Tennessee Research Log

Internal competition set for ISE proposals

2007-11-27T20:04:00.000-05:00

USDA CSREES solicits ISE proposals
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is sponsoring the International Science and Education Competitive Grants program through its Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service. The ISE program seeks to enhance the capacities of American colleges and universities to conduct international collaborative research, extension, and teaching. Full details of the CSREES ISE solicitation can be accessed here.

Limits on UT Participation
No more than two proposals can be submitted by the University of Tennessee as a lead institution. The ISE solicitation covers the university as accredited: UT Knoxville, the Institute of Agriculture, the Health Science Center, the Space Institute, and the Institute for Public Service.

UT Internal Competition
The UT Office of Research will conduct an internal competition to choose the two proposals to be submitted to USDA. Faculty interested in preparing a proposal should notify the Office of Research and the associate dean for research in their college or entity. There will be no prescreening by individual colleges or entities.

DEADLINE for Internal Competition
Preproposals for internal review should be submitted electronically to the UT Office of Research by
12:00 Noon, 10 December 2007.

Guidelines for Internal Preproposals
Preproposals should include

For general information about UT internal competitions, click here.

FINAL proposals submitted through the UT Office of Research must be transmitted electronically by
9 a.m., 10 January 2008.

Proposers from other UT entities should consult their research officers about final deadlines.

UTRF opens fund to develop technologies

2007-11-19T11:31:00.000-05:00

The UT Research Foundation has established a fund to support UT-related developing technologies that have a substantial commercial potential.

The 2008 Technology Funding Program has available a small number of investments between $5,000 and $15,000 to help UT researchers to provide new data or to demonstrate the commercial readiness of a new technology. The program is open to faculty, staff, and students at any UT campus or institute.

Proposals must be submitted by 15 Dec 2007 electronically at utrf@tennessee.edu. The Knoxville contact is John Hopkins (jhop@utk.edu, 974-1882).

Process changed for internal competitions

2007-11-19T11:28:00.000-05:00

Future internal competitions run by the UT Office of Research will no longer require a prescreening at the college level.

The UTK associate deans of research made that procedural change in their November meeting. The decision does NOT apply to internal competitions currently in progress, including competitions for the NSF MRI and the ORAU Powe awards.

In the future, all proposals to a funding program that have limits on submissions will be sent directly to the internal competition run by the Office of Research and will not be competed or prescreened at the college level. Proposers are still expected to notify their associate dean for research of their intent to propose.

In other policy changes, the associate deans for research

Office of Research will enforce deadlines on last-minute proposal submissions

2007-11-19T11:24:00.000-05:00

Proposals that come to UT's Sponsored Programs at the last minute will no longer be given rush treatment to ensure that they meet agency deadlines.

Brad Fenwick, UT vice chancellor for research, said that researchers who submit proposals on deadline are causing problems that prevent the documents from getting appropriate technical and legal review and that complicate the workload of Office of Research personnel.

"Starting immediately, proposals must be submitted in completed form five working days before the proposal deadline," Fenwick said. "Office of Research staff will not work on proposals that come in after that time." The five-day deadline applies to electronic submissions; paper proposals require a three-day advance deadline.

Fenwick said that submitting proposals at the last minute unfairly penalizes those researchers who play by the rules and creates intense workloads for the grants & contracts section.

Submitted documents must include the proposal, a fully-signed document-review/approval sheet, any applicable request for cost-sharing, supporting documentation from subcontractors, and a copy of the solicitation. The narrative must be finalized two days before the deadline.

Anyone with questions about the new policy should contact Greg Reed, associate vice chancellor for research, at 974-3466 or gdreed@utk.edu.

NSF redefines 'intellectual merit,' adds 'transformative' concept

2007-11-19T11:09:00.000-05:00

Subcontractor registration required; proposal document specs changed

The National Science Foundation will look for information about "potentially transformative" concepts when it reviews future proposals for their intellectual merit.

Meeting in August 2007, the National Science Board approved a change in its "Intellectual Merit Review Criterion" to specify that proposals be evaluated for the degree to which they "suggest and explore potentially transformative concepts."

NSF uses the term "transformative research" to indicate "a range of endeavors which promise extra-ordinary outcomes" that might revolutionize entire disciplines, create new fields, or disrupt accepted theories and perspectives.

UT researchers making proposals to the NSF will need to reflect an understanding of that concept in the section of their proposals that address intellectual merit. See http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2007/in130/in130.pdf.

The NSF is also requiring potential proposers to register in the Central Contractor Registration before submitting a proposal to the NSF. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is already registered, but UT proposers must be sure than any subawardees they include in their proposals must also be registered.

The revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (NSF 08-1, http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=papp) also updates fonts, margin, and spacing requirements for proposals. See specifically http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf08_1/gpg_2.jsp#IIB2.

All changes go into effect on proposals submitted after 5 Jan 2008, but the NSF strongly encourages proposals to begin using the guidelines immediately.

UTK Holds Competition for ORAU Powe Award

2007-10-31T20:34:00.000-04:00

Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards
Oak Ridge Associated Universities has announced its 2008 competition for the Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards. The annual Powe Award is for full-time assistant professors within two years of their initial tenure-track appointment (1 Feb 2006 through 1 Feb 2008) in the disciplines of engineering and applied science, life sciences, mathematics/computer sciences, physical sciences, and policy, management or education. The award provides the recipient with $5,000 for a research project of his or her design. It must be matched by a minimum of $5,000 from the university.

Limits on UT Participation
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, may nominate no more than two faculty for the award. The Health Science Center and UT Chattanooga also hold ORAU memberships and are each eligible to submit two nominations. This announcement applies only to the UT Knoxville campus.

UT Internal Competition
The UT Office of Research is conducting an internal competition to choose the two faculty members who will submit proposals to the Powe program. Individual colleges will determine which faculty proposals will advance to the campuswide internal competition. Colleges can send no more than two proposals to the internal competition.

DEADLINE for Internal Competition
Preproposals must be submitted to the UT Office of Research by
12:00 Noon, 29 Nov 2007.

Guidelines for Internal Proposals
1. Write a two-page project summary clearly stating:

2. Include a one-page resume and a one-page list of publications and/or presentations.

The project summary should include plans for the use of the $5,000 award and the UT matching funds.

A committee of UT faculty will review applications to identify the most competitive, and two junior faculty will be chosen for nomination.

FINAL proposals must be submitted to
the UT Knoxville Office of Research by
9 a.m., 25 Jan 2008

For more information, contact Greg Reed (gdreed@utk.edu, 865-974-3466), Bill Dockery (dockeryb@utk.edu, 865-974-2187), or the associate dean for research in your college.

UT Internal Competition for NSF MRI '08

2007-10-30T10:50:00.000-04:00

NSF Solicitation for MRI '08
The National Science Foundation is soliciting proposals for its 2008 Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program. See http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08503/nsf08503.htm for the full text of the solicitation.

Limits on UT Participation
The University of Tennessee may submit or be included as a partner or subawardee in no more than three proposals. If three proposals are submitted, at least one of these proposals must be for instrument development.

UT Internal Competition
The UT Office of Research is conducting an internal competition to choose the proposals that will be submitted to the NSF from the university. Faculty who (a) want to submit an MRI proposal to the NSF or (b) plan to participate in a proposal from another institution must submit a preproposal to the UT Office of Research internal competition.

Individual colleges will determine which proposals from their faculty will qualify for the UT internal competition and can advance no more than three proposals to the internal competition (including one for instrument development).

DEADLINE for Internal Competition
Preproposals must be submitted to the UT Office of Research by
12:00 Noon, 19 Nov 2007.

Guidelines for Internal Preproposals
Preproposals should include

For information about UT internal competitions, see https://my.tennessee.edu/portal/page?_pageid=43,304351&_dad=portal&_schema=portal.

FINAL proposals through the UT Knoxville Office of Research
must be submitted by
8:00 a.m., 17 Jan 2008.
Proposers from other UT entities should consult their research officers about deadlines.

UT Entities Covered by This Internal Competition
UT Knoxville, Health Science Center, Institute of Agriculture, Space Institute, & Institute for Public Service.

Notable Changes in the MRI '08 Solicitation

See the NSF solicitation for detailed instructions.

NSF Nanoscience Proposals Solicited

2006-08-18T16:05:00.000-04:00

Internal competition will decide UT applicants

The National Science Foundation is seeking proposals for collaborative research and education on Active Nanostructures and Nanosystems, and on the long-term societal change associated with these innovations. (Active nanostructures are defined as those which change or evolve their structure, property, or function during their operation.) The ANN program supports fundamental research and synergistic science and engineering research and education in emerging areas of nanoscale science and engineering. See the complete NSF solicitation.

ANN will support two types of research: Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Teams (NIRT) and Nanoscale Exploratory Research (NER). Anticipated funding amount is $29M – of which $24.5M for approximately 20 NIRT awards and $4.5M for approximately 40 NER awards. Deadline for submission to the NSF is 15 November 2006.

The University of Tennessee (Knoxville, Memphis, IPS, the Institute of Agriculture, and the Space Institute) may submit only two NIRT proposals and two NER proposals. The university is also eligible to submit one additional NER proposal that focus specifically on "Societal and Educational Issues Associated with Long-Term Research Science and Engineering Advances." The UT Office of Research will conduct an internal competition to determine which UT proposals will be submitted.

UT Deadline for Internal Preproposals

12:00 noon, Tuesday, 26 September 2006

Guidelines for Internal Preproposal

1. Include a completed NSF cover sheet prepared using the NSF FastLane.
2. Write a two-page project summary, clearly stating the following:
a. Goals
b. Participants (UT and others)
c. A brief description of the research to be accomplished

3. Prepare a budget summary using the NSF FastLane to prepare the budget. Submit only the summary budget to the internal competition.

Please submit internal proposals as an e-mail attachment to Arlene Garrison (garrison@tennessee.edu) and to her assistant, Barbara Craddock (craddock@utk.edu). Contact Arlene Garrison (865-974-6410) with any questions.

NSF announces '07 STEP solicitation

2006-07-11T11:32:00.000-04:00

Office of Research to Hold Internal Competition

The National Science Foundation has announced its STEM Talent Expansion Program for 2007. The STEP program is designed to increase the number of students earning associate or baccalaureate degrees in established or emerging fields within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The NSF is supporting proposals for two types of programs: Type 1 programs will provide for full implementation efforts at academic institutions. Type 2 programs will support educational research projects on the attainment of associate or baccalaureate degrees in STEM. The Type 1 awards can total up to $2 million over five years. The NSF deadline for both Type 1 & 2 proposals is 26 September 2006. See the complete NSF solicitation.

The University of Tennessee (Knoxville, Memphis, the Institute of Agriculture, IPS and UTSI) will be limited to one Type 1 proposal or to participating in one consortium proposal. The Office of Research will hold an internal competition to determine which proposal will be the official submission from the university. Faculty must submit a preproposal to the UT internal competition if they intend to submit a full proposal or if they plant to participate in a consortium involving more than one institution. NOTE: There are no limits on the number of Type 2 (educational research) proposals submitted by an institution, making an internal competition for Type 2 programs unnecessary.

UT Deadline for Internal Preproposals

12:00 noon, Wednesday, 2 August 2006

Guidelines for Internal Preproposal

1. Include a completed NSF cover sheet prepared using the NSF FastLane.
2. Write a two-page project summary, clearly stating the following:
a. Goals
b. Participants (UT and others)
c. A brief description of the research to be accomplished

3. Prepare a budget summary using the NSF FastLane to prepare the budget. Submit only the summary budget to the internal competition.

Internal competition set for '07 NSF MRI program

2006-06-08T10:23:00.000-04:00

The National Science Foundation is soliciting proposals for the 2007 Major Research Instrumentation Program. The University of Tennessee may submit, or be a partner or subawardee to, no more than three proposals to the MRI program. If the university submits three proposals, at least one must be for instrument development.

The Major Research Instrumentation program assists organizations in the acquisition or development of major research instrumentation that would generally be too costly for support through other NSF programs. Programs may be for a single instrument, a large system of instruments, or multiple instruments that share a specific research focus. Proposals will be considered for instrumentation in any NSF-supported field of science, mathematics, and engineering. Awards range from $100,000 to $2 million. Complete details here. The NSF deadline for proposals is 25 January 2007.

The Office of Research will hold an internal competition to designate the official UT submissions. Faculty must submit a preproposal to the UT internal competition if they intend to submit a full proposal or if they plan to participate in a proposal submitted from another institution.

UT Deadline for Internal Preproposals

12:00 noon, Tuesday, 10 October 2006

Guidelines for Internal Preproposal

1. Include a completed NSF cover sheet prepared using the NSF FastLane.
2. Write a two-page project summary, clearly stating the following:
a. Goals
b. Participants (UT and others)
c. A brief description of the research to be accomplished

3. Prepare a budget summary using the NSF FastLane to prepare the budget. Submit only the summary budget to the internal competition.

NSF to support biological collections

2006-06-07T11:47:00.000-04:00

The National Science Foundation is holding a competition for funding that will support existing Biological Research Collections. Complete details can be found here.

Proposals are due 28 July 2006. The University of Tennessee is allowed to submit only one proposal. Due to limited advance notice, the UT Office of Research will not hold a full internal competition. Interested researchers should contact Arlene Garrison (garrison@utk.edu, 865-974-6410) immediately. Selection of the UT-sanctioned proposal will be made administratively from among researchers who express interest. Strong preference will be given to the first group that indicates an interest and meets the requirements of the NSF solicitation.

The NSF plans to solicit proposals yearly for the Biological Research Collections program. Future competitions will be held on the fourth Friday in July. In the future, the Office of Research will schedule internal competitions in late spring to choose the university's official submission.

Internal competition set for NSF's PFI program

2006-03-18T15:17:00.000-05:00

The UT Office of Research is holding an internal competition to determine who will be allowed to send a proposal on behalf of the university to the National Science Foundation's Partnerships for Innovation 2006 solicitation.

NSF will accept only one proposal in which UT is the lead or submitting institution. UT can also be a participating partner is at most two proposals but can be a partner in only one proposal if UT also is submitting a proposal as the lead institution.

The PFI program expects to fund between 10 and 15 promising partnerships among academic institutions, the private sector, and government on all levels in order to support moving innovations from academic settings into the local, regional, and national economies. See the full NSF solicitation.

Guidelines for Internal Preproposal

1. Fill out and include a completed NSF cover sheet prepared using the NSF FastLane.
2. Write a two-page project summary, clearly stating the following:
a. Goals
b. Participants (UT and others)
c. A brief description of the research to be accomplished

3. Prepare a budget summary (use the NSF FastLane to prepare the budget and submit only the summary budget to the internal competition)

UT internal deadline: 12:00 noon, Thursday, May 18, 2006

Please submit preproposals as an e-mail attachment to Arlene Garrison (garrison@tennessee.edu) and Barbara Craddock (craddock@utk.edu). Information is available on-line about the recently revised internal competition process. Contact Arlene Garrison (865-974-6410) with questions.

Deadline for proposals to reach the NSF is 30 August 2006.
Note: NSF has a 28 June 2006 deadline for an optional letter of intent.

Deputy director named for UT Sponsored Programs

2006-01-13T16:14:00.000-05:00

Robert Cargile has been appointed deputy director of the UT Office of Research's Sponsored Programs unit. Cargile joined the University of Tennessee Office of Research in 2002. His previous experience includes work in the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, administrative duties with the Baptist Health System, and finance responsibilities with the Clinch Powell Resource Conservation Council.

Clif Woods, UT vice chancellor for research, made the appointment "in the interest of succession planning and to ensure continuity of supervision" in the Sponsored Programs unit, which handled UT awards worth more than $130 million in 2005.

Collier reappointed to Cotton Board

2006-01-13T16:11:00.000-05:00

A University of Tennessee administrator has been reappointed to a position on the Cotton Board, a federally sanctioned industry group that promotes research and promotion of cotton.

Dr. Billie Collier, a researcher in nonwoven textile production, was reappointed in December as the Cotton Board's only consumer advisor. Collier is UT's associate vice chancellor for research compliance.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns reappointed Collier as part of a December announcement naming new members to the 34-person board, which was created by the federal Cotton Research & Promotion Act of 1966. The board's goal is to improve the demand for and the profitability of cotton and includes both domestic cotton producers and importers.

NSF scholarship program aids K-12 science, math

2006-01-12T08:54:00.000-05:00

Guidelines for National Science Foundation
Robert Noyce Scholarship Program

The National Science Foundation is soliciting proposals for its 2006 Robert Noyce Scholarship Program, which seeks to encourage talented science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors (juniors and seniors), as well as already-graduated professionals in these fields, to become K-12 mathematics and science teachers.

The program provides funds to institutions of higher education to support scholarships, stipends, and programs for students who commit to teaching in high-need K-12 schools.

The NSF deadline for an optional letter of intent is February 28, 2006, and the NSF deadline for full proposals is April 3, 2006, at 5 p.m. EST.

The University of Tennessee, alone or as a member of a partnership, may submit no more than one proposal, which necessitates an internal competition.

UT Internal deadline: 12:00 noon, Monday, February 8, 2006

Guidelines for Internal Preproposal

1. Fill out and include a completed NSF cover sheet prepared using the NSF FastLane.
2. Write a two-page project summary, clearly stating the following:
a. Goals
b. Participants (UT and others)
c. A brief description of the research to be accomplished

3. Prepare a budget summary (use the NSF FastLane to prepare the budget and submit only the summary budget to the internal competition)

The NSF anticipates funding 13 to 18 awards, including both new (Phase I) and continuing (Phase II) projects, from an anticipated funding amount of $7 million.

Please submit preproposals as an email attachment and send the email to Arlene Garrison (garrison@tennessee.edu) and to her assistant Barbara Craddock (craddock@utk.edu). Please contact Arlene Garrison (865-974-6410) if you have any questions.

See full details.

UT colleges, schools can apply for NSF S-STEM

2006-01-11T17:39:00.000-05:00

Guidelines for National Science Foundation
Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
(S-STEM)

The National Science Foundation is soliciting preproposals for its 2006 Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program.

The S-STEM program was formerly known as CSEMS (Computer Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Scholarship) program. It makes grants to institutions of higher education to support scholarships for academically talented but financially needy students working on associate, baccalaureate, or graduate degrees in science and engineering disciplines. Grantee institutions select scholarship recipients, report demographic information, and manage the project on their campuses.

An optional letter of intent is due to the NSF on March 15, 2006, and the NSF deadline for the full proposal is April 12, 2006.

The University of Tennessee is eligible to submit one proposal per college or school. Therefore, no internal competition will be necessary. Decisions about multiple proposals from within colleges and schools should be made on that level. Faculty with an interest should contact their dean’s office. Each college should inform the appropriate Grants and Contracts office of their selection. Please contact Arlene Garrison (865-974-6410) if you have any questions.

The NSF expects to fund 110 awards from an anticipated funding amount of $50 million in 2006. Awards are not expected to exceed $500,000.

See full details.

NIH interdisciplinary solicitation permits one proposal

2006-01-11T16:32:00.000-05:00

Guidelines for National Institutes of Health
Training for a New Interdisciplinary Workforce

The National Institutes of Health is soliciting proposals for a program that limits UT, as accredited, to one submission. The goals of NIH-supported research training and research education programs are to help ensure that a diverse pool of highly trained scientists is available in adequate numbers and in appropriate scientific areas to address the nation’s biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research needs. This RFA solicits applications to establish new research education and training programs in interdisciplinary research. Programs may target undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral or faculty-level training.

The deadline for an optional letter of intent is February 14, 2006, and the deadline for full proposals is April 7, 2006.

The University of Tennessee may submit no more than one proposal, which necessitates an internal competition.

UT Internal deadline: 12:00 noon, Wednesday, February 1, 2006
Guidelines for Internal Preproposal

1. Fill out and include a completed NSF cover sheet prepared using the NSF FastLane.
2. Write a two-page project summary, clearly stating the following:
a. Goals
b. Participants (UT and others)
c. A brief description of the research to be accomplished

3. Prepare a budget summary (use the NSF FastLane to prepare the budget and submit only the summary budget to the internal competition)

The NIH anticipates funding 8 to10 awards for up to four years with annual direct costs not to exceed $325,000. The anticipated funding amount in FY 06 is $2.6 million.

Please submit preproposals as an email attachment to Arlene Garrison (garrison@tennessee.edu) and to her assistant Barbara Craddock (craddock@utk.edu). Please contact Arlene Garrison (865-974-6410) if you have any questions.

See a complete description.

Internal competition set for NSF IGERT preproposals

2006-01-06T16:48:00.000-05:00

Guidelines for National Science Foundation
Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program (IGERT)

The National Science Foundation is soliciting preproposals for its 2006 Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program (IGERT).

Last year NSF accepted an unlimited number of preproposals. That is NOT the case this year. UT is allowed no more than four preproposals either as a single institution or as a lead institution. (UT participation as a subcontractor on other institutions' proposals apparently is not limited.) Preproposals are due to NSF on March 27, 2006. This necessitates an internal competition.

UT Internal deadline: 12:00 noon, Monday, February 13, 2006

Guidelines for Internal Preproposal

1. Fill out and include a completed NSF cover sheet prepared using the NSF FastLane.
2. Write a two-page project summary, clearly stating the following:
a. Goals
b. Participants (UT and others)
c. A brief description of the research to be accomplished

3. Prepare a budget summary (use the NSF FastLane to prepare the budget and submit only the summary budget to the internal competition)

The Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program has been developed to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers who will pursue careers in research and education, with the interdisciplinary backgrounds, deep knowledge in chosen disciplines, and technical, professional, and personal skills to become, in their own careers, leaders and creative agents for change.

The anticipated funding amount is up to $3.0M per award over 5 years. For new awards in the first year, up to $400K and an additional $200K for start-up is possible.

Various NSF directorates are included in the IGERT program, including biological sciences, computer & information science and engineering, education and human resources, engineering, geosciences, international science and engineering, mathematical and physical sciences, polar programs, and social, behavioral and economic sciences.

Full proposal submission is by NSF invitation only and is due to NSF September 29, 2006. Faculty invited to submit a full proposal must notify Arlene Garrison (garrison@utk.edu) and Barbara Craddock (craddock@utk.edu) in the UT Office of Research.

See the NSF announcement.

Deadline for pre-proposals to be received at NSF: March 27, 2006

Export Control workshops offered

2005-12-20T15:02:00.000-05:00

After the terrorist attack of 2001, the U.S. government is focusing increased attention on the federal Export Control regulations. These laws apply very specifically to university faculty and staff and to the materials they teach and otherwise disseminate. Violations of export control laws carry severe penalties, including huge monetary fines and possible prison time. The establishment of an effective and ongoing education and awareness program is one part of compliance with federal Export Control laws.

Robin Witherspoon, the export control specialist in the Office of Research, is in the process of contacting each college to ask for time at college administrative council meetings and department meetings to present information and guidance for faculty and staff.

Several workshops have already been scheduled in the Colleges of Engineering and Education, Health and Human Sciences. If your department would like to schedule a workshop or if any individual is concerned about export control issues, please contact Robin (865-974-0232, rwithers@ln.utk.edu).

Kuo to speak on study linking research, teaching performance

2005-11-17T19:48:00.000-05:00

Way Kuo, the dean of the UT College of Engineering and a university distinguished professor, will present a preview of his recent study on the relationships between research performance and teaching performance in engineering. Kuo and a colleague studied teaching and research activities among faculty and other teaching staff at Texas A&M University's College of Engineering from 1999 through 2003.

Kuo's talk will outline some of the issues reviewed in the report that have relevance for UT's teaching and research faculty. The university community is invited to the talk in the Kessel Auditorium, 307 Science & Engineering Research Facility, at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, 29 November 2005.

Ignoring submission limits can be costly

2005-11-17T19:23:00.000-05:00

Recently UT research administrators were notified by a federal project manager that UT had submitted three proposals for a grant competition that allows only two submissions per university. One of the proposals had to be withdrawn, representing a significant loss of time and effort for a UT researcher and colleagues.

Increasingly, federal agencies are putting limits on the number of proposals per institution as the agencies attempt to control their own workloads. Approximately one quarter of all NSF proposals include institutional limits, and NSF officials said recently that there are no plans to end the practice.

The UT response to this trend has been to designate the assistant vice president for research to hold internal competitions. The competitions most often apply to the University of Tennessee as accredited, that is, to the Health Science Center, the Institute of Agriculture, the Space Institute, Institute for Public Service and the Knoxville campus. The process is designed to let the university put forward its best proposals while avoiding the investment of faculty and staff effort in preparing proposals that cannot be submitted.

Internal competitions are held regularly for a number of NSF programs, as well as various THEC programs and other grants and fellowships. Representative faculty with appropriate expertise are used as judges to consider and recommend the proposals that will be submitted in UT's name.

The Office of Research is unable to monitor every award that might limit submissions. It is vital that research administrators for all UT campuses and entities who become aware of such institutional limits notify Arlene Garrison (garrison@utk.edu, 865-974-6410) immediately, so that the need for an internal competition can be determined. Individual researchers preparing a proposal should also be alert for submission limits and contact the Office of Research before they invest time and effort needlessly.

Three internal competitions . . . plus

2005-11-17T17:52:00.000-05:00

Three internal competitions are under way to submit proposals on behalf of UT to various granting agencies, and a fourth competition is possible, depending on responses from UT researchers.

1. The National Science Foundation's Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program permits the university to be a party to no more than three proposals, whether as a partner or a subawardee. One of the three must be for instrument development.

Internal deadline: NOON, Thursday, 1 December 2005

Internal MRI announcement: Please contact Barbara Craddock (craddock@utk.edu, 865-974-6410) for an e-mail copy.
The NSF MRI solicitation

2. The NSF's Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program (STEP) permits the University of Tennessee (as accredited) to submit only one proposal, either as a direct submission or as part of a consortium.

Internal deadline: NOON, Monday, 12 December 2005

The internal STEP announcement
The NSF STEP solicitation

3. Oak Ridge Associated University's Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Awards program will accept applications from only two full-time assistant professors at UT Knoxville (as well as two each from the Health Science Center and UT Chattanooga).

Internal deadline: NOON, Thursday, 8 December 2005

The internal Powe announcement
Full details

4. The NSF has announced an awards competition for a new program titled High Performance Computing System Acquisition: Toward a Petascale Computing Environment for Science and Engineering. The university is eligible to submit two proposals, and UT research administrators have already designated a partnership between the university and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to submit one of the two. Any UT researcher interested in submitting a proposal to the program should review the NSF solicitation and contact Arlene Garrison (garrisosn@utk.edu, 865-974-6410), UT assistant vice president for research, at once.

Preproposals for ALL internal competition should follow the requirements of the internal announcement and should be submitted electronically to Arlene Garrison (garrison@utk.edu) and her assistant, Barbara Craddock (craddock@utk.edu). Contact the UT Office of Research at 865-974-6410 with any questions.

Office of Research to coordinate THEC proposals

2005-07-26T16:37:00.000-04:00

The Office of Research will coordinate University of Tennessee submissions to the Tennessee Office of Higher Education's statewide 2005 Improving Teacher Quality request for proposals. THEC is awarding capacity-building grants of up to $150,000 and general grants of up to $75,000.

THEC limits UT to 10 proposals. Faculty interested in submitting proposals should notify Barbara Craddock (craddock@utk.edu) with a copy to Arlene Garrison (garrison@utk.edu) no later than noon, Thursday, 11 August 2005 of their intent to propose. If more than 10 UT notices of intent are received, the Office of Research will hold an internal competition to determine which 10 submissions will be authorized. In case of an internal competition, submissions must follow the UT Guidelines for Mini-Proposals for Internal Reviews on Limited Submission Grants.

The THEC request for proposals is available for download in PDF format.

Internal competition set for NSF's instrumentation program

2005-07-22T14:59:00.000-04:00

The UT Office of Research will hold a competition to choose the university-sanctioned proposal for the National Science Foundation's Instrumentation for Materials Research -- Major Instrumentation Projects solicitation. The program supports two types of awards: conceptual and engineering design awards (CED) and construction awards (CNST). The university is allowed to submit only one IMR-MIP proposal.

The deadline for the internal competition is 12:00 noon, Tuesday, 23 August 2005. All preproposals must follow the UT Guidelines for Mini-Proposals for Internal Reviews on Limited Submission Grants. Preproposals should be sent electronically to Arlene Garrison (garrison@utk.edu) and Barbara Craddock (craddock@utk.edu) before that time. More information is available about the internal competition.

The NSF deadline for full proposals is 17 October 2005. See the NSF solicitation.

Possible change to grave protection law worries anthropologist

2005-07-20T14:16:00.000-04:00

The addition of two words to the federal law that protects Native American graves will make scientific research into prehistoric civilization virtually impossible in this country, a UT anthropologist argued recently.

A small legislative change to the North American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 threatens to prevent archaeologists and anthropologists from studying any human remains found in the United States, said Richard Jantz, UT professor of anthropology, in a guest column in the Seattle Times.

The U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee has scheduled a hearing 28 July 2005 on amending the law. If the change becomes law, Jantz said, "Congress could give modern Indian tribes control over remains of groups unrelated to them, or groups that left no descendents."

Jantz is one of eight archaeologists who sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for access to Kennewick Man, the 9,300-year-old skeletal remains found on the banks of the Columbia River in 1996. The skeleton is one of the oldest and most complete found thus far in North America, researchers said. Four Indian tribes who sought to rebury the remains abandoned their efforts after a federal court ruled against them in 2004.
The scientists began to study the bones in early July, 2005. In a second phase of research, Jantz will start documenting the form and structure of the skull toward the end of the year.

The proposed amendment of the graves statute is a response to the controversy, Jantz said. The current version of NAGPRA makes the law applicable to remains "of or relating to, a tribe, people, or culture that is indigenous to . . . the United States." Senate Bill 536 would add "or was" after the "is," broadening the protection of the law to include any burials, even those that significantly predate the formation of modern Indian tribes.

"Adding 'or was' places the material remains of the prehistory of all the unknown peoples of the American past under the exclusive domain of Indian tribes based simply on the geographic location of their present-day lands," Jantz said. "Public policy would automatically give tribes the authority to control all evidence that may contradict their particular religious beliefs and give tribes complete veto power over scientific research on those remains."

The change in the law would violate the First Amendment ban on the establishment of religion, Jantz said: "Public policy would sanction only a religious view and explanation of the continent's prehistory. Scientific access to and factual understanding of prehistory would be denied on tribes' religious ground."

"The North and South American continents were once empty of people," Jantz said. "Contrary to Indian religious beliefs that they have been here since the beginning of time, it is a fact that all humans, including the ancestors to modern Indians, came here from Eurasia."