLU website.

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NSF RAPID Funding on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

In light of the emergence and spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States and abroad, the National Science Foundation (NSF) is accepting proposals to conduct non-medical, non-clinical-care research that can be used immediately to explore how to model and understand the spread of COVID-19, to inform and educate about the science of virus transmission and prevention, and to encourage the development of processes and actions to address this global challenge.

NSF encourages the research community to respond to this challenge through existing funding opportunities. In addition, we invite researchers to use the Rapid Response Research (RAPID) funding mechanism, which allows NSF to receive and review proposals having a severe urgency with regard to the availability of or access to data, facilities or specialized equipment as well as quick-response research on natural or anthropogenic disasters and similar unanticipated events.

Requests for RAPID proposals may be for up to $200K and up to one year in duration. Well-justified proposals that exceed these limits may be entertained. All questions should be directed either to a program officer managing an NSF program with which the research would be aligned or to rapidcovid19@nsf.gov.

See the Dear Colleague Letter NSF 20-052: Dear Colleague Letter on the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Can I change project start and end dates after I have submitted for approval?