ResearchHighlights Newsletter

November 2005

Welcome to ResearchHighlights, the online newsletter of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at The University of Mississippi. Archives of past issues are available here. For more information, or to submit news items or story ideas, please email the editor.

Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
University of Mississippi
662.915.7482 voice
662.915.7577 fax
Quotation Corner ~
The most important discoveries will provide answers to questions that we do not yet know how to ask and will concern objects we have not yet imagined.
FOCUS: The University of Mississippi’s Innovation Center

Congress has just appropriated $575,000 in the 2006 Commerce Bill for The University of Mississippi’s Innovation Center (UMIC). The purpose of the UMIC is to support high tech areas of research and businesses with interests related to university research as well as community outreach and workforce development activities.

The UMIC has been in the planning stages for some years now. Several years ago the University of Mississippi Foundation purchased the former Wal-Mart building in the Oxford Mall to serve as site for the UMIC. Planning for renovation and rehabilitation to house the UMIC and other university units adjacent to the University has been underway since the acquisition of the property.

Spin-off companies started by university researchers from on-going and future research activities are a major focus area as potential tenants at the UMIC. A number of private companies, with ties to the university research community, have moved to Oxford or plan to move here to develop or continue collaborations with university researchers. Other interested parties include those businesses already in collaboration with researchers at UM. It is expected that business entities that wish to be housed at the UMIC will be selected for eligibility according to a number of criteria having to do with collaborative connections with university faculty. In addition, the UMIC will house selected university programs. Specific guidelines for occupancy are currently being developed, with the primary focus to be on entrepreneurial activities.

The UMIC has the potential to create a substantial number of high paying technology jobs, and to keep those jobs in the state of Mississippi.

Speaking of COS

COS Reference Databases
COS Funding Opportunities and COS Expertise are the most popular Community of Science services, but remember that COS offers other services that are invaluable tools in specific subject areas.

  • AGRICOLA contains over 3.3 million bibliographic records of journal articles, theses, patents, software, and technical reports related to agriculture since 1979.  
  • GeoRef provides access to over 2.3 million references to articles, books, maps, conference papers, reports, and theses covering the geosciences. 
  • MEDLINE is the world's most comprehensive source of life sciences and biomedical bibliographic information, with nearly 11 million records. 
  • U.S. Patents is a comprehensive bibliographic database containing records for each of the 2.6 million U.S. patents issued since 1975.

These services provide key citation information and abstracts. MEDLINE and GeoRef records also have links to the full article texts, when they are provided online (though a subscription to the online journal is often required. MEDLINE and GeoRef also feature a document delivery link to purchase the full article from a third party.

Take a look at the COS Services webpage and check out these useful reference services.

Some Upcoming Events

Katrina: The Future of the Gulf Coast Conference ~ December 2-3
The Center for the Study of Southern Culture and the UM Department of Political Science will host a conference on the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast and ideas for rebuilding. The conference will have sessions on the state of economic and social recovery and will bring together a diverse group of commentators to share their visions of a new Coast. The CSSC planned the meeting with the assistance of William Winter, and hopes to provide a forum for the Governor’s Commission on Rebuilding, Recovery, and Renewal, of which Governor Winter is a member. The conference is a project of the Center’s Future of the South initiative, supported by a grant from the Phil Hardin Foundation. www.olemiss.edu/depts/south/

International Joint Conferences on Computer, Information, and Systems Sciences and Engineering ~ December 10-20
CISSE 05 provides a virtual forum for presentation and discussion of the state-of the-art research on computers, information and systems sciences and engineering. The virtual conference will be conducted through the Internet using web-conferencing tools, made available by the conference. Authors will be presenting their PowerPoint, audio or video presentations using web-conferencing tools without the need for travel. Conference sessions will be broadcast to all the conference participants, where session participants can interact with the presenter during the presentation and (or) during the Q&A slot that follows the presentation. This international conference will be held entirely on-line. The accepted and presented papers will be made available after the conference both on a CD and as a book publication. www.cisse2005.org

National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance Annual Meeting ~ March 23-25
The NCIIA fosters invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship in higher education to create innovative, commercially viable, and socially beneficial businesses and employment opportunities in the U.S. The program was founded on the premise that invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship are essential components of the higher education curriculum, and vital to the nation's economic future. In March the NCIAA will celebrate 10 years of innovative education at U.S. colleges and universities at its three-day annual meeting. www.nciia.org

Reinventing Mississippi: The Role of Nonprofits and Volunteers ~ April 19-21, 2006
Original manuscripts that address issues pertaining to the importance of volunteerism with an emphasis on social, cultural, political, historical and economic dimensions of volunteering will be considered for publication in an anthology and/or presentation at this conference, to be held in Jackson. Empirical and conceptual/theoretical papers written with practitioners, community groups or individuals from an array of disciplines are strongly encouraged. Sponsored by the Mississippi Volunteer Service Commission in conjunction with the Jackson State University Department of History and Philosophy. Abstracts of no more than two pages, double spaced, or queries, may be submitted by January 15, 2006, to Dr. Elizabeth Overman.

A Few Program Announcements and Deadlines

National Science Foundation Networking Technology and Systems (NeTS) ~ Deadline December 14
The Networking Technology and Systems (NeTS) program envisions a future in which communication networks are available anywhere and any time, are accessible from a variety of devices, require minimal management overhead, can survive faults and attacks, and can be entrusted with all types of communication traffic. To realize this vision, the NeTS program seeks to develop and sustain science and technology advances needed to create next-generation networks; increase our fundamental understanding of large, complex, heterogeneous networks; and continue the evolution of existing networks. The NeTS program also seeks to develop innovative curricular and educational materials that will help prepare the next generation of networking professionals. www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?nsf05505

Center for the Business of Government Research Stipends ~ Deadline December 15
The Center for the Business of Government provides grants to stimulate research and improve the effectiveness of government at the federal, state, local, and international levels. www.businessofgovernment.org/main/apply/index.asp

National Institutes of Health Assay Development for High Throughput Molecular Screening ~ Deadline January 12
The purpose of this RFA is to facilitate the discovery of new molecular probes for investigating biological function by funding the development and adaptation of biological assays for automated high throughput molecular screening (HTS). This is one component of the NIH Molecular Libraries and Imaging Roadmap Initiative. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-06-004.html

National Institutes of Health Centers of Excellence for Research on Complementary and Alternative Medicine ~ Letter of Intent January 26
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) seeks applications for Centers of Excellence for Research on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CERC), using the NIH Program Project (P01) mechanism. The CERCs constitute one component of NCCAM’s multi-faceted Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) research program. The purpose of the CERC is to provide a vehicle for accomplished researchers to apply their expertise to CAM research questions, with an emphasis on applying cutting-edge scientific approaches to elucidating the mechanisms of action of CAM therapies and modalities. Applications must comprise three to four research projects structured around a central scientific theme that is clearly relevant to CAM. grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-06-047.html

Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar Program in Aging ~ Letter of Intent March 9
The Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar program is designed to support established investigators to conduct research in the basic biological and basic biomedical sciences relevant to understanding aging processes and age-related diseases and disabilities. The award is intended to provide significant support to established investigators in order to allow the development of new, creative research programs by investigators who may not currently be conducting aging research or who may wish to develop new research programs in aging. The foundation particularly wishes to stimulate new research which has rigorous scientific foundations but which may not be currently funded adequately because of its perceived novelty, its high risk, or because it is from an area where traditional research interests absorb most funding.
www.ellison-med-fn.org/adsp.jsp?key=12aging_senior_proc&show=100

Find MORE on the ORSP Funding Opportunities Recent Announcements page

SEARCH for Funding Opportunities using Community of Science

Bits & Pieces

NEW RULES ~ Changes You Need to Know
An announcement is expected soon about a new out-of-state rental car contract. The projected date for the new contract to begin is December 1, 2005. Questions in the meantime should be directed to Procurement Services' Travel Office personnel.

ORSP News

Division of Research
§ FRP Poster Symposium ~ On November 11, 2005, the third annual Faculty Research Fellows Poster Symposium was held in the Yerby Center Auditorium to honor the current Faculty Research Program grant recipients and share their work with interested attendees. Thirty-three fellows mounted posters and most were present during the 1.5-hour event to talk with about 100 visitors from all across campus. Click here to view a slide show of photos taken at the symposium.
§ October Activity ~ Proposal Development Specialists Lesha Agnew and Mickey McLaurin processed 30 external funding proposals during October 2005. For a complete listing, see the Monthly Report page.

Division of Research Integrity and Compliance
§ IRB Bulletin ~ The most recent issue of the IRB Bulletin is now available. IRB Bulletin #2 contains the latest information on education requirements, research in schools, and changes to the Progress Report form and procedures.

Division of Sponsored Programs Administration
§ October Activity ~ SPA Division staff (Scottie Casey, Euphiazene Gray, Anita Randle, Linda Stone) processed 27 external funding awards during October 2005. For a complete listing, see the Monthly Report page.

For complete information about the ORSP — mission, structure, services, responsibilities, and more — visit the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs page

Congratulations from the VCRSP

The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs oversees funding for research, service,
education projects. These activities complement the fundamental aspects of The University of Mississippi’s mission and are among its most tangible contributions to the future. Funding for these activities is one of the best measures of a university’s success in engaging with national and international communities.

All of us who have sought funding to test our ideas know that it is difficult and that the communities to which we belong are highly competitive. That spirit of competition is critical and it contributes more than a little to the relief and excitement a researcher feels on receiving a funding award.

Listed below are our colleagues who have been notified of external funding awards in the last calendar month. Please join me in congratulating them. The news of their discoveries and the importance of their contributions are part of all of our futures and the future of Ole Miss.

Alice M. Clark Signature

Alice M. Clark, Ph.D.
Vice Chancellor for Research and Sponsored Programs

PI Name
PI Department/Unit
Co-PI Name/s
Barber, F. National Center for Physical Acoustics
Bass, H. National Center for Physical Acoustics
Bass, H. National Center for Physical Acoustics Sabatier, J.
Chambers, J.
Clark, A. Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
Cleary, J. Pharmacy Administration
Cremaldi, L. Physics and Astronomy
Di, X. National Center for Physical Acoustics Gilbert, K.
Di, X. National Center for Physical Acoustics
Dougherty, B. Curriculum and Instruction
Durham, D. Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
Ford, M. Health, Exercise Science and Recreation Management
Glisson, A. Electrical Engineering Daigle, J.
Elsherbeni, A.
Goggans, P.
Gurley, W. Small Business Development Center Vanderlip, M.
Highsmith, R. Center for Water and Wetlands Resources
Johnson, J. Sociology and Anthropology
Lago, P. Biology
Lombardo, T. Psychology Bentley, J.
Majumdar, S. Pharmaceutics
Mikell, A. Biology
Muir, T. National Center for Physical Acoustics
Prasad, S. Civil Engineering
Sukanek, P. Chemical Engineering
Wang, S. National Center for Computational Hydroscience and Engineering
Wells, B. School of Pharmacy Hufford, C.
Wilkins, D. Computer and Information Sciences
Windham, J. Procurement Services

October Proposals Submitted: 30

October Awards Received: 27 totalling $4,863,112

FY06 Awards Total (July 1-October 31, 2005): $31,591,177

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