Volume 13, number 2: August 16, 2006
FUNDING TIPS
New to UNC-Chapel Hill? Move Your COS Faculty Expertise Profile Too
If you are a new faculty member or researcher coming from another COS member university, you can easily transfer your existing COS expertise profile to Carolina 's COS faculty expertise database. All you need to do is log in to your COS Workbench, edit your “Current Position” to indicate your new appointment, and update your previous appointment to include its ending date. Once the position changes have been saved, your profile will display your new affiliation. Welcome to Carolina!
For assistance in updating your Faculty Expertise Profile, please contact the GrantSource Library for an individual consultation or plan to attend one of our workshops for faculty.
Tips for New Faculty
In a recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Karen M. Markin provided excellent career advice for new faculty in her article entitled “Where to Start.” Her tips include:
- Find out what resources and services are available at your university. Here at UNC-Chapel Hill, the Research@Carolina website provides information about all of the offices which support the university's research mission, including links to their websites;
- Track down information about internal grants for faculty. For example, you can use Carolina Internal Funding Database to find internal funding opportunities;
- Search for external funding opportunities for junior faculty and young investigators using other databases such as COS, SPIN, and Grants.gov. At Carolina, these are available through the GrantSource Library; and
- Talk with other faculty, your departmental colleagues, or your mentor to learn how things are done at your new university.
NC Board of Science and Technology Incentives and Matching Funds
The North Carolina Board of Science and Technology provides an incentive program for investigators preparing and submitting Phase I proposals for the U.S. Government's Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs (SBTT), as well as matching funds for those proposals awarded either an SBIR or an SBTT award. The recently passed state budget includes funding that will expand the One NC Small Business Fund (for emerging companies) by $15 million, as well as $5 million for SBIR grants (non-recurring).
The state is now accepting applications for matching grants for fiscal year 2006-07. For information and applications, click here. Beginning this year applications for support from the One NC Fund can be made via web-based electronic submission.
The incentive program will be announced soon, and information can be found here. You may also subscribe through the website to RSS feeds for both programs to be notified of program changes, solicitation releases, and announcements.
NC IDEA Grants for Commercialization of Research Innovation
NC IDEA, a private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping establish and develop early-stage companies by commercializing research innovation, is holding its second NC IDEA Grants Program beginning August 21. The program is intended to help companies bridge the gap between ideas and institutional funding.
NC IDEA plans to award $150,000 (maximum of $50,000 per company) during December 2006. North Carolina-based companies focused on information technology, medical devices, or material sciences are invited to apply, with preference given to those that have not previously received equity financing. Entrepreneurs who have not formed companies may apply, but company incorporation will be required prior to the awarding of grant funding. NC IDEA Grants will support business activities such as the development of a business plan, market research and analysis, IP activities, or prototype development. Grants will not be awarded to fund scientific research or pay salaries.
For more information or to apply online for a grant, click here.
American Cancer Society (ACS) Grants and Grantsmanship
Dr. Bill Phelps, the American Cancer Society's Scientific Program Director, recently gave a presentation at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center highlighting ACS grant opportunities and tips for writing well-reviewed proposals. A major focus for ACS is extramural research funding for beginning investigators. For example, ACS Institutional Research Grant (IRG) program provides small grants to beginning investigators without independent support, in order to attract them to cancer research. These cancer research projects are expected to produce preliminary results that will enable the investigators to compete successfully for national research grants.
Within the IRG competition, Phelps offered the following advice:
- Funding preference will be given to institutions that document a program of mentoring activities intended to foster early career development;
- In order to promote collaboration, consortium applications from groups of institutions are strongly encouraged; and
- Targeted research on the poor and underserved is an on-going focus (10% of the extramural budget has been dedicated to this issue since 1999)
To view Dr. Phelps' presentation and handout, click here.
For more information about ACS funding opportunities, click here.
American Society for Hematology Unveils 2006 Agenda
The newly released American Society for Hematology Agenda for Hematology Research: 2006 delineates the society's six highest-priority scientific themes, which include:
- Hematopoietic stem cells
- Normal and pathological hematopoiesis
- Hematologic malignancies
- Targeted and gene therapies
- Immunobiology
- Thrombosis and vascular biology
The agenda also includes recommendations for critical research infrastructure development, particularly focusing on training and core facilities' needs within all areas of hematology research.
To read the full agenda, click here.