Research NewsletterIssue: ORN-2023-38

Office of Research Re-Organization and Appointments

We are pleased to announce the new responsibilities and appointments of the following staff members to enhance research infrastructure and services to support growing NJIT Research Enterprise, faculty staff and students.
 

Eric Hetherington has been promoted to associate vice provost for sponsored research administration.  Dr. Hetherington will support and motivate five service-focused departments in the Office of Research (pre-award services, post-award management, research compliance and integrity, intellectual property, and research operations); build engagement with faculty and staff to implement continuous improvement of our research support operations; foster a culture of service; and cultivate relationships with other institutional stakeholders to advance the infrastructure needed for the strategic growth of the NJIT research portfolio.

Shawn Chester is appointed as the associate vice provost for research collaborations and partnerships.  Having served in this role on an interim basis last year, Dr. Chester will continue to focus on enhancing research collaboration and partnerships and bringing investigators together to conceptualize and develop large-scale, multidisciplinary research initiatives and translate them into compelling funding opportunities.  Dr. Chester will also advise and contribute to NJIT’s core research facilities and represent the NJIT research enterprise on various committees and with external university and industry partners.

Mariel Diaz has been promoted to serve as the executive director for research management and finance.  Ms. Diaz leads the operations for the financial administration and management of all sponsored research awards, including oversight of processes for post-award activities, award management, closeout, billing and collections, and compliance with Federal and other relevant regulations for sponsored research grants and contractual agreements.

Jesus Novoa has been promoted to serve as the senior director for pre-award services.  In this expanded role, Mr. Novoa will lead the operations and management of the pre-award services department, including oversight of all processes and staff for pre-award activities, manage Office of Research systems (e.g., Streamlyne and Pivot-RP), represent the office on systems-related committees, and be responsible for providing proposal and award reporting to leadership using a wide variety of data.  

Kim Dripchak has been promoted to associate director for research operations and manages all administrative functions for areas that fall under the domain of the senior vice provost for research.  Her responsibilities include fiscal and budgetary management, human resource administration, resource management, development and implementation of operational procedures, and project management.  She also participates in planning and is responsible for the coordination of events and activities related to institutional programs implemented by the research office (e.g. Excellence in Research, Undergraduate Research & Innovation, High School Summer Research Internships, and the National Academy of Inventors).

Please join me in congratulating Eric, Shawn, Mariel, Jesus and Kim. 

________________________________

Announcement: Call for Proposals

FY2024 Technology Innovation Translation and Acceleration (TITA) Seed Grants (Up to $75,000 per Project)

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yjP8F8vp7qDUXXZQ2eLYO9X9HGk0UrRN?usp=sharing

TITA External Advisory Board (EAB)

TITA Program Proposer Information Session: Please join us to learn more about internal funding opportunities 

Monday, October 2, 2023: 12.00.00 PM – 1.30 PM (light lunch will be served)

Please RSVP to attend the information by filling out this form by September 26, 2023.

TITA Seed Grant Program Objective

The NJIT Technology Innovation Translation and Acceleration (TITA) Seed Grant program will enable faculty and students to successfully accelerate the translation of their innovation to enterprise development and business incubation. The TITA grant program will foster entrepreneurial pathways from research and innovation to business and value creation with the acquisition of intellectual property, market validation, and engagement of stakeholders towards commercialization.

The TITA Seed Grants will increase awareness of the potential commercial benefits at earlier stages of the translation and market validation process and allow researchers and stakeholders to collaborate for entrepreneurial success. It will also help faculty to submit competitive translational research proposals to external grant funding opportunities.  

____________________

APLU – Association of Leading Research Universities

Conversation with Department of Defense, Office of Basic Research

https://aau.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIvc-2trz8vH9AHylBDXAvZB0tehGICVwyd#/registration

The Association of American Universities (AAU) will be hosting a second webinar covering the DOD’s new policies for evaluating fundamental research proposals for potential conflicts of interest and conflicts of commitment arising from foreign influence on October 5 from 3:30 – 5:00 pm EST.  APLU institutions are invited to participate. Registration can be found here. Please reach out to Ryan Bock (ryan.bock@aau.edu) if you have any questions or trouble registering for the webinar.

NSF: Focused Research Groups in the Mathematical Sciences (FRGMS)Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology (PRFB); Accelerating Research through International Network-to-Network Collaborations (AccelNet); Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program: Instrument Acquisition or Development

NIH: Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (Parent F31-Diversity); Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship (Parent F32); Planning for Product Development Strategy (R34)

Department of Energy: Advancing U.S. Thin-Film Solar Photovoltaics; Domestic Manufacturing Conversion Grants

NASA: ROSES 2023: E.8 Physical Sciences Informatics

National Endowment of Humanities: Digital Humanities Advancement Grants; Humanities Initiatives

Further Clarifying NIH’s Foreign Subaward Agreement Policy: Addressing Community Feedback: in response to feedback received from the research community, we are releasing our final guide notice clarifying NIH’s long-standing policy on foreign subaward and consortium written agreements. In the video below, we talk about the origins of this notice, the consideration of and changes made in response to public comment, the final oversight and compliance requirements, and how these efforts will ensure NIH remains a proper steward of taxpayer support. Dr. Lawrence Tabak, Acting Director of NIH, and Ms. Michelle Bulls, Director of the OER Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration join me in this video. Last June, we published a Notice in the Federal Register. The notice sought public comments on our plans to update the NIH Grants Policy Statement, section 15.2, to require that foreign subrecipients provide copies of all lab notebooks, all data, and all documentation that supports the research outcomes as described in the progress report, to the primary recipient no less than once every six months. This step was taken in response to separate audit recommendations from the HHS Office of Inspector General and Government Accountability Office. Effective January 2, 2024, section 15.2 of the NIH Grants Policy Statement will be updated to include these clarifications. Grant recipients will need to be in compliance with this updated policy guidance by March 2, 2024. We have also developed a new subaward webpage and FAQs, will provide language that can be included in subaward agreements, and will offer other resources to help the community comply with this policy guidance. More ifnromation is available on the NIH website.

_____________________________

Energy focused on emerging technology R&D to combat climate change: The Department of Energy is maintaining its focus on applying critical and emerging technologies to help understand and fight the negative impacts of climate change, agency Secretary Jennifer Granholm said before a House committee on Thursday. Citing climate change as “the greatest crisis that we're facing,” Granholm said that the situation is a challenge both scientifically and economically. Energy’s goal amid the climate crisis is to innovate in the clean and decarbonization technology space, and aid in commercialization efforts for a greener U.S. economy. “We’re funding demonstration projects for next generation technologies like clean hydrogen, long duration energy storage, advanced nuclear [and] direct air capture. We're working closely with industry to accelerate their commercialization, and we're making the United States the most attractive destination for investment in new energy technologies, which will boost our energy security and independence,” Granholm said. More information is posted on the NextGov website.

_____________________________

Industry leaders urge Congress to enact responsible AI regulations: Industry leaders called on congressional lawmakers to adopt new legislation that significantly regulates the advancement of artificial intelligence tools and solutions as part of an effort to ensure responsible AI development and protect against potential misuse and ethical concerns.Executives from leading industry groups urged the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to support legislation that aims to build trust in AI while continuing to maintain U.S. global competitiveness and advance innovation. While the U.S. has so far led in AI research and development internationally, other countries are beginning to form their own regulations and laws around the development of emerging technologies that could impact global competitiveness and cooperation. The European Union is expected to finalize its first comprehensive regulatory bill on AI by the end of the year, while Japan is spearheading a G7 initiative to establish common standards for AI governance. 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/