Welcome back to the University of Mississippi and to the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP). The ORSP staff and I are eager to meet new faculty and continue our support for returning faculty friends. We mark each new academic year in Research Highlights by listing the indicators that our collaborative efforts in achieving and maintaining an optimum research environment are succeeding.

• In FY06, UM faculty and staff were granted 502 external awards for $103 million (a 40% success rate). During the year 526 sponsored projects were active, and 235 members of the Oxford campus research community served as investigators on these projects.
• UM rankings by a variety of measures continue to rise and receive notice. UM ranks #127 out of the 599 institutions surveyed with any R&D expenditures reported, with Physics ranking in the top 20 for the last two years and our Physical Science research expenditures within the top 60 for the last three years.
• UM ranks #114 out of the 1,158 institutions that received federal science and engineering obligations in the most recent comparative data available.
• For the second year in a row, sponsored programs funding from business and industry was more than $2 million for the Oxford campus.
• For the third consecutive year, the Oxford campus is listed among the 86 universities ranking in the top 50 public universities on one or more of eight important measures published in TheCenter’s Top American Research Universities.
• UM was invited for the second time to submit nominations for the Searle Scholars Program, a prestigious invitation-only annual competition whose prime objective is to support the research and career development of junior faculty with outstanding potential in biomedical sciences.
• Oxford is home to three industry clusters based on research conducted by our faculty — in Data and Project Management; Health Care; and Security, Sensors and Engineering.
• The ORSP is managing the development of an Innovation Center and a Research Park to provide laboratory and office space for companies started by UM employees and for companies that collaborate with UM researchers.
• At the end of FY06, the University had 26 active issued patents, 43 U.S. Patents Pending, and 39 active technologies available for licensing. Two new U.S. Patents were granted, and 13 new applications were on file in FY06. UM has 20 active licenses/options which have brought in more than $4.3 million in the last two years, and two-thirds of issued patents and pending applications have been licensed or are under a collaborative development agreement.

Here on campus, our recovered Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Costs from sponsored projects are enabling or contributing to a number of important growth factors and goals within the University. Recovered F&A has enabled the ORSP to:

• Provide $10,000 for the Graduate Student Council’s research grants.
• Add $50,000 to the Associates and Partners Grant program.
• Fund 88 trips through ORSP Faculty Travel Support, for a total of $52,760.
• Help Deans attract 15 new faculty with $727,825 in start-up support.
• Award a total of $278,655 to 36 new Faculty Research Fellows.
• Support the connectivity needs of the research community by contributing $167,108 for UM’s Internet2 connection and $28,500 for membership fees.
• Provide support for five Interdisciplinary Working Groups, for a total of approximately $50,000 with three of the groups receiving a second year of funding for about $30,000 — 39 faculty members from across the UM Oxford and UM Medical Center campuses are involved in these Interdisciplinary Working Groups.
• Assist the University Libraries in providing valuable research tools, including the Early English Books Online ($2,500) and the Web of Knowledge ($15,172).
• Contribute $142,098 in cash cost share for sponsored projects.
• Provide approximately $150,000 in other types of research support [e.g., publication subventions ($3,000), research equipment maintenance ($9,800), interuniversity workshops and conferences on campus ($2,500), renovations and enhancements to research space ($22,000), support for individual research teams (approximately $90,000), Sigma Xi research symposium and social ($1,250), and membership fees (ORAU - $1000, Sea Grant Consortium - $12,500; Southern Growth Polices Board - $250, SURA - $5000)].

In the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs we see first-hand the impact research and creative pursuits have on faculty, staff, students, and the University as a whole. They enhance the educational experience of all, provide an important stimulus to the economy, and expand our body of knowledge and its applications. It is clear that these must be among the foremost concerns of any educational institution.

The ORSP is here to facilitate all efforts in all disciplines and we continually strive to create and maintain the optimum environment for the university community to achieve excellence in research and scholarship. To this end we work hard to support those with projects currently underway as well as to foster new interests. We work to stay abreast of general trends and technical issues that come into play in the research and funding arenas. We work to make certain that research finds its way to application and that the application benefits society at large and The University of Mississippi as a whole.

Regardless of how your interest in our office relates to these goals, we welcome your suggestions on ways to work better on your behalf. We hope you will read this monthly online newsletter, use the tools and resources offered elsewhere on the ORSP website, and take advantage of the many opportunities we offer in the form of workshops, information, internal support programs, publications, services, and staff assistance for proposal development and grants management. Let us know how we can support you and your research, scholarship and creative activities.

No Time Like the Present! Enter or Update Your COS Profile
We're glad to see some of our incoming new faculty are discovering that UM offers them access to COS services — several have already entered their expertise profiles so they can take advantage of the visibility and services provided to the research community through COS (formerly Community of Science). If you're a returning faculty member and you haven't updated your COS profile in a while, the beginning of a new academic year is a good time to add your latest projects and publications.

The University of Mississippi has a membership in COS which can provide you with a personalized COS Workbench, enabling you to find funding, locate colleagues and promote your research. You can also manage your CV online with your CV home page – your personal online address for your curriculum vitae, provided through the COS network.

We encourage you to utilize this online resource and enter or update your profile. UM subscribes to COS services to help advance your work and that of your colleagues, and to advance our research and outreach programs. To make the most of our investment in COS , it's important that you keep your COS Profile updated and complete.

New Users Can Get a Jump-Start with Simple Search and Search Wizard
Learning to use the COS Funding Opportunities database can be a challenge — we are here to help you. One tip is for new users to try out the Simple Search feature first to get a general idea of how it works. Then, to step up a notch for more detailed searches, try the Search Wizard. With its step-by-step guidance, it's ideal for helping new users become familiar with the process of building a targeted funding search. Using the Search Wizard can have users graduating to using the full power of the Main Search interface in no time.

Don't Know About COS?
Check out our COS page, the January 2005 newsletter article, and/or the COS home page. COS is for all UM faculty in all academic disciplines and research areas.

Getting ROI on R&D: University Start-Ups National Showcase and Conference ~ October 22-24, 2006
The conference offers a national venue for the major players involved in start-up creation and funding to meet, discuss and network on best practices for partnering with universities, creating university-affiliated companies, and improving the national innovation economy. Four hundred attendees are expected, of which half will be angel investors and venture capitalists from around the country with an express interest in working with the nation's universities to help commercialize their R&D (including providing the seed capital). For more information please go to www.ncet2.org/.

National Science Foundation Regional Grants Conference ~ October 23-24, 2006
The first National Science Foundation Regional Grants Conference of fiscal year 2007 will be hosted by the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland on October 23-24, 2006, with optional FastLane sessions on the 22nd. This two-day conference is for new faculty, researchers and administrators who want to gain key insight into a wide range of current issues at NSF including the state of current funding; new and current policies and procedures; and pertinent administrative issues. NSF program officers representing each NSF directorate will be on hand to provide up-to-date information about specific funding opportunities and answer your questions. www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/outreach.jsp

University of Virginia Symposium on Race and Society — In Katrina's Wake: Racial Implications of the New Orleans Disaster ~ November 2-4, 2006
The University of Virginia Symposium on Race and Society (SYMRS) is an annual conference engaging academic professionals on social, cultural, and political topics as they relate to the meeting's theme. The inaugural SYMRS will explore race in the context of Katrina and its intersections with eight academic disciplines – Business, Education, Law/Government/Politics, Health/Public Policy, Architecture/Urban Planning, Engineering, Media, and Arts and Sciences. Proposals are currently being accepted for presentations in these areas. For more information, see www.virginia.edu/symrs/.

Workshop: Astrophysics Enabled by the Return to the Moon ~ November 28-30, 2006
The Space Telescope Science Institute will host a workshop entitled “Astrophysics Enabled By the Return to the Moon” November 28-30, 2006. The workshop is organized in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, University of Colorado, AURA, and NASA. The general philosophy of the workshop is to explore critically whether the expected return to the moon can be used for progress towards answering some of the most important questions in astrophysics today. www.stsci.edu/institute/conference/moon

Second International Joint Conferences on Computer, Information, and Systems Sciences, and Engineering (CISSE 2006) ~ December 4-14, 2006
CISSE 2006 provides a virtual forum for presentation and discussion of the state-of the-art research on computers, information and systems sciences and engineering. The CISSE 2006 virtual conference will be conducted through the Internet using web-conferencing tools, made available by the conference. 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. CISSE 2006 is composed of the following four conferences:

• International Conference on Industrial Electronics, Technology and Automation
• International Conference on Telecommunications and Networking
• International Conference on Systems, Computing Sciences and Software Engineering
• International Conference on Engineering Education, Instructional Technology, Assessment, and E-learning

Prospective authors are invited to submit full papers electronically in Microsoft Word format through the website of the conference at www.cisse2006online.org; paper submission deadline is October 13, 2006.

Applied Demography Conference ~ January 7-9, 2007
The first of the 21st century’s biennial Applied Demography conferences will be held in San Antonio, Texas, on January 7-9, 2007. The conference is sponsored by the Department of Demography and Organization Studies and the Institute for Demographic and Socioeconomic Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio. UM's David Swanson is serving as the program organizer for the conference.   A call for papers will be issued soon, followed by the conference program, which will include a list of sessions and participants.

NEH 2007 Summer Stipends Program
The National Endowment for the Humanities invites nominations for its 2007 Summer Stipends program.  These awards are intended for individuals pursuing advanced research that contributes to scholarly knowledge or to the public's understanding of the humanities.  NEH Summer Stipends support full-time work on a humanities project for a period of two months.  Applicants who are faculty members teaching full-time at colleges and universities must be nominated by their institutions to apply for a Summer Stipend.  Further information on the UM nomination process is available from the College of Liberal Arts Dean's Office.

NSF Announces Support for Research on Data Confidentiality
Three National Science Foundation Directorates are soliciting research proposals to explore ways of improving the confidentiality of data about individuals and organizations while also permitting legitimate social and research uses of that data. NSF is particularly interested in approaches which combine techniques that have been developed somewhat separately in a number of different disciplines, including computer and information science and engineering and the social, behavioral and economic sciences. Proposals with the following features are strongly encouraged: (1) analyses and solutions of data confidentiality issues in real-world contexts; and (2) focus on data collection and data access issues and solutions. For the full text of the “Dear Colleague Letter” announcement, including a listing of appropriate funding opportunities, go to www.nsf.gov/pubs/2006/nsf06040/nsf06040.jsp.

Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange Travel Grants and Visiting Fellowships ~ Deadlines September 15 and February 15
The foundation offers a limited number of travel grants to help fund travel for assistant, associate, and full professors to present papers at conferences on subjects related to Chinese studies. Assistant/associate professorswho have not conducted research in Taiwan may apply for a visiting fellowship to visit Taiwan for a short period of time to become acquainted with Taiwan's research facilities, including Academia Sinica, the Palace Museum, and leading universities. www.cckf.org/e-americaTG.htm

NSF Frontiers in Integrative Biological Research ~ Preliminary Proposals (required) Deadline September 22
The Frontiers in Integrative Biological Research Program supports integrative research that addresses major questions in the biological sciences. FIBR encourages investigators to identify major under-studied or unanswered questions in biology and to use innovative approaches to address them by integrating the scientific concepts and research tools from across disciplines including biology, math and the physical sciences, engineering, social sciences and the information sciences. Particularly encouraged are the inclusion of young scientists trained in an interdisciplinary environment or in non-biological disciplines, and partnerships with underrepresented minority serving and primarily undergraduate institutions and community colleges. www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf06579

NSF Undergraduate Research and Mentoring in the Biological Sciences ~ Preliminary Proposals (required) Deadline October 30
The goal of the Undergraduate Research and Mentoring in the Biological Sciences (URM) program is to increase the number and diversity of individuals pursuing graduate studies in all areas of biological research supported by the National Science Foundation's Directorate for Biological Sciences. Support will be provided to academic institutions to establish innovative programs to engage undergraduates in a year-round research and mentoring activity. Particular emphasis will be placed on broadening participation of members of groups historically underrepresented in science and engineering: African Americans, Alaska Natives, American Indians, Hispanic Americans, Native Pacific Islanders, and persons with disabilities. www.nsf.gov/pubs/2006/nsf06591/nsf06591.htm

NSF Partnerships for International Education ~ Preliminary Proposals (required) Deadline October 30
The National Science Foundation's Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) seeks to catalyze a cultural change in U.S. institutions by establishing innovative models for international collaborative research and education. The program will enable U.S. institutions to establish collaborative relationships with international groups or institutions in order to engender new knowledge and discoveries at the frontier and to promote the development of a globally-engaged, U.S. scientific and engineering workforce. www.nsf.gov/pubs/2006/nsf06589/nsf06589.htm

NSF Materials World Network: Cooperative Activity in Materials Research ~ Deadline November 20
The National Science Foundation is working jointly with counterpart national, regional and multinational funding organizations worldwide to enhance opportunities for collaborative activities in materials research and education between US investigators and their colleagues abroad. Projects proposed to NSF are expected to offer students and junior researchers the opportunity to participate in an international research and education experience and, more generally, for integrating research and training in an international environment, and to clearly demonstrate the value added by the international collaboration. www.nsf.gov/pubs/2006/nsf06590/nsf06590.htm

NICHD Population Research Infrastructure Program ~ Deadline December 21
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development invites applications for infrastructure grants in support of population research. Applicants may request funds to support infrastructure development and/or research designed to: (1) enhance the quality and quantity of population research conducted at an institution; and (2) develop new research capabilities to advance population research through innovative approaches. The primary purposes of the Population Research Infrastructure Program are to provide resources to support and advance research that will improve understanding of the antecedents and consequences of population structure and change, facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration among investigators conducting population-related research and in allied fields, and promote innovative approaches to population research questions. An additional goal is to facilitate interactions among scientists in locations throughout the United States that contribute to the integration and coordination of population research. grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-HD-06-009.html

Find MORE on the ORSP Funding Opportunities Recent Announcements page

SEARCH using COS Funding Opportunities

New Graduate Tuition Rate for Proposal Budgets
Effective immediately, the following new rate for graduate tuition remission should be used in the preparation of budgets for proposals to be submitted for external funding:

Graduate Tuition Remission Cost for 2006-2007:
$2,302/semester — $4,604/academic year

For more information on budget rates and policies and other institutional information for proposal preparation, see www.research.olemiss.edutoolbox/current_rates.html.

Division of Research
:: PDS Service Areas Change ~ When you are ready to talk about developing and submitting a proposal for external funding, our two ORSP Proposal Development Specialists are here to help. Work assignment lists for these two crucial staff members were adjusted over the summer — some departments that previously worked with Lesha Agnew will now work with Mickey McLaurin, and vice versa. To see the changes and check on who the PDS is for your school or unit, see www.research.olemiss.edutoolbox/PDS_assistance.html.
:: July Proposals ~ Proposal Development Specialists Lesha Agnew and Mickey McLaurin processed 36 external funding proposals during July 2006.

Division of Research Integrity and Compliance
:: Institutional Review Board ~ Dr. John Bentley has resigned from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) after serving as the IRB Chair for three years and as an IRB member for several years before that. Taking his place is Dr. Carol Gohm, Associate Professor of Psychology. Dr. Gohm has been an IRB member for three years and was appointed to the Chair position by Dr. Alice Clark, Vice Chancellor for Research and Sponsored Programs.
:: Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee ~ New investigators and research staff who work with animals should take advantage of the new web page entitled Information for New Investigators and Research Personnel (find it under Especially For - New Principal Investigators on the Animal Research web page). This new page contains links that will help you navigate the IACUC and minimize protocol processing and approval time.

Division of Sponsored Programs Administration
:: July Awards ~ SPA Division staff (Scottie Casey, Euphiazene Gray, Anita Randle, Linda Stone) processed 15 external funding awards during July 2006.

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

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, Ph.D.
Vice Chancellor for Research and Sponsored Programs

July Proposals Submitted: 36

July Awards Received: 15 totaling $1,551,472

FY07 Year-to-Date Number of Active Sponsored Projects: 337

FY07 Year-to-Date Number of Active Investigators: 189