In this Issue
Vice President's Message
• Summer's
Coming to an End
• Managing
Multiple PI's on a Single Grant
• Proper
Acknowledgments
Good News and Coming Events
• News
• Events
Opportunities and Sponsor Information
• New
E-mail Address for Proposals Sent to OSP for Electronic Submission to Sponsor
• Upcoming
Funding Opportunities
• Interdisciplinary
Seminars
• Music
for Meetings
• Change
in NIH Fellowship Procedure
• Change
in Policy for Honoraria and Peer Review Payment
• NSF
Grant Policy Manual Revision
Essential Policies, Procedures and Resources
• Tuition
Charges to Research Grants
• International
Compilation of Human Subject Research Protections Now Available
• Employee
Tuition Waiver Program
For More Information
Vice President's Message
Summer's Coming to an End
Summer is almost over. I hope you and yours have enjoyed the warm weather, rested and are geared up for a new academic year. Monday Memo will resume its every other week schedule on August 29.
Managing Multiple PI's on a Single Grant
Have you ever felt that both you and your colleague should both be PI on a proposal? In the near future that is going to be possible on Federal grants.
The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have inaugurated an initiative in response to requests from the research community that have arisen in this era of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research where two or more investigators, frequently from more than one institution, share intellectual leadership of a project. The agencies published in the Federal Register (Vol. 70, No. 136 pp. 41220-41222, July 18, 2005) a request for "...information relating to the use of multiple Principal Investigators (PIs) on awards made under Federal research and research-related programs." This represents the first step in complying with the January 4, 2005 memorandum issued by OSTP to all Federal research agencies requiring them to permit more than one PI on individual research awards. OSTP and OMB are requesting comments from the University community on how this directive could best be implemented.
OSTP/OMB seek input on a series of questions:
1. What constitutes a PI?
2. How will the "Contact PI" be designated?
3. How should application instructions for listing more than one PI be modified?
4. How would multiple PIs at different institutions be managed?
5. Who should have access to award and review information?
6. How should public access to data systems be effected?
Comments from individuals and organizations are due September 16, 2005. Responses may be addressed to Beth Phillips, Office of Federal Financial Management via e-mail to Ephillip@omb.eop.gov.
The same due date applies to a companion request for information issued a week ago by the National Institutes of Health regarding its plan to recognize multiple principal investigators on NIH grants. The plan, which responds to the OSTP directive, recognizes that "increasingly, collaborative synergy is necessary to fully realize the promise of modern biomedical and biobehavioral research". The agency seeks input on aspects of this change — which it notes will supplement, and not replace, the traditional single-PI model — that may be of special interest or concern to the health-related research community. The notice is posted at-
http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-05-055.html.
This is an important initiative that will encourage multidisciplinary research proposals and your input will be critical to achieving an effective new management system.
Proper Acknowledgements
Participation in sponsored program research is a privilege. While it is given that your work is supported by the University through the provision of salary and facilities, the outside agencies, be they private, federal or state, would like to be recognized when you present findings at a conference or in a publication. In fact, several agencies have a clause in the contract that the Research Foundation signs on your behalf when you obtain funding that stipulates that "...each contractor and award recipient must conspicuously and prominently acknowledge..." (name of sponsor) "...in its communications with the public, including printed publications, press releases, events, speeches, electronic media such as websites, conferences, exhibits, announcements, and invitations." Please make sure that your sponsors are properly acknowledged at all times. Without them, our research programs would come to a screeching halt. Thank you.
{Top}
Good News and Coming Events
News
Please join us in rejoicing with colleagues for achievements that have become known since the last issue.
PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY
Chang Kee Jung, Physics and Astronomy, is the chief spokesperson of a national consortium that was selected by the National Science Foundation to develop a site and conceptual design for an underground research facility in Colorado where revolutionary discoveries and advances in science and engineering would be possible. The Henderson Underground Science and Engineering Project (HUSEP) collaboration – which also includes researchers from the University of Colorado, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State, Nebraska, Penn State, Tennessee, Utah, Climax Molybdenum Company Henderson Mine operation; and The Arapaho Project – will receive $500,000 to develop the conceptual design to convert the Henderson Mine into a Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL).
"If DUSEL is built, scientists will unearth the secrets of the universe that are underground," said Prof. Jung. "With DUSEL, because neutrinos penetrate the earth, detectors underground will be able to see these neutrinos, and we can compose images of the stars that we can see underground." HUSEP is competing against a team based in South Dakota to actually develop the underground laboratory.
SURGERY
Galina Botchkina, Surgery, is working on developing a non-invasive and more specific prostate cancer diagnostic tool. The method involves a quantitative analysis of telomerase, an enzyme which directs the replication of telomeres at the ends of chromosomes. This enzyme is inactive in normal cells, but active in cancer cells. The results of the research could one day lead to a simple urinalysis test for the disease. Results of the research have been reported in the journal Clinical Cancer Research. An article about Prof. Botchkina's work appeared in the July 29 issue of Newsday.
GEOSCIENCES
Image taken at the Spirit landing site
Since September of 2004, the Mars Exploration Rover mission has been carrying
out operations remotely. The Department of Geosciences has one of the remote
terminals used for developing the science plans that are transmitted to the rovers
Spirit and Opportunity each day. The Stony Brook team is lead by Prof.
Scott McLennan and includes graduate student collaborators Brian Hahn, Joel
Hurowitz and Nick Tosca and undergraduate collaborator Scott Perl. A special
section about the Mars exploration rover mission in the July 7, 2005 of Nature features
papers co-authored by Prof. McLennan and by the students on the team (see above).
HEALTH, TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has approved a grant to Health, Technology and
Management, subject to review and acceptance of the terms of the Grant Commitment,
for $101,925 to support action dialogues designed to increase understanding
of the national and international implications of an aging population, promote
increased use of patient education and self-management approaches that allow
seniors to age in place, and assist seniors to minimize stereotypes and build
bridges in a youth-oriented society. This grant is shared by the School of
Health Technology and Management and School of Social Welfare.
Events
CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS IN SCHOLARSHIP ON HOMELAND SECURITY: EXPLORING THE INTELLECTUAL TERRITORY
A SUNY Conversation in the Disciplines
Thursday, September 29, 2005, 8:30 am-6 pm
Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government
411 State Street,
Albany, N.Y. 12203
Institute phone: (518) 443-5522
Institute web page: www.rockinst.org.
The ongoing threat of terrorism poses long-term challenges for academic research and scholarship. There is particular concern about the vulnerabilities of large cities. The most ominous threat is that technologies of mass destruction will be ever more easily produced in small laboratories.
Our disciplines can be mined for knowledge applicable to the protection of the nation and its localities, but new scholarship is also needed. This Conversation in the Disciplines asks faculty members throughout SUNY to reflect on what their scholarly responses will be.
The full announcement with details about attending can be found here (*.doc).
—Contributed by Ernest Stenberg (ezs@buffalo.edu), Urban & Regional Planning, SUNY Buffalo
CENTER FOR WINE, FOOD AND CULTURE EVENTS
Great Chefs/Great Wine Series
Oscar’s Winning Culinary Inventions Thursday, September 15: 6:30–8:00 p.m. Chef Henry Friedank, from newly opened and highly acclaimed Oscar’s Restaurant in St. James, will prepare tastes of some of his favorites, paired with the award-winning wines of Macari Vineyards.
Location: Wang Center Chapel.
To Register: Call Ginny Clancy at (631) 632-9404.
Fee: Each class will offer 6-8 quality wines and will include light food pairings complementing the wines and region of origin. Classes are $55.00 per person."Bring a Friend" and the second person gets a discounted rate of $45.00.
Note: You must be 21 or over to participate in winetasting events.
{Top}
Opportunities and Sponsor Information
New E-mail Address for Proposals Sent to OSP for Electronic Submission to Sponsor
As more sponsors are requiring electronic proposal submission, the Office of Sponsored Programs' staff have been experiencing quota overages on their individual allotted email space. To overcome this problem, a new email address, PROPOSALSOSP@NOTES.CC.SUNYSB.EDU has been created for the submission of proposals in electronic format to the Office of Sponsored Programs. Electronic proposals, usually in the form of .pdf files, should be emailed as attachments to this email address. Please include in the subject line the faculty member's name (Last Name, First Name), Department, and the intended sponsor of the proposal. (i.e., "Doe, John, Department of Biochemistry, NSF") Any general correspondence regarding the proposal (including requests for budget checks) between OSP and the university community should be communicated via normal email channels rather than using the PROPOSALSOSP email address.
Upcoming Funding Opportunities
For a complete list of upcoming deadlines, please go to -
http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/fndopp/deadlcal.html
Interdisciplinary Seminars
Please remember that, in an effort to encourage interdisciplinary research on campus, this office will supply $100 toward a speaker's luncheon when your department invites a Stony Brook colleague from an unrelated discipline to give a seminar. Please contact Ann-Marie Scheidt amscheidt@notes.cc.sunysb.edu to determine eligibility. You will be asked to provide a copy of the seminar notice annotated with the number of attendees and a brief description of any anticipated collaborations with the speaker's department.
Music for Meetings
Please remember that the OVPR would like to assist those of you who are planning a research meeting on campus by providing musical interludes. If you would like to have Stony Brook student musicians play at the reception for your meeting it can be arranged by contacting Ann-Marie Scheidt amscheidt@notes.cc.sunysb.edu. OVPR will make a payment to the Department of Music and the Department in turn pays the students. You get to listen to some nice music.
Change in NIH Fellowship Procedure
The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) has
learned of a change concerning the National Institutes of Health's National
Research Service Award (NRSA) Institutional Training Grants (T32) program.
This change will affect successful competing renewal T32 grant applications,
but not new T32 applications, for fiscal year 2006 (October 1, 2005 - September
30, 2006). In addition to a stipend and training related expenses, the awards
help offset the combined costs of tuition, fees, and health insurance, at a
rate of 100% up to $3,000, and 60% over $3,000. Due to the rising costs of
these categories, anticipated to exceed NRSA funds available in FY 2006, successful
applicants seeking T32 competing renewal support will receive funding to offset
tuition, fees, and health insurance costs per trainee at the level of support
provided to that program during the previous budget period. This action is
intended to prevent a significant reduction of NRSA training positions in FY
2006.
Successful new T32 applications are not affected by this change; they will be considered under the current formula, which has been in place for approximately 10 years. To draft a new funding formula for FY07 and the future, the NIH will convene a meeting of stakeholders sometime in the fall. We will ensure that graduate deans are invited to this stakeholders meeting. This email is designed to give you a "heads up" on the official announcement which was just posted on the NIH website at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-05-059.html
—Contributed by Lawrence
B. Martin,
Dean of the Graduate School, 632 7035
Change in Policy for Honoraria and Peer Review Payment
Do you review proposals for the NIH or perform other services for the NIH for which you are normally compensated? If so, please read this message from the Chronicle of Higher Education. A similar message came from AAMC yesterday.
The National Institutes of Health is shifting to a system of electronic bank deposits to pay the honoraria and expenses of all of its thousands of peer reviewers, including many academic researchers. The change will require the reviewers to register personal information, including bank-account numbers, in a federal database.
The new system will affect reviewers who participate in NIH peer-review meetings after September 30, according to a notice posted on Friday on the NIH's Web site. Reviewers will no longer be required to submit vouchers and receipts to demonstrate their expenses. The new system will not change the level of reimbursement.
To receive reimbursements, the notice said, all peer reviewers must sign up with the U.S. Treasury Department's Central Contractor Registration, a federal database for all nonfederal people, companies, and other entities that do business with the federal government. The database will be used to make reimbursements directly to reviewers' bank accounts. Reviewers who do not have an account at an American bank still need to register with the database, but they will receive payments via mailed checks rather than via direct deposit.
The NIH notice said that, without registration on the database, it would be unable to pay reimbursable expenses and honoraria. It encouraged all current and potential reviewers to register by September 1.
A notice about the new procedures is available at -
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-05-062.html.
Detailed information is available at -
http://cms.csr.nih.gov/NewsandReports/CCRRegistration/.
NSF Grant Policy Manual Revision
A revised version of the NSF Grant Policy Manual (GPM) (NSF 05-131) became effective July 1, 2005. This document, which supersedes all prior versions of the GPM, implements important changes to NSF's policies and procedures, as well as implementing enhanced capabilities in FastLane. A by chapter summary of significant changes has been developed to assist the user in navigating through these changes; it is the third section of the new publication. NSF grantees are strongly encouraged to review this document as soon as possible.
The updated version of the GPM is available in PDF format on the NSF Website at -
http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=gpm
Please address any questions or comments about the GPM to the Policy Office, Division of Institution and Award Support, at (703) 292-8243 or by e-mail to policy@nsf.gov.
Revisions to NSF's General Grant Conditions that became effective June 15, 2005, are summarized at -
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/gc1/gc1_605sigch.pdf
{Top}
Essential Policies, Procedures and Resources
Tuition Charges to Research Grants
Several campus offices have been working together over the past few months to implement a procedure intended to streamline the process of charging graduate tuition to research grants that support Research Assistants (RAs). To that end, the RF Employment Appointment and Employment Change forms have been revised to authorize graduate tuition charges when applicable. Effective immediately, please make sure that all RA appointments are made on HRSF0009(07/05) and appointment changes are submitted using HAFRM007(07/05).
These forms can be downloaded from the HR website in either PDF or MS Word form at
http://naples.cc.sunysb.edu/Admin/HRSForms.nsf
Use of the revised appointment form will pair the employment appointment with the graduate tuition charge and result in 2005/06 tuition costs being charged to the grant at the time the RA appointment is processed by through HR and Grants Management. The tuition amount charged will be consistent with the terms and duration of the appointment. For example, when a graduate student is appointed as an RA for the academic year 9/1/05 to 5/31/06 then, along with the encumbrance of salary and fringe for the appointment period, the PI/Administrator will also see a charge for tuition of $3,450 to cover both Fall 2005 and Spring 2006 tuition charges (six credits of the NYS tuition rate). If instead, the RA appointment is for only a portion of the year (i.e., 9/1/05 through 12/31/05), then at the time of appointment your grant will only be charged for Fall 2005 tuition costs. All tuition charges will be validated by the Graduate School each semester to insure that tuition charges are consistent with RA appointments.
Please do not hesitate to contact the Graduate School if you have any questions about this matter.
— Contributed by Robert McGrath, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, 632-3450
International Compilation of Human Subject Research Protections Now Available
Recognizing the continued growth of international research, the Office for Human Research Protections has developed an International Compilation of Human Subject Research Protections. The Compilation lists the laws, regulations, and guidelines of over 50 countries where DHHS funded or supported research is conducted.
The Compilation provides direct web links to each country's Key Organizations and laws, whenever available. OHRP believes this Compilation will help IRBs, researchers, and others to meet regulatory requirements to assure that research studies comply with applicable law.
The Compilation can be accessed on the OHRP website:
http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/international/index.html#NatlPol.
To use the Compilation, go to page 3 and then click on the country of interest.
Employee Tuition Waiver Program
The Human Resource Services/Benefits Office is now accepting applications for the State University of New York Tuition Waiver Program (B-140W) for the Fall 2005 semester. Please click on the applicable link below to access information.
http://www.asa.stonybrook.edu/hr/state
http://www.asa.stonybrook.edu/hr/rf
{Top}
For More Information
An abundance of specific information for the research community is available on our Website, where past issues of this bulletin can also be found.
Office of the Vice President for Research -
http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/
Monday Memo archive -
http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/monmemo/mmarchive.html
All past issues of Monday Memo are keyword searchable. And if you are challenged by the embarrassment of riches in the over 2,000 individual Web pages that comprise the Website, you may find the alphabetical site index helpful. The index can be accessed at
http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/sitemap.html.
{Top}
