Research NewsletterIssue: ORN-2024-41

NJIT New Approved F&A and Fringe Rates on Research Grants and Contracts Implemented

As originally announced in the Office of Research Newsletter on September 8, 2024, NJIT has new overhead rates as copied below. All awards in Banner have now been updated to reflect this change going back to July 2024.  In many cases, this will result in additional funds being available on existing grants due to the reduction in F&A. These funds can be used to cover other expense categories necessary for the completion of the project, but care needs to be taken in order to maintain an adequate F&A budget for the award and any rebudgeting.  Please work with your grant account in the Office of Research to reallocate your funds.

NJIT's new overhead rates for the period of July 2024 through June 2027 that have been negotiated with the Department of Health and Human Services:

                50.5% for On-Campus Organized Research

                53.7% for On-Campus Instruction

                30.0% for On-Campus Other Sponsored Activity

                26.0% for All Off-Campus Programs

In addition, the new fringe rates for FY25 are:

              37% for Full time Employees on sponsored projects

              9.1% for Part time non-summer faculty

              6.8% for Doctoral students

These rates are already active in Banner and Streamlyne. They are also posted on the research pre-award services website https://research.njit.edu/pre-award-services  (at the bottom of the page).

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Reminder: Call For Proposals

NJIT Technology Innovation Translation and Acceleration (TITA) Seed Grant Program

Seed Grant Award: Up to $75,000 per project with potential continuation of additional funding in the subsequent year with total funding up to $150,000 per project

(Co-funded by NSF ART Grant)

TITA 2-Page IDEA Concept Paper Submission: October 7, 2024

FY2025 TITA Seed Grants: Call for Proposals

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zdJG0DHI9K8z5Cl6QBMsy2bmunyzjYkE?usp=sharing

TITA External Advisory Board (EAB)

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.  

TITA Seed Grant Proposal Submission Timeline

• TITA Seed Grant Announcement: September 15, 2024 
• Stage-1: TITA 2-Page IDEA Concept Paper Submission: October 7, 2024
• Invitation to Submit TITA White Papers: October 15, 2024
• Stage-2: TITA 5-Page White Paper Submission: October 28, 2024
• Invitation to Submit Full TITA Proposal and Mentor Assignment: November 5, 2024
• Stage-3: TITA Full Proposal Submission: November 18, 2024
• Invitation to Live Pitch Presentation: November 26, 2024
• Stage-4: TITA Full Proposal Live Pitch Presentation to the EAB Board: December 5, 2024
• Announcement of TITA Seed Grant Award: December 12, 2024
• TITA Seed Grant Start Date: January 2, 2025

All Proposals and documents should be submitted with email attachment to

tita-2025-group@njit.edu

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Recent NJIT Provisional Patent Applications (Filed)

Patent Title: Method for the Destruction of PFAS

NJIT Ref No.: 24-020

Inventor(s):  Venkatesan, Arjunkrishna

Patent Application Status: Filed Provisional Patent Application

Patent Application Filing Date: 7/3/24

Application Filing No.: 63/667,252

Technology Licensing Status: Available

Patent Title: Positioning Device for Bioprinting

NJIT Ref No.: 24-023

Inventor(s):  Dogan Kumtepe, Elvan / Miri, Amir

Patent Application Status: Filed Provisional Patent Application

Patent Application Filing Date: 7/17/24

Application Filing No.: 63/672,328

Technology Licensing Status: Available

Patent Title: Polyethylene Glycol Coated Sensing Device for Biomarker Detection under Microfluidic Shear Flow

NJIT Ref No.: 24-032

Inventor(s):  Lee, Eon Soo / Wang, Yudong

Patent Application Status: Filed Provisional Patent Application

Patent Application Filing Date: 7/18/24

Application Filing No.: 63/672,833

Technology Licensing Status: Available

Patent Title: Hollow Fiber Membrane Module for Anti-Solvent Crystallization

NJIT Ref No.: 24-024

Inventor(s):  Sirkar, Kamalesh / Song, Yufeng / Feng, Lixin / Tripathi, Siddharth

Patent Application Status: Filed Provisional Patent Application

Patent Application Filing Date: 7/23/24

Application Filing No.: 63/674,367

Technology Licensing Status: Available

Patent Title: Phase Change Material Composites Including Carbon Nanomaterials  

NJIT Ref No.: 24-033

Inventor(s):  Lee, Eon Soo / Talukder, Niladri

Patent Application Status: Filed Provisional Patent Application

Patent Application Filing Date: 7/25/24

Application Filing No.: 63/675,354

Technology Licensing Status: Available

Patent Title: Artificial Amacrine Retinal Circuits

NJIT Ref No.: 24-030

Inventor(s):  Ko, Dong-Kyun / Islam, Rakina / Al Mahfuz, Mohammad Mostafa

Patent Application Status: Filed Provisional Patent Application

Patent Application Filing Date: 7/29/24

Application Filing No.: 63/676,537

Technology Licensing Status: Available

Patent Title: System and Method for Soil Thermal Conductivity Testing

NJIT Ref No.: 23-020

Inventor(s):  Kolawole, Oladoyin / Rehmatulla, Saad

Patent Application Status: Filed Provisional Patent Application

Patent Application Filing Date: 7/31/24

Application Filing No.: 63/677,778

Technology Licensing Status: Available

Patent Title: Capacitive pH Sensor for Nanoliter Volume Fluids

NJIT Ref No.: 24-031

Inventor(s):  Lee, Eon Soo / Wang, Yudong

Patent Application Status: Filed Provisional Patent Application

Patent Application Filing Date: 8/9/24

Application Filing No.: 63/681,427

Technology Licensing Status: Available

Patent Title: Self-Separating Multiplex Assay Sensing and Diagnostic Device

NJIT Ref No.: 24-034

Inventor(s):  Lee, Eon Soo / Wang, Yudong / Nunna, Bharath Babu

Patent Application Status: Filed Provisional Patent Application

Patent Application Filing Date: 8/9/24

Application Filing No.: 63/681,590

Technology Licensing Status: Available

Patent Title: System for High-Resolution Image Generation

NJIT Ref No.: 24-025

Inventor(s):  Wang, Guiling / Dash, Ankan

Patent Application Status: Filed Provisional Patent Application

Patent Application Filing Date: 9/6/24

Application Filing No.: 63/691,814

Technology Licensing Status: Available

Patent Title: Virtual Reality Headset System

NJIT Ref No.: 24-026

Inventor(s):  Wang, Guiling / Dash, Ankan

Patent Application Status: Filed Provisional Patent Application

Patent Application Filing Date: 9/6/24

Application Filing No.: 63/691,842

Technology Licensing Status: Available

Patent Title: System for Adjusting Traffic Signal Control

NJIT Ref No.: 24-028

Inventor(s):  Wang, Guiling / Dash, Ankan

Patent Application Status: Filed Provisional Patent Application

Patent Application Filing Date: 9/6/24

Application Filing No.: 63/691,851

Technology Licensing Status: Available

Patent Title: Microfluidic Electrochemical Cell

NJIT Ref No.: 24-001

Inventor(s):  Basuray, Sagnik / Li, Zhenglong / Chande, Charmi

Patent Application Status: Filed Provisional Patent Application

Patent Application Filing Date: 9/10/24

Application Filing No.: 63/692,905

Technology Licensing Status: Available

Patent Title: System and Method for Destruction of Emerging Contaminants

NJIT Ref No.: 24-035

Inventor(s):  Meegoda, Jay

Patent Application Status: Filed Provisional Patent Application

Patent Application Filing Date: 9/11/24

Application Filing No.: 63/693,254

Technology Licensing Status: Available

Patent Title: System for Coordinating Traffic Signal Control

NJIT Ref No.: 24-027

Inventor(s):  Wang, Guiling / Du, Wenlu

Patent Application Status: Filed Provisional Patent Application

Patent Application Filing Date: 9/17/24

Application Filing No.: 63/695,442

Technology Licensing Status: Available

NSF: Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowships (EAR-PF); Safety, Security, and Privacy of Open-Source Ecosystems (Safe-OSE); Molecular Foundations for Biotechnology (MFB); Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE)

NIH: Biomedical Research Facilities (C06); BRAIN Initiative: New Technologies and Novel Approaches for Recording and Modulation in the Nervous System (R01); BRAIN Initiative: Optimization of Instrumentation and Device Technologies for Recording and Modulation in the Nervous System (U01); BRAIN Initiative: Reagent Resources for Brain Cell Type-Specific Access to Broaden Distribution of Enabling Technologies for Neuroscience (U24)

Department of Defense/US Army/DARPA/ONR: FY25 Long Range Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for Navy and Marine Corps Science and Technology; Energetics Basic Research Center (EBRC)

OMB releases AI procurement guidelines: The White House Office of Management and Budget’s new artificial intelligence procurement guidance, released Thursday, looks to bring a culture of risk management to the federal government’s AI and machine learning software buying.  In accordance with OMB’s previous directive on AI acquisition, which focuses on standardizing agency usage of AI tools, the new OMB procurement guidance provides requirements and guidance for federal agencies to help usher in “meaningful cross-functional and interagency collaboration to reflect new AI responsibilities, managing AI risk and performance, and promoting a competitive AI market with innovative acquisition.”

“This new memo provides agencies with the tools and information they need as they acquire AI, capturing its promise while managing its risks,” an administration official told reporters during a Thursday press call.  OMB’s guidance is another chapter in the Biden administration’s broader plan to leverage AI software carefully in government operations. The administration official noted that the AI used by agencies will likely be either built by contracting entities on behalf of a given agency or a commercial product purchased by an agency, and the new procurement guidance will promote responsible AI software acquisition, training and deployment. More information is posted on the NextGov website.

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Talented NIST scientists predict the far future of science and technology: Accurately predicting the future in emerging technology fields that are constantly evolving is not an easy thing. Too much changes too quickly, and rare breakthroughs can become mainstream almost overnight. When we write our yearly predictions for government and technology in Nextgov/FCW, we generally confine our forecasting to the following year, which allows for a little bit of hedging, although it’s still pretty tough being consistently accurate. Over at The National Institute of Standards and Technology, the scientists and researchers there are tasked with actually creating or defining many aspects of that future. On their main webpage, they feature several high-level topics, such as artificial intelligence, climate change, health and bioscience, cybersecurity, infrastructure and quantum computing, that are actively being researched. Asking the scientists working on those projects to predict the future of those fields would likely be pretty interesting, which is exactly what NIST officials recently did. NIST asked several of their postdoctoral researchers, who have completed their doctoral studies but only recently started working in one of those aforementioned fields, what they think the future will hold. Their responses were both interesting and surprising. More information is posted on the NextGov website.

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CISA guidance focuses on post-quantum cryptography tools: The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency publicly released its post-quantum cryptography migration guidance on Friday, focusing on prepping the most vulnerable federal digital systems for the potential advent of a cryptographically-relevant quantum computer. Accompanying the earlier release of the first standardized algorithms suited to protect information stored on classical computers from a hypothetical quantum computer attack, CISA’s guidance, dated Aug. 15, lays out recommendations for federal civilian executive branch agencies conducting initial system inventories using automated cryptography discovery and inventory softwares.

CISA’s wants agencies to launch their migration processes sooner rather than later. The guidance notes that  the inventory process requires both manual data collection and the use of  automated support. More information is posted on the NextGov website.