Volume 16, Number 4: October 7, 2009

FUNDING TIPS

Advice for Faculty Visits with NSF Program Directors

For investigators planning a visit to Washington, DC to meet with National Science Foundation (NSF) program directors, Richard Nader, Director for Research Development in the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development at the University of North Texas, offers some sound advice on preparing for such meetings. Here is an excerpt from Nader's article in the Office of Proposal Development newsletter at Texas A&M University.

"First, you should have 2-3 discrete ideas in mind to discuss. You should have examined your ideas in light of your own research strengths, and compare these to the funding priorities/requirements of the NSF program and/or division to which you plan to apply. Second, you should be prepared to visit multiple programs due to the likely possibility that your research ideas may be applicable to multiple programs. Third, keep in mind that NSF reflects different scientific disciplines and programmatic histories, and therefore processes might vary widely. Your task is submit your proposal to the program that "best fits" your research objectives, while learning the "priorities" of the multiple programs that may have an interest in your work."

Nader just completed a 3-year term as Program Manager at the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering.

Travel Grants to Visit Extramural Sponsors

If you are planning a meeting with program officers at NSF or other extramural sponsors, be aware that all full time Carolina research faculty members and other staff serving as principal investigators on scholarly or scientific research, are eligible to apply for travel grants to support such visits. Sponsored by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development, this program does not support travel to scholarly or scientific meetings. Priority will be given to those who have not received support during the past twelve months.

For details and contact information, click here.

Changes in COS Funding Opportunities Search

The COS Funding Opportunities database has added a number of useful new features, including:

You can now save an unlimited number of searches on your COS Workbench.
Funding opportunities can be tracked from a search page.
The "Award" field can now be sorted from highest to lowest and vice versa with undefined amounts always appearing at the end of the list.
Shared searches and alerts can be distributed to more than 5 email addresses.

The GrantSource Library staff would be happy to meet with you to introduce you to the new features of COS Funding Opportunities and show you how to use this database to search for funding more easily and efficiently. Contact the library (962-3463) to schedule a consultation or a group workshop.

Changes in One NC Funding Review and Award System

The North Carolina Board of Science and Technology has issued a call for comment on proposed amendments to the guidelines for the One North Carolina Small Business Program Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I Incentive and Matching Fund Programs. Specifically, the proposed guidelines call for a change from the current "first-come, first-served" review and award system to a statistical probability system.

To read the guidelines including the specific proposed amendments, click here.

Any comments should be communicated to John Hardin (919-715-0516) by October 22.