OPPORTUNITY FUNDING ALERT

Academic Research Enhancement
National Institutes of Health - Limited Competition: Academic Research Enhancement Award
Breast Cancer Research
Komen Foundation - Training and Fellowships
NIH - Research on "The Biology of Estrogen Receptor Negative Breast Cancer in Various Racial & Ethnic Groups"
Conservation
FishAmerica Foundation - Community-Based Habitat Restoration Projects
Education
Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellowships
The Actuarial Foundation – Mathematics Mentoring
National Science Foundation - Research Experiences for Undergraduates
Film
French American Cultural Exchange - The Tournées Festival
Geoscience
National Science Foundation – Sedimentary and Paleobiology
Health, Education, Arts, Social/Civic Welfare
Schering-Plough Foundation
Inventors and Innovators
National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance
Lung Diseases
American Lung Association - Basic, Clinical & Behavioral Research Grants
Religion and Ethics
The Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation - Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships
Socially Intelligent Computing
Women
The Global Fund for Women
Of Interest
Value of Volunteer Time
Community of Science User Training
Important Notice: Attention Researchers: IRBNet Begins on June 1, 2009

Academic Research Enhancement

National Institutes of Health - Limited Competition: Academic Research Enhancement Award
This NIH program (RFA-OD-09-007) is supported by funds provided to the NIH under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009. The purpose of the Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) program is to stimulate research in educational institutions that provide baccalaureate or advanced degrees for a significant number of the Nation's research scientists, but that have not been major recipients of NIH support. These AREA grants create opportunities for scientists and institutions otherwise unlikely to participate extensively in NIH programs, to contribute to the Nation's biomedical and behavioral research effort. AREA grants are intended to support small-scale health-related research projects proposed by faculty members of eligible, domestic institutions. It is estimated that up to 50 awards will be made in FY 2010. Applicants may request up to a total of $300,000 direct costs plus applicable F&A / indirect costs. The total project period for an application submitted in response to this funding opportunity may be up to three years. Deadline: Sept. 24, 2009. Go to: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-09-007.html

Breast Cancer Research

Komen Foundation - Training and Fellowships
Investigator Initiated Research– up to $600,000 over 3 years to support research exploring new ideas and novel approaches leading to reductions in breast cancer incidence and/or mortality within the decade. Deadlines: Pre-application: Jun. 1, 2009; Proposal: Jul. 31, 2009.

Career Catalyst Research and Career Catalyst in Disparities Research – up to $450,000 over 3 years to support combined programs of research and mentoring that will further research independence for scientists in the early stages of their career.

Promise Grants (PG) – to support multi-disciplinary research contributing to the aggressive translation of scientific discoveries into clinical tools and applications with the greatest potential to significantly reduce breast cancer incidence and/or mortality within the next decade. This year’s Promise Grant mechanism will focus exclusively on breast cancer prevention. Further details will be available in May 2009.

To be announced in Sept. 2009) - Postdoctoral Fellowships – up to $180,000 over 3 years to expand the skills and expertise of breast cancer researchers and position trainees for independent careers in breast cancer research; Post Baccalaureate Training in Disparities Research – up to $135,000 per student over 3 years to support training for students very early in their career to allow them to begin to define meaningful career paths focused on disparities in breast cancer.

Go to: http://www.komengrantsaccess.org

NIH - "The Biology of Estrogen Receptor Negative Breast Cancer in Various Racial & Ethnic Groups"
The National Cancer Institute will issue a request for applications (RFA) for research on “The Biology of Estrogen Receptor Negative Breast Cancer in various Racial and Ethnic Groups”. The intended funding opportunity announcement is designed to promote the systematic study of the biology of Estrogen Receptor (ER)-negative human breast cancers, the characterization of the molecular features of these cancers, the signaling pathways, and networks that support their growth. Another important goal is to identify differences in the biology of ER-negative breast tumors among racial groups. It is expected in early summer 2009 and will be RFA-CA-09-026. APPLICATIONS ARE NOT BEING SOLICITED AT THIS TIME. However, this Notice is to encourage investigators with appropriate backgrounds and capabilities to pro-actively plan to submit applications.

The NCI plans to fund up to four cooperative agreement awards using the U01 mechanism. These awards will be up to a maximum of $800,000 in annual total cost per award, with project periods of up to five years. This initiative is designed to support collaborative and interdisciplinary research focused on characterizing the genetic, epigenetic, molecular and cellular factors that contribute to the development and progression of ER-negative human breast cancer.

Conservation

FishAmerica Foundation - Community-Based Habitat Restoration Projects
Through the FishAmerica Foundation/NOAA Restoration Center Partnership, the Foundation seeks applications to restore habitat for marine and anadromous fish species. Successful proposals have community-based restoration effects with outreach to the local communities. Range: $5,000-$50,000. Deadline: Jun. 22, 2009. Go to: http://www.fishamerica.org/grants/documents/FAF-NOAA2009RFP.pdf

Education

Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellowships
The Dissertation Fellowship Program seeks to encourage a new generation of scholars from a wide range of disciplines and professional fields to undertake research relevant to the improvement of education. These $25,000 fellowships support individuals whose dissertations show potential for bringing fresh and constructive perspectives to the history, theory, or practice of formal or informal education anywhere in the world. Although the dissertation topic must concern education, graduate study may be in any academic discipline or professional field. In the past, fellowships have been awarded to candidates in anthropology, architecture, art history, economics, education, history, linguistics, literature, philosophy, political science, psychology, public health, religion, and sociology, but eligibility is not restricted to these academic areas. Candidates should be interested in pursuing further research in education once the doctorate is attained. Applicants need not be citizens of the United States; however, they must be candidates for the doctoral degree at a graduate school within the United States. These fellowships are not intended to finance data collection or the completion of doctoral coursework, but rather to support the final analysis of the research topic and the writing of the dissertation. Deadline: November 4, 2009. Go to: http://www.spencer.org/content.cfm/dissertation-fellowship-program

The Actuarial Foundation – Mathematical Mentoring
The Actuarial Foundation – through its Advancing Student Achievement Mentoring program – awards monetary grants to schools throughout the United States and Canada.* The basic requirement for schools seeking funding is that they develop a viable mentoring program involving actuaries in the teaching of mathematics to children in private and public schools.

Advancing Student Achievement is a grant program that brings together actuaries and educators in local classroom environments with the belief that interaction with real-world mentors will boost students’ interest and achievement in math. The Actuarial Foundation can provide a local network of actuaries ready to participate, as well as suggestions on how to integrate math concepts from the workplace into the classroom. Schools applying for grants will be given wide latitude in designing programs that enhance learning and create a “love of math” in each student. Deadline: None. Go to: http://www.actuarialfoundation.org/programs/teachers/what_asa_grant.shtml

National Science Foundation - Research Experiences for Undergraduates
The Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program supports active research participation by undergraduate students in any of the areas of research funded by the National Science Foundation. REU projects involve students in meaningful ways in ongoing research programs or in research projects specifically designed for the REU program.

This solicitation features two mechanisms for support of student research: (1) REU Sites are based on independent proposals to initiate and conduct projects that engage a number of students in research. REU Sites may be based in a single discipline or academic department, or on interdisciplinary or multi-department research opportunities with a coherent intellectual theme. Proposals with an international dimension are welcome. A partnership with the Department of Defense supports REU Sites in DoD-relevant research areas. (2) REU Supplements may be requested for ongoing NSF-funded research projects or may be included as a component of proposals for new or renewal NSF grants or cooperative agreements. Undergraduate student participants in either Sites or Supplements must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States or its possessions. Deadline: mid-Aug. 2009. A new REU solicitation will be published in May. Go to: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2007/nsf07569/nsf07569.htm

Film

French American Cultural Exchange - The Tournées Festival
The Tournées Festival, a program of the French American Culture Exchange, was conceived to bring contemporary French cinema to college and university campuses in the United States. Since its inception, the program has partnered with hundreds of universities and made it possible for more than 300,000 students to discover French-language films. The Tournées Festival distributes over $200,000 in grants annually. Schools that show films in 35mm will continue to receive a grant of $2,300 to show their five films ($460 per film). We hope that this increased amount will be helpful to cover additional expenses incurred in presenting 35mm prints and that it will encourage more universities to show films in that format. Schools that show films on DVD will continue to receive a grant of $1,800 to show their five films ($360 per film). Schools that show a combination of DVD and 35mm prints will receive a grant corresponding to each film's format. Please note the two application deadlines: June 30, 2009 for those who wish to program films in the fall semester, and October 1, 2009 for those scheduling their films in the spring semester. Go to: http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/rfp_item.jhtml?id=251900013

Geoscience

National Science Foundation – Sedimentary and Paleobiology
Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology supports studies of: (1) the changing aspects of life, ecology, environments, and biogeography in past geologic time based on fossil plants, animals, and microbes; (2) all aspects of the Earth’s sedimentary carapace — insights into geological processes recorded in its historical records and rich organic and inorganic resources locked in rock sequences; (3) the science of dating and measuring the time sequence of events and rates of geological processes of the Earth’s past sedimentary and biological (fossil) record; (4) the geologic record of the production, transportation, and deposition of physical and chemical sediments; and (5) understanding the complexities of Earth's deep time (pre-Holocene) climate systems. The Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology Program especially encourages integrative studies at the national and international levels that seek to link subdisciplines, such as geochronology, paleoclimatology, paleogeography, paleoenvironments and paleoecology. Deadline: August 7, 2009. Go to: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09560/nsf09560.htm

Health, Education, Arts, Social/Civic Welfare

Schering-Plough Foundation
The Schering-Plough Foundation is dedicated to working with the citizens of its communities to help them realize their full potential and enhance their quality of life. The foundation targets its grants in three major areas: health, education, and community initiatives (social/civic welfare, public policy, culture and the arts, and women and minorities). Health, Education, Community Initiatives. Go to: http://www.schering-plough.com/responsibility/foundation-guidelines.aspx

Inventors and Innovators

National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance
With support from The Lemelson Foundation, the NCIIA awards grants in three major categories:

Course and Program Grants - grants are awarded to faculty and staff at colleges and universities to help improve existing curricular programs or build new programs in invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Course and Program Grants support creative pedagogy that generates E-Teams, bringing real life applications into the classroom setting and beyond. Deadline: December 4, 2009. Go to: http://www.nciia.org/grants

Advanced E-Team grants - support commercial outcomes by moving innovative products or technologies from the idea stage to prototype, as well as helping collegiate innovators secure Intellectual Property. E-Team grant proposals must demonstrate an idea’s technical feasibility, potential for commercialization and social value. The proposal should also involve students, faculty and outside (industry) advisors. Deadline: December 4, 2009. Go to: http://www.nciia.org/grants

Sustainable Vision grants Sustainable Vision grants support innovative educational programs based at U.S. institutions of higher education. These programs move ideas to commercialization while addressing basic human needs such as health, food, security, clean water and affordable energy for people living in poverty in the U.S. or abroad. Grant recipients partner with a non-profit, for-profit educational or governmental organizations to plan and implement precuts or services in an economically sustainable way. Deadline: Friday, October 16, 2009. Go to: http://www.nciia.org/grants

Lung Diseases

American Lung Association - Basic, Clinical & Behavioral Research Grants
Independent Investigator Awards: 1. Biomedical Research Grants provide seed monies of $40,000/yr. for up to two years, for investigator researching the mechanisms of lung disease and general lung biology; 2. Clinical Patient Care Research Grants provide $40,000/yr. for up to two years for seed monies for investigators working on traditional clinical studies examining methods for improving patient care and treat for lung disease; 3. Socio-Behavioral Research Grants provide $40,000/yr. for up to two years for seed monies for investigators working on epidemiological and behavioral studies examining risk factors affecting lung health This grant includes studies concerning the ethical, legal, and economic aspects of health services and policies. For training and other opportunities, go to: http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=934453

Religion and Ethics

The Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation - Newcome Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships
Newcombe Fellowships are awarded annually following a rigorous national selection process. Eligibility for Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships is limited to students enrolled in doctoral programs in the humanities and social sciences at graduate schools in the United States. Awards are for 12 months of dissertation writing. All doctoral requirements except the dissertation must be completed by December of the year preceding the Fellowship award. No Newcombe Foundation support is available for post-doctoral fellowships. To be eligible for selection, the graduate scholar must be preparing a dissertation in which ethical or religious values are a central concern. According to the Woodrow Wilson National Scholarship Foundation, "...dissertations appropriate to the Newcombe Fellowship competition might explore the ethical implications of foreign policy, the values influencing political decision, the moral codes of other cultures, and religious or ethical issues reflected in history or literature."

The Woodrow Wilson Foundation administers the Newcombe Fellowship competition at the request of and in consultation with the Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation, a private foundation created under the will of Philadelphia philanthropist Mrs. Newcombe, who died in 1979. In addition to the Newcombe Dissertation Fellowships, the Newcombe Foundation funds three college scholarship programs: for physically disabled students, for returning women students, and for minority or economically disadvantaged students attending a small number of colleges related to the Presbyterian church.

Since the first round of competition in 1981, more than 1,000 Newcombe Fellows have been named. Fellows from early years of the program are now senior faculty members at major research universities and selective liberal arts colleges, curators and directors at significant scholarly archives, and leaders and policymakers at nonprofit organizations and in cabinet-level government agencies. In the past decade, national honors such as the MacArthur Fellowship, the Guggenheim Fellowship, and election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences have been accorded to more than a dozen Newcombe Fellows—a number that will continue to grow as more and more Fellows enter the most productive phases of their careers.

For applications, contact: Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships, The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, P.O. Box 5281, Princeton, NJ 08543-5281, (609) 452-7007. Go to: www.woodrow.org/newcombe

Socially Intelligent Computing

National Science Foundation – Social-Computational Systems
This is a program (NSF 09-559) from the Directorates for Computer & Information Science & Engineering, and the Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences.

The Social-Computational Systems (SoCS) program seeks to reveal new understanding about the properties that systems of people and computers together possess, and to develop a practical understanding of the purposeful design of systems to facilitate socially intelligent computing. By better characterizing, understanding, and eventually designing for desired behaviors arising from computationally mediated groups of people at all scales, new forms of knowledge creation, new models of computation, new forms of culture, and new types of interaction will result. Further, the investigation of such systems and their emergent behaviors and desired properties will inform the design of future systems.

The program will support research in socially intelligent computing arising from human-computer partnerships that range in scale from a single person and computer to an Internet-scale array of machines and people. The program seeks to create new knowledge about the capabilities these partnerships can demonstrate - new affordances and new emergent behaviors, as well as unanticipated consequences and fundamental limits. The program also seeks to foster new ideas that support even greater capabilities for socially intelligent computing, such as the design and development of systems reflecting explicit knowledge about people's cognitive and social abilities, new models of collective, social, and participatory computing, and new algorithms that leverage the specific abilities of massive numbers of human participants.

The program seeks to capitalize upon the collaborative knowledge and research methods of investigators in the computational and human sciences, recognizing that researchers in computer science and related disciplines often focus on the limits and capabilities of computation in isolation from the people that use computation, while researchers in the social sciences often focus on the use of technology or the capabilities of people with limited impact on how such knowledge can influence the design of new technologies. Proposals that reflect collaborative efforts spanning computational and human centered approaches and perspectives are specifically encouraged. Deadline: September 21, 2009. Go to: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09559/nsf09559.htm

Women

The Global Fund for Women
The Global Fund for Women supports women's groups that advance the human rights of women and girls. It aims to strengthen women's right groups based outside the United States by providing small, flexible, and timely grants ranging from $500 to $20,000 for operating and program expenses. The Fund values local expertise and believes that women themselves know best how to determine their needs and propose solutions for lasting change. There are three types of grants: General Support Grants, Travel Grants, and Organizing Meeting/Event Grants. The Global Fund supports groups of women working together, organizations that demonstrate a clear commitment to women’s equality and women’s human rights, organizations that are governed and directed by women, and organizations based outside of the United States. Go to: http://www.globalfundforwomen.org/cms/grant-criteria/

Of Interest

Value of Volunteer Time - If you need to know the estimated dollar value of volunteer time -- perhaps for a cost-sharing aspect of your budget -- go to: http://www.independentsector.org/programs/research/volunteer_time.html

Community of Science User Training - http://www.cos.com/usertraining/ RefWorks-COS recently launched COS User Training. These sessions are open to faculty, liaisons and other users of COS services. COS User Training is conducted via WebEx, an online meeting service that combines video, audio, and other features to deliver a very effective training experience. Here are some useful tips: Register early, and block out that time slot. Save registration and/or confirmation emails so you have the log-on and teleconference information readily available. If possible, gather with colleagues for a group COS User Training session. Log-on 15 minutes in advance of training time so that you can be set-up before the session begins. Audio streaming will begin automatically when you log into the WebEx session.

Scholar Universe on CSS Illumina, – Thursday, June 4, 2009 at 2:00 p.m.
COS Funding Opportunities on CSA Illumina – Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 2:00 p.m.
COS Expertise and Workbench – Tuesday, June.23, 2009 at 2:00 p.m.
COS Funding Opportunities and Funding Alerts – June 30, 2009 at 2:00 p.m.

Important Notice: Attention Researchers: IRBNet Begins on June 1, 2009 - As of June 1, 2009 all studies being submitted to the IRB must be submitted electronically through IRBNet. New protocols, continuations, modifications etc will not be accepted on paper or by email as of this date. To view tutorial and sign up for a training session, go to: http://www.fau.edu/research/rcs/IRBNet.php

Send comments to Camille Coley, Executive Assistant Vice President or Penny Ashwanden, Content Editor.

Prior Opportunity Alerts

May 2009