NSF’s New Initiative: Regional Innovation Engines

The NSF Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) has launched the Regional Innovation Engines (a.k.a. “NSF Engines''). NSF Engines aims to catalyze innovation ecosystems across the country to “advance critical technologies; address national and societal challenges; foster partnerships across industry, academia, government, nonprofits, civil society, and communities of practice; promote and stimulate economic growth and job creation; [and] spur regional innovation and talent.”

NIH Releases Data Sharing Policy Resources

NIH has announced new resources designed to help prepare stakeholders for the implementation of the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy on January 25, 2023. One is a guide to informed consent for research involving data and biospecimens, and the other is a draft guidance on protecting the privacy of research participants.

June

BioSci DEI Speaker Series

Dr. Canning is Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Research in her lab focuses on how to create equitable and inclusive contexts that stoke motivation, persistence, and achievement—so that all groups flourish and reach their full potential.

NIH Informational Webinar for the Director’s Transformative Research Award (R01)

Prospective applicants for this program are invited to an informational webinar on June 23, 2022 from 10:00 to 11:30 AM PDT. NIH staff will discuss the initiative and answer questions about the application and review process. Questions for the webinar should be submitted ahead of time to Transformative_Awards@mail.nih.gov by 11:59 PM PDT on June 20, 2022. Additional questions may be taken during the webinar if time allows. Register for the webinar and join on Webex. The webinar will be recorded and posted on the Transformative Research Award website.

Note: The NIH Office of Strategic Coordination and the Center for Scientific Review are piloting a process for initial peer review of applications received in response to this R01 program in which the identity of the investigators and institutions are withheld until the last phase of review.

NIH Director’s Transformative Research Awards (R01)

The NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award Program supports individual scientists or groups of scientists proposing groundbreaking, exceptionally innovative, original, and/or unconventional research with the potential to create new scientific paradigms, establish entirely new and improved clinical approaches, or develop transformative technologies. Research topics may involve basic, translational, or clinical research. No preliminary data are required. Projects must clearly demonstrate, based on the strength of the logic, a compelling potential to produce a major impact in a broad area of relevance to the NIH.

Due date: September 1, 2022

USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Postdoctoral Fellowship

The Postdoctoral Fellowships program areas help to develop new scientists and professionals to enter research, education, and/or extension fields within the food and agricultural sciences within the private sector, government, or academia. The aim of these fellowships is to cultivate future leaders who can solve emerging agricultural challenges of the 21st century. NIFA is particularly interested in supporting fellows that address the following areas:

1. Sustainable agricultural intensification

2. Agricultural climate adaptation

3. Food and nutrition translation

4. Value-added innovation

5. Agricultural science policy leadership

USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Predoctoral Fellowship

The Predoctoral Fellowships program areas help to develop new scientists and professionals to enter research, education, and/or extension fields within the food and agricultural sciences within the private sector, government, or academia. The aim of these fellowships is to cultivate future leaders who can solve emerging agricultural challenges of the 21st century. NIFA is particularly interested in supporting fellows that address the following areas:

1. Sustainable agricultural intensification

2. Agricultural climate adaptation

3. Food and nutrition translation

4. Value-added innovation

5. Agricultural science policy leadership

Eligible predoctoral fellows must be a citizen, nation, or permanent resident of the U.S. They must have advanced to candidacy by October 27, 2022. Applicants may propose a project of up to 36 months in duration.

Due date: October 27, 2022 at 2 PM PT

A new NSF report shows that grant success rates have increased from 22% in 2011 to 28% in 2020. During that same time period, the annual number of applications submitted to NSF dropped from 51,562 to 42,723.

For NSF BIO, specifically, success rates increased from 18% in 2011 to 36% in 2020. But demand also dropped by 50% during that same time period.

If you're interested, you can read more here.

Help us to generate information for the Bio Bulletin

Submit details about seminars and other research-related events on campus here. 

Submit funding opportunity announcements here.

If the Bio Bulletin was forwarded to you and you’d like to subscribe, sign up here. 

If you’re a faculty member, postdoc, graduate student, or other researcher in the School of Biological Sciences and would like help with a grant submission, please email bio-research@uci.edu.

To let the Pre-Award team know of your planned proposal submission, please fill out this form at least four weeks before the deadline.