Greetings, faculty!
Please see the list of announcements, funding opportunities, and resources below.
Announcements
- ORSP will be closed on Monday, May 29, for Memorial Day. We wish everyone a nice, long holiday weekend!
- Reminder – The Spring 2023 NSF Virtual Grants Conference will be held during the week of June 5 – 8, 2023. This is an excellent resource for faculty who are new to NSF, but there will also be sessions of interest to NSF aficionados. Click here to view the agenda and register to attend. Sessions will be recorded for those who cannot attend.
Funding Opportunities
**Please notify ORSP by June 12 if you are interested in applying to any of the following programs:
NSF Dear Colleague Letter: Clean Energy Technology RAISE or EAGER proposals
NSF has released a DCL soliciting Research Advanced by Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering (RAISE) and Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) proposals to develop potentially transformative, convergent, fundamental research proposals in the area of clean energy technologies. A list of priority technologies is provided in the DCL here. More information about each type of proposal is provided in the PAPPG (here for RAISE and here for EAGER). The first step is the submission of a concept outline by July 12, 2023. An individual may appear as PI, co-PI, Senior Personnel, or Consultant on no more than one RAISE or EAGER proposal submitted in response to this DCL.
NEH Humanities Connections
The Humanities Connections program supports the planning or implementation of undergraduate curricula connecting the humanities to the physical and natural sciences, pre-service or professional programs. Both planning and implementation projects are accepted. The full solicitation and other resources are available here. NEH program directors will review a draft of the proposal if it is submitted by July 21. The full proposal is due by September 7, 2023.
NIH NOSI: Small Research Grants for Innovations in Healthy Longevity Research
The NIH has released a Notice of Special Interest for small-scale research proposals that align with the goals of the National Academy of Medicine’s Healthy Longevity Grand Challenge, as well as the National Institute on Aging’s (NIA) interests in supporting research to promote a long health span and functional independence in both aging and Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD). Projects of interest include genetic, biological, clinical, epidemiological, neuroscience, behavioral, social, and economic research on aging as they relate to healthy longevity. Proposals should be submitted to the NIH Small Research Grant Program (R03) by one of the upcoming deadlines: October 16, 2023 or February 16, 2024.
Sponsored Projects Policy Spotlight: Unpaid Student Workers
UTC students benefit from our campus’ robust research ecosystem through both sponsored (funded by a grant or contract) and non-sponsored research activities. In contrast to student participants/beneficiaries, an “unpaid student worker” is a student that serves in an unpaid capacity in a role that, if included in the budget, would be considered a “personnel” role. This distinction applies regardless of whether the student is enrolled in or recruited from a specific course/capstone project.
ORSP encourages faculty to budget for all planned student workers as paid employees,either at an hourly rate or via a Graduate Assistantship including both the tuition remission and stipend. Doing so not only avoids issues of unfairness and inequitable access, it also avoids the potential compliance and policy complications outlined here.
Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator/Project Director to determine the relative risks and benefits of including unpaid workers on sponsored projects, but you don’t have to make that decision in a bubble. If you are planning a research project and are thinking about including unpaid students (from a course or as general volunteers), please reach out to ORSP’s pre-award team to discuss your options. We’re here to help!
Best,
Ashley Ledford,
Director of Pre-Award Services
Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
Book a meeting with me!