Volume 13, number 2: August 16, 2006
FEDERAL NEWS
Study on Responsible Conduct of Research Training
The Office of Research Integrity and the National Institutes of Health are currently sponsoring a project to assess the impact of RCR training courses on researchers' ethical decision-making. Instructors who agree to participate are asked to encourage course participants to complete a series of online measures assessing ethical decision-making, and to complete a short course description. Instructors' participation in this effort will provide valuable guidance to individuals and institutions that are designing and/or evaluating programs aimed at enhancing ethical decision-making. Participants will have access to feedback about their trainee's performance, which will provide insight into the strengths of their course and guide future efforts in curriculum.
To learn more about this project and how you can participate, click here.
Proposed Change in NIH/AHRQ Grant Appendix Materials
The National Institutes of Health and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality are evaluating guidelines for grant application appendices in an effort to streamline the application and review processes. A recent Request for Information seeks input from interested applicants, reviewers, and other members of the research community regarding the way appendix materials should be used in the grant submission, review, and management process. READ MORE
Department of Education Announces Proposed Funding Priorities
The Department of Education (ED) has announced its proposed priorities for all FY 2007 and FY 2008 discretionary grant programs. These priorities are intended to focus federal financial assistance on expanding ED funding to support activities in areas of greatest educational need. They include:
- Mathematics
- Science
- Critical-need languages
- Secondary schools
- Professional development for secondary school teachers
- School districts with schools in need of improvement, corrective action, or restructuring
- Student achievement data
- State data systems
Researchers are invited to submit comments regarding these proposed priorities by September 6. READ MORE
What Are Your Chances of Getting NIH Funding?
Your best advisor on this issue, because of the differences in institutes, centers, and programs, is the National Institutes of Health (NIH) program official. Discuss your ideas with the program officer early in the process to find out specific success rates, priorities, and paylines. The name and contact information for that individual can be found on the website for the institute or center that matches your research interests. General information on the financial operations plans for individual institutes and centers is posted at the Extramural Financial Operations Plan webpage. This site also includes the prospective paylines.
For more information on Success Rates, Percentiles, Paylines . . . and your chances of being funded, click here (pdf).
NIH Outlines Process for Idea Solicitation and Roadmap Initiative Selection
Building on the success of the first version of the Roadmap for Medical Research, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is identifying ideas for a new cohort of Roadmap initiatives to be funded within the existing Roadmap budget in FY 2008.
To identify new initiatives, ideas will be solicited through meetings with scientists from around the nation who represent various disciplines and areas of investigation. These meetings will take place during the summer and early fall of this year and will help senior NIH staff identify cross-cutting challenges in biomedical research that meet the criteria for Roadmap Initiatives.
NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices will be given an opportunity to develop Roadmap ideas this summer. Idea descriptions from both activities will be posted this fall when NIH launches a web-based Request for Information (RFI) soliciting a broad range of input and ideas from both science and lay communities. The RFI will provide an opportunity for respondents to comment on the ideas already suggested and/or submit new ideas. READ MORE
NEH Digital Humanities Initiative
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has announced the launch of a new Digital Humanities Initiative (DHI), which will support projects that utilize or study digital technology as applied to scholarly humanities research. NEH is especially interested in projects that use digital technologies to enhance public understanding of a topic or issue; study the impact of digital technology on the humanities; and digitize important materials and make them more accessible to the public. Funding will be available in the form of fellowships; research and development grants; support for creating archives, research, or teaching tools; summer stipends; collaborative research grants; challenge grants; and more. Grant guidelines and applications are still under development. READ MORE
NSF Geosciences Directorate Support for Postdoctoral Appointees and Graduate Students: Guidelines for PIs
The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) has released a Dear Colleague letter that emphasizes the importance of providing professional development and mentoring for postdoctoral appointees and graduate students supported by NSF awards. The notice also reminds Principal Investigators (PIs) to include descriptions of these efforts in the “Broader Impacts” sections of proposals, as well as in annual and final reports.. The letter also includes more on types of support and information to help PIs and their institutions contribute to a meaningful graduate or postdoctoral experience. READ MORE
National Academies: Technological Literacy of U.S. Population Not Well-Assessed; Additional Surveys Needed
The National Academies have released the results of their inquiry into the state of technological literacy in the United States . In reviewing existing surveys and tests, Tech Tally: Approaches to Assessing Technological Literacy found that none adequately assessed technical knowledge and use. The Committee on Assessing Technological Literacy in the United States also provided recommendations for the development of better tools to assess three different populations: K-12 students, K-12 teachers, and out-of-school adults. The full text of the report is available to purchase or read online at the National Academies Press; click here.