According to the website ScienceWorksForUS, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, also known as the stimulus) provided some $21 billion for scientific research and development, the purchase of scientific equipment, and science-related construction. To date The University of Mississippi has received a total of $2,730,555 in ARRA funding for research (projects listed below). An additional $190,152 in ARRA financial aid funding (scholarships and Pell grants) has also been awarded to UM.
Emanuele Berti, Physics
National Science Foundation, $150,000
Gravitational Waves from Black Hole Binaries: Modeling, Astrophysics and Strong-field Tests
James Cizdziel, Chemistry and Biochemistry
National Science Foundation, $494,094
MRI: Acquisition of a High Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer for the Mid-South Region
Thomas Clancy, National Center for Justice and the Rule of Law
US Department of Justice, $500,000
Education and Resources for Judges on Technology-Assisted Crimes Against Children
Stephen Cutler, Medicinal Chemistry
National Institutes of Health/National Center for Research Resources, $584,617
Center of Research Excellence in Natural Products Neuroscience (NCRR Administrative Supplement)
Alan Gross, Psychology
Subaward of the Oxford Public School District/US Department of Education, $29,346
Clinical Psychology Training Program
Carolyn Higdon, Communication Sciences and Disorders
Mississippi Department of Health, $184,476
Early Intervention Quality Assurance and Improvement – Center of Excellence
Ikhlas Khan, National Center for Natural Products Research
Subaward of the University of Kentucky/National Institutes of Health, $385,095
Advancing Drug Development in Medicinal Plants using Transcriptomics and Metabolomics
Daniell Mattern, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Subaward of the University of Alabama/National Science Foundation, $66,791
Optimally Designed Unimolecular Rectifiers
Brice Noonan, Biology
National Science Foundation, $178,333
Collaborative Research: Ants of the Southwest Indian Ocean and East Africa (ASWEA): Assessing Phylogenetic Diversity and Biogeographic Linkage Across the Mozambique Channel
Kristine Willett, Pharmacology
National Institutes of Health, $86,219
Roles of CYP1 and 19 in Fundulus Steroids and PAH Metabolism (Administrative Supplement)
Jordan Zjawiony, Pharmacognosy
National Institutes of Health, $71,584
Chemistry and Pharmacology of Newly Emerging Psychoactive Plants
For more information about ARRA funding for research across the nation, visit the ScienceWorksForUS website, an initiative of the Association of American Universities, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities and The Science Coalition.
Amount: Awards for instrumentation will range from $100,000 to $4 million. Proposals requesting less than $100,000 will be considered only from the disciplines of mathematical science or social, behavioral, and economic science. Proposers may request an award period up to three years for acquisition proposals and up to five years for development proposals. NSF requires cost sharing on all MRI proposals, for both acquisition and development, from Ph.D.-granting institutions of higher education.
Abstract: The Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) serves to increase access to shared scientific and engineering instruments for research and research training in the United States' institutions of higher education, museums, science centers, and not-for-profit organizations. This program especially seeks to improve the quality and expand the scope of research and research training in science and engineering, by providing shared instrumentation that fosters the integration of research and education in research-intensive learning environments. Development and acquisition of research instrumentation for shared inter- and/or intra-organizational use are encouraged, as are development efforts that leverage the strengths of private sector partners to build instrument development capacity at academic institutions.
To accomplish these goals, the MRI program assists with the acquisition or development of shared research instrumentation that is, in general, too costly, and/or not appropriate for support through other NSF programs. Instruments are expected to be operational for regular research use by the end of the award period. For the purposes of the MRI program, proposals must be for either acquisition or development of a single instrument or for equipment that, when combined, serves as an integrated research instrument (physical or virtual). The MRI program does not support the acquisition or development of a suite of instruments to outfit research facilities or to conduct independent research activities simultaneously.
Internal preproposals will be reviewed by a university committee consisting of representatives from the ORSP and the College, Schools, or Departments from which preproposals are received. Candidates selected by the committee will prepare full proposals to be submitted by the University of Mississippi to the National Science Foundation at the April deadline. For complete information about the internal application and selection process, including deadlines, please see the UM ORSP NSF MRI 2010 web page.
You may also contact Lesha Agnew (lagnew@olemiss.edu), Mickey McLaurin (mclaurin@olemiss.edu), or Kendra Rauschenberger (kendra@olemiss.edu), Program Development Specialists in the UM Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, for more information and assistance with the internal process.
NEH Fellowships support individuals pursuing advanced research in the humanities that contributes to scholarly knowledge or to the general public's understanding of the humanities. Recipients usually produce scholarly articles, monographs on specialized subjects, books on broad topics, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly tools. Fellowships support full-time work on a humanities project for a period of six to twelve months.
The mission of the DHS S&T Directorate is to “support basic and applied homeland security research to promote revolutionary changes in technologies; advance the development, testing and evaluation, and deployment of critical homeland security technologies; and accelerate the prototyping and deployment of technologies that would address homeland security vulnerabilities.”
DHS S&T is interested in receiving proposals for Long Range Science and Technology Projects and innovative prototypes that offer potential for advancement and improvement of homeland security missions and operations. Topical Areas of strategic interest include:
Full information is available via the FBO website (link above) in two PDF documents:
The January 2010 issue of the Research Highlights newsletter is now online and ready for reading.
The new issue includes these items:
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs publishes Research Highlights for University of Mississippi faculty, staff and students who are interested in and involved in research, scholarship, and creative activities. We hope this publication is a useful tool for UM researchers and scholars in all disciplines. If you have questions or suggestions, or if you wish to submit news items or story ideas, please email the Research Highlights editor at research@olemiss.edu.
Since submissions are limited, internal coordination by the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) is required. Those planning to apply (either as lead or as subcontractor) should notify Mickey McLaurin in the ORSP (7482 or mclaurin@olemiss.edu ) no later than January 29, 2010. The IGERT program has been developed to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers who will pursue careers in research and education, with the interdisciplinary backgrounds, deep knowledge in chosen disciplines, and technical, professional, and personal skills to become, in their own careers, leaders and creative agents for change. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education, for students, faculty, and institutions, by establishing innovative models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. It is also intended to facilitate diversity in student participation and preparation, and to contribute to a world-class, broadly inclusive, and globally engaged science and engineering workforce. IGERT traineeship projects involving research in any of the areas appropriate for funding by the NSF are eligible.
The Department of Defense (DoD), through the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), supports the demonstration of environmental and energy technologies that address priority DoD environmental requirements. The goal of ESTCP is to transition environmental and energy technology projects through the demonstration phase, thereby enabling promising technologies to receive regulatory and DoD end-user acceptance and to be fielded and commercialized more effectively and more rapidly. ESTCP is seeking innovative environmental and energy technology demonstrations as candidates for funding. Topic areas for private sector proposers are:
The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) has announced the creation of the ARPA-E Fellows Program, consisting of Senior Fellows and Fellows who will actively help create the strategic direction and vision of the country’s first agency devoted exclusively to transformational energy technology research and development. Fellows will support ARPA-E’s Program Directors in program creation, while also undertaking independent explorations of promising future research areas for the agency. Fellows will also engage with world class researchers and innovators to develop theses for high impact ARPA-E research program areas, prepare energy technology and economic analyses, and make recommendations to DOE senior management.
Program participants will be expected to have strong technical backgrounds and deep expertise in at least one energy technology related field. Senior Fellows will be expected to have three or more years of relevant work experience in energy innovation related fields, while Fellows will represent recent PhDs, postdoctoral researchers, and recent graduates with less than three years of work experience. Participants will be competitively selected from the best and the brightest, up-and-coming researchers and entrepreneurs in the U.S. energy field.
Highly qualified candidates should possess the following attributes:
Senior Fellows:
Fellows:
ARPA-E Fellow terms will not exceed two years. All ARPA-E Fellows and Senior Fellows are full-time federal employees paid at a competitive salary.
Candidates should apply by sending the following to ARPA-E-Jobs@hq.doe.gov:
More information can be found at: http://arpa-e.energy.gov/JO.html.
The theme for this year's meeting is "Educating the Energy Workforce" with presentations on the needs of the U.S. power industry for a well-qualified workforce. Speakers will discuss the needs of the nuclear, renewable, and fossil fuel sectors, as well as the needs of the national laboratories and the federal government. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Kei Koizumi, Assistant Director for Federal Research and Development of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The theme for this year's Summit is STRONG! Science and Technology for Intelligent Resilience. The Summit will focus on the contributions of scientific and technological advancement to economic, community, and individual resilience. Numerous experts from academia, industry, and government will discuss how investments in science and technology can intelligently make the nation more resilient. On the agenda are plenary sessions, town hall discussions, breakout and working group sessions, and poster sessions. More information will be available soon.