National Science Foundation Issues Updated Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG)
by Mickey McLaurin, Assistant Director for Sponsored Programs Administration, Pre-Award
On October 1, 2009, NSF issued an updated Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG), which will be in effect for all proposals submitted on or after January 4, 2010. This PAPPG update contains several important changes that Principal Investigators should know.
NSF has included a new institutional certification required by the America COMPETES Act regarding responsible conduct of research (RCR). For all proposals submitted on or after January 4, 2010, the University will be required to sign a certification that a plan is in place for educating all post-docs, graduate students and undergraduate students supported by the proposed grant on responsible conduct of research.
ORSP is currently working to develop this institutional plan, and will provide information as soon as it is available. Although there are no new requirements at the time of proposal, when an award is made all post-docs, graduate and undergraduate students supported by the award will be required to receive this RCR training.
NSF has also instituted a new rule for final reports, requiring a Project Outcomes Report for the General Public. For any new grant or funding increment awarded on or after January 4, 2010, PIs will be required to produce a final Project Outcomes Report upon the completion of the grant. Within 90 days following expiration of the grant, a project outcomes report must be submitted electronically via Research.gov. This report serves as a brief summary, prepared specifically for the public, of the nature and outcomes of the project.
Please be aware that this new project outcomes reporting requirement is in addition to NSF's existing final reporting requirements.
All investigators are strongly encouraged to review the
updated PAPPG . Remember, the PI and Co-PIs on an NSF award are responsible for managing their award in compliance with this Guide.
UM Research Funding News
Proposal and Award Activity
UM faculty and staff submitted 53 external funding proposals and received 31 external funding awards during September 2009. For a complete listing, see the Monthly Report.
Faculty Travel Support
In September $2,000 was awarded by the ORSP to help support research-related travel. The ORSP's Faculty Travel Support program provides funds for UM faculty members to take part in development activities that will lead to new or extended research, scholarly or creative work. The program typically does not support travel to a conference for presentation of completed work unless the request includes specific development activities beyond the conference itself.
Examples of research purposes for which faculty have recently received support include:
- Meet NSF program officer and collaborators while at conference
- Attend special focus symposium and meet with subject expert
- Conduct field work with collaborators and develop new field research course
- Expand ongoing research project by conducting in-person interviews in new location
- Collect research data for planned monograph through observations and interviews
Faculty Travel Support guidelines, application, and FAQ are available from the ORSP Internal Support page.
Additional Information
Speaking of COS
COS User Tip ~ Setting and Saving Search Criteria through Options
Don’t forget about the “Options” menu item on your COS Workbench. You can find it in the menu line under your saved funding searches on the main page of your COS Workbench. The “Options” section allows you to set and save criteria that will be assumed by any funding searches done in the future. For instance, if you want to make sure all your future searches automatically pre-populate “United States” as the citizenship, you can set it as such in the “options” section. Important to remember: these assumptions are only made if you start your future funding searches from the “Add a Search” menu item from your COS Workbench.
Don’t know about COS?
Check out our COS page, the January 2005, September 2006, and March 2007 newsletter articles, and/or the COS home page. COS is for all UM faculty in all academic disciplines and research areas.
Bits & Pieces
New ORSP Technology Management Staff Members
The Division of Technology Management is pleased to announce two staff additions:
- Dr. Jessica Adkins is in her first year as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. She completed her doctoral work in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and is currently working on technical dossiers, market research and collaborative research efforts for the Division. Jessica's office is 1013 Cochran Research Center and she can be reached at 915-1055 or jeadkins@olemiss.edu.
- Ms. Susan Peterson has joined the DTM office as Project Coordinator, managing the operational aspects of the Division. Susan graduated from Ole Miss in 2004 with a BBA in Marketing and for the past three years has worked as the Business Development Representative for First National Bank of Oxford. She is married to Ethan Peterson and they have a daughter, Haley. Susan's office is 1013 Cochran Research Center and she can be reached at 915-1604 or shpeters@olemiss.edu.
Welch Completes RAMP Certification
Congratulations to Dianne Welch, Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute, for successfully completing the ORSP’s Research Administration and Management Program (RAMP). Dianne received her Certificate of Completion on September 24, 2009. RAMP consists of a series of six workshops that are designed to facilitate responsible oversight of externally sponsored research projects.
A Few Program Announcements and Deadlines
MS NSF EPSCoR Seed Grant Program ~ Deadline November 15
The 2009-2015 Mississippi EPSCoR award promotes research in Modeling and Simulation of Complex Systems. The three research focus areas within this grant are computational chemistry (CompChem), computational biology (CompBio) and biosystems simulation (BioSim). The grant provides support for up to six seed grants per year for innovative research in or between the three focus areas. The current research programs within each focus area are:
- Modeling and Simulation of Nanoscale Chemistry (CompChem)
- Modeling of Biological Systems (CompBio)
- Multi-Scale Simulation Framework for Biological Systems (BioSim)
The intent is to promote a stronger interdisciplinary research network in Mississippi and to make Mississippi researchers more nationally competitive in research in each of the three focus areas and in research that cuts across focus areas. Seed Grant proposals must be for new unfunded research. The grants are targeted to less experienced investigators initiating research in one of these areas or to experienced faculty changing fields and/or initiating a project in a new area that will strengthen research in modeling and simulation of complex systems. Preference will be given to projects that integrate research across the three focus areas of computational chemistry, computational biology, and biosystems simulation. These seed grants are intended to stimulate new research leading to grant proposal submissions in the near future and to the rapid growth of the research network targeted by the EPSCoR proposal. They are not intended for additional support for established research.
Powe Junior Faculty Awards ~ UM Internal Deadline January 20
Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) has announced the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award competition for 2010. In the 2009 competition, ORAU received 118 applications and awarded 30 grants. These awards are intended to enrich the research and professional growth of junior faculty and result in new funding opportunities.
Full-time assistant professors at ORAU member institutions within two years of their initial tenure track appointment (2/5/2008 through 2/5/2010) at the time of application are eligible to be nominated by their institutions. The research project must be in one of the following five disciplines: Engineering and Applied Science; Life Sciences; Mathematics/Computer Sciences; Physical Sciences; Policy, Management, or Education.
UM is limited to two nominations for this program. In order to be considered for nomination you must follow the instructions given on the ORAU website (link below). Submit your three documents via email attachment to Mickey McLaurin (mclaurin@olemiss.edu) before 5:00 p.m. on January 20, 2010. Potential nominees should also confirm that their department chair or dean has sent the required letter of recommendation (in Word or WordPerfect format) via email attachment to Mickey McLaurin before the January 20 internal deadline. These letters should be addressed to Dr. Alice M. Clark, Vice Chancellor for Research and Sponsored Programs, University of Mississippi.
Application materials will be reviewed, UM nominees selected, and applicants notified by the ORSP prior to the February 5 ORAU deadline.
Questions may be directed to Mickey McLaurin (mclaurin@olemiss.edu), Lesha Agnew (lagnew@olemiss.edu), or Kendra Rauschenberger (kendra@olemiss.edu) in the ORSP (or phone 7482).
Additional Resources
Some Upcoming Events
2009 Mississippi Arts Conference ~ November 11-13 in Jackson
Members of Mississippi's ever-expanding arts community find themselves learning to be more creative in an era of new challenges, new responsibilities, and many new opportunities as they strive to enhance cultural participation. The 2009 Mississippi Arts Conference offers two days of creative workshops, panel discussions, special guest speakers and workshop leaders to inspire and share information on central topics such as:
- fundraising
- creative economy
- arts advocacy
- business fundamentals for artists
- grant writing
- arts-based community development
- technology marketing
- and more
For complete information and registration, see the 2009 Mississippi Arts Conference website.
New Green Economy Conference ~ January 20-22 in Washington DC
The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) has announced the 10th National Conference on Science, Policy, and the Environment: The New Green Economy. NCSE's national conference engages leading thinkers and doers from a diversity of disciplines, sectors, and perspectives in a structured conversation about the meaning of the green economy and how investment in green education, research and jobs can help solve both the economic and environmental crises. The New Green Economy Conference will bring together leaders in sustainable business, environmental policymakers, civil society, university faculty, students from across the nation, and educated citizens. NCSE uses a multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral approach that engages involved scientists and decision-makers from a wide range of organizations. Conferences are highly interactive, including renowned speakers, topical symposia to explore issues in more depth, and breakout sessions to develop (and publish) recommendations on how to advance science and connect it with policy and decision-making.
Congratulations from the VCRSP
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs oversees funding for research, service, and 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
Summary of Awards Received in September 2009
| PI Name |
PI Department/Unit |
Co-PI Name/s |
| Carrington, W | School of Law | |
| Chambers, James | Jamie Whitten National Center for Physical Acoustics | |
| Cizdziel, James | Chemistry and Biochemistry | Chen, Wei-Yin
Davidson, Gregg R
Holland, Marjorie M
Ochs, Clifford |
| Clancy, Thomas (2 awards) | National Center for Justice and Rule of Law | |
| Cole, Donald | Office of the Chancellor | |
| Cutler, Stephen | Medicinal Chemistry | Manly, Susan |
| Diven-Brown, Laura | Financial Aid | |
| Gladden, Joseph | Jamie Whitten National Center for Physical Acoustics | |
| Glisson, Susan | William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation | |
| Highsmith, Ray | National Institute of Undersea Science Technology | Lutken, Carol
Slattery, Marc |
| Highsmith, Ray | Biology | Ochs, Clifford |
| Knight, Kathy B | Family and Consumer Sciences | Bomba, Anne K
Oakley, Charlotte |
| Lutken, Carol | Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute | McGee, Thomas M |
| Morrison, Jim | Office of Strategic Planning | |
| Noonan, Brice | Biology | |
| Oakley, Charlotte (2 awards) | National Food Service Management Institute | |
| O’Haver, John | Center for Mathematics and Science Education | Harper, Maxine |
| Parker, Jackie | Office of the Dean of Education | |
| Rhodes, Philip | Computer and Information Sciences | Ruth, Paul |
| Rimoldi, John M | Medicinal Chemistry | |
| Sabatier, James | Jamie Whitten National Center for Physical Acoustics | |
| Sabatier, James | Jamie Whitten National Center for Physical Acoustics | Chambers, James
Hickey, Craig |
| Sukanek, Peter | Chemical Engineering | |
| Tschumper, Gregory S | Chemistry and Biochemistry | Chen, Yixin
Dass, Amala
Doerksen, Robert
Hammer, Nathan
Harper, Maxine
Hollis, Keith
Wadkins, Randy Mack
Wilkins, Dawn E |
| Walker, Larry | National Center for Natural Products Research | Khan, Ikhlas |
| Wells, Barbara | Office of the Dean of Pharmacy | Hufford, Charles |
| Wells, Barbara | Office of the Dean of Pharmacy | Ross, Leigh Ann |
| Willett, Kristine L | Pharmacology | |
| Young, John | Psychology | |
- September 2009 Report: A list of awards received and proposals submitted by The University of Mississippi in the previous month
- September Proposals Submitted: 53 from 43 Principal Investigators
- September Awards Received: 31 totaling $15,810,062
- FY10 Year-to-Date Number of Active Sponsored Projects: 406
- FY10 Year-to-Date Number of Active Investigators: 233