Research NewsletterIssue: ORN-2022-47

Updated Grant Opportunity: NSF 23-519: Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program: Instrument Acquisition or Development)

https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2023/nsf23519/nsf23519.htm

Internal Competition Deadline to College Dean’s Office: December 5, 2022:  Due to changes in the RFP just posted, the deadline for internal competition is extended. Those who have already submitted their pre-proposal for internal competition, do not need to resubmit.

Internal Submission: Please submit up to 5 pages pre-proposal white paper to your respective Dean by December 5, 2022 in the following format. College level reviews will be conducted by Deans to forward recommendations for up to 2 proposals to the Office of Research and Development by December 9, 2022. The final selection will be announced by December 12, 2022.  The following format for the pre-proposal is suggested which is consistent with actual proposal guidelines and review criterion:

1. Cover Sheet (not counted in the page limit):

1. Title of the project proposal
2. Track Type: I or II
3. PI name and affiliation and contact information
4. Co-PIs name and affiliation
5. Additional users or any consortium information, if applicable
6. Date submitted to College Dean

2. Project Summary

Each proposal must contain a summary of the proposed project not more than one page in length. The Project Summary consists of an overview, a statement on the intellectual merit of the proposed activity, and a statement on the broader impacts of the proposed activity.

3. Proposal Description covering the subsections (a)-(e) as posted on the previous RFP on https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2023/nsf23519/nsf23519.htm   with the section:

        a1. Instrument Location and Type

        a2. ONLY REQUIRED FOR DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS: Justification for submission as a Development proposal

• Research Activities to be Enabled
• Description of the Research Instrumentation and Needs
• Broader Impacts (Including Impact on Research and Training Infrastructure)
• Management Plan

4. Preliminary Budget and Budget Justification; and Required Cost-Sharing

5. Brief biographical sketch of PI with a brief description of current and previous accomplishments.

For pre-proposal review, the NSF MRI proposal review criterion may be used to help faculty receive some feedback on their proposals that may be helpful for their final or future proposal submissions. The merit review criterion as posted on the RFP is:

• Intellectual Merit: The Intellectual Merit criterion encompasses the potential to advance knowledge; and
• Broader Impacts: The Broader Impacts criterion encompasses the potential to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific, desired societal outcomes

Instrument Acquisition Proposals.

• The extent to which the instrument is used for multi-user, shared-use research and/or research training.
• Whether the management plan demonstrates sufficient commitment and technical expertise for effective scheduling and usage of the instrument.
• The organization's commitment to ensuring successful operations and maintenance over the expected lifetime of the instrument.
• Whether the research to be enabled is compelling and justifies the instrument request.
• Whether the budget request is appropriate and well justified.
• if student involvement is in the form of direct support for operations and maintenance of the instrument, reviewers will be asked to evaluate the involvement in terms of both instrument needs and the training of the next generation of instrumentalists.
• For instrument acquisition proposals of $1 million or above, the potential impact of the instrument on the research community of interest at the regional or national level, if appropriate.

Instrument Development Proposals:

• The appropriateness of submission as a development proposal.
• The need for development of a new instrument. Will the proposed instrument enable enhanced performance over existing instruments, or new types of measurement or information gathering? Is there a strong need for the new instrument in the larger user community to advance new frontiers of research?
• The adequacy of the project’s management plan. Does the plan have a realistic schedule that is described in sufficient detail to be assessed? Are mechanisms described to mitigate and deal with potential risks?
• The availability of appropriate technical expertise to design and construct the instrument. If direct support for student involvement in development efforts is requested, reviewers will be asked to evaluate the involvement in terms of both project needs and training the next generation of instrumentalists.
• The appropriateness of the cost of the new technology.

For additional information, please see the brief description in the grant opportunity section below or https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2023/nsf23519/nsf23519.htm.

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Breakfast with Interim Provost Atam Dhawan

https://www.njit.edu/provost/breakfast-interim-provost

Informal breakfast sessions with small groups from the NJIT community is hosted by the Interim Provost each Tuesday from 8.30 AM to 10.00 AM at the University Club, Eberhardt Building. These breakfast meetings provide NJIT faculty, staff and students the opportunity to ask questions, give feedback, and engage with the Interim Provost on their experiences, concerns, expectations and needs. While it is open to all members of the community, seats are limited each week. If you are interested in participating in this informal discussion, please submit this form. The Office of the Provost will follow up with you to confirm the date of your breakfast session.

NSF: Strengthening the Cyberinfrastructure Professionals Ecosystem (SCIPE); Training-based Workforce Development for Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (CyberTraining); Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program: Instrument Acquisition or Development); Cybersecurity Innovation for Cyberinfrastructure (CICI); Research and Mentoring for Postbaccalaureates in Biological Sciences (RaMP)

NIH: Trailblazer Award for New and Early Stage Investigators (R21); Engineering Next-Generation Human Nervous System Microphysiological Systems (R21); Transformative Educational Advancement and Mentoring Network (TEAM) (R25); NCMRR Early Career Research Award (R03)

Department of Defense/US Army/DARPA/ONR: Young Faculty Award (YFA)

Department of Energy: Early Career Research Program; BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW: LONG-DURATION ENERGY STORAGE DEMONSTRATIONS FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT; Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL): Request for Information (RFI) Energy Efficiency Materials Pilot for Nonprofits

National Endowment of Humanities: Institutes for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities

Energy Sets Aside $550 Million for State and Local Clean Energy Efforts: The Energy Department on Wednesday announced $550 million in funding for state, local and tribal governments to support community-based clean energy projects, continuing an assortment of recent funding efforts geared toward energy modernization. The announcement was made through a notice of intent, with investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law available through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program. According to Energy, the program will fund 50 states, five U.S. territories, the District of Columbia, 774 tribes and 1,878 local governments “in a variety of capacity-building, planning and infrastructure efforts to reduce carbon emissions and energy use and improve energy efficiency in the transportation, building, and other related sectors.” This is the second time the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program has been funded, following the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Energy suggests the $550 million made available through the program can be used by communities to “build on prior investments,” and those communities must seek funding through applications. Applications for the program will be open in January 2023.  

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ICE Needs More Data to Monitor Foreign Students Taking US Research, Watchdog Says: Immigration and Customs Enforcement may need to update one of its databases to capture more data about the risk of foreign entities obtaining U.S. technology via international students, according to a Government Accountability Office report released on Tuesday.  According to GAO, the federal government spends billions of dollars annually to conduct research at American universities. But some of this research may be performed by foreign students and scholars, which could pose a risk of foreign influence and American technology and research being transferred to foreign entities. More information is posted on the NextGov website.

Question:       Can I generate budgets for multiple years from the Year-1 budget in Streamlyne?

Answer:          Yes! You only need to input the Year-1 budget and then click on the “generate all periods” button. Stremalyne will create budget sheets for the remaining periods. You can then go to “summary” under the budget tab to review budget sheets for all periods. You can also change specific budget items that you allocated in Year-1 but you do not want to continue them in the following periods.

More FAQs on Streamlyne: Please visit http://www.njit.edu/research/streamlyne/