ResearchHighlights Newsletter

February 2005

Welcome to Research Highlights, the online newsletter of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at The University of Mississippi. For more information, or to submit news items or story ideas, please email the editor.

Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
University of Mississippi
662.915.7482 voice
662.915.7577 fax
Quotation Corner ~
In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.
FOCUS: Internet2 Provides Exciting Opportunities in the Arts

Internet2 is an extremely high performance data network connecting universities, research institutions, and a select group of corporations. The purpose of Internet2 is to enable individuals at universities and other institutions to exchange data, collaborate, and form a virtual community of researchers, students, and instructors that wouldn’t be practical or even possible using other existing data networks. Internet2 offers the arts community new ways to collaborate, new ways to distribute material, and new ways to learn.

Professionals in many fields use video conferencing to collaborate with physically distant colleagues. Usually when people think of video teleconferencing, they imagine small blocky images and audio reminiscent of the first wax cylinder recordings. While this was an accurate depiction of the state of the video teleconferencing “art” in years past, it’s no longer the case. Advances in video and audio compression, coupled with the truly state of the art capabilities of Internet2, now allow video teleconferencing with audio and video fidelity of the first order. Better than DVD quality audio and video teleconferencing options have enabled two world class performing arts institutions, the University of Southern California and the Manhattan School of Music, to work together to produce a modern dance event unlike any other. Using Internet2 and other advanced technologies, these institutions put on stage, in real time, dancers from physically distant locations to form one of the most impressive displays of the fusion of art and technology ever seen. This is but one example of the possibilities Internet2 offers for collaboration. You can read more about the performance at http://arts.internet2.edu/fall2002-perfevent.html.

One of the most fervent desires of many artists is for people around the world to see and appreciate their work. Increasingly, the medium of choice for distributing this work is the internet. Though this is adequate in some cases, there are many projects that do not lend themselves well to the typically low quality most people expect when viewing a webcast. The loss of fidelity during the transmission of the work often results in the loss of the impact the work is supposed to convey. These problems need no longer inhibit the worldwide sharing of artistic works. By fully leveraging the power of Internet2 and modern digital production equipment, high fidelity audio and video transmission is becoming more commonplace among members of the Internet2 community. What were once postage stamp sized video and telephone quality audio have become better than DVD quality video and pristine, compelling audio.

Talent is a rare commodity. Often masters of instruments, stagecraft or voice are not physically close enough to provide instruction to university students. To bring a master musician to a university music department, the department would likely have to bear the expense of the master’s plane ticket, hotel accommodations, and other costs incurred during travel. While there will never be a replacement for the intimate environment of a master’s studio, technology offers an acceptable facsimile for departments on a budget. Using cutting edge video and audio streaming technology, minute details of sound — such as those resulting from holding a bow properly — and subtle details of video — muscle tension, for example — can be conveyed back and forth between instructor and student. Never before has it been possible to teach young artists effectively without being in close physical proximity. The New World Symphony in Miami, Florida is one institution staking its mission on technology such as this. You can read more about what they are doing at http://nws.edu/NWS_internet2.asp?pg=NWS_internet2.asp.

Internet2 offers many exciting opportunities for arts educators, students, and the University of Mississippi as a whole. The work of our arts community is a source of great pride here at the University. The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs would be pleased to help our artists in all disciplines make the most of cutting edge technology and further the mission of our University through the use of Internet2.

If you have any questions, ideas, or just want to talk about what’s possible and see what we’ve done at the University so far, call or email me, Jake Jenkins, at the ORSP. You can reach me at 7482 or jmjenki2@olemiss.edu. I understand the needs of the arts community and will work to ensure that the technology is driven by the needs of the artist and never negatively impacts the creative process or its results.

Some Upcoming Events

NSF Day at LSU ~ March 3 ~ REGISTER BY FEBRUARY 25
The National Science Foundation and Louisiana State University, in conjunction with the Louisiana State University System, will be holding a one-day workshop on Thursday, March 3, 2005; interested attendees from Ole Miss are invited. Representatives from five of the NSF directorates will make presentations on their programs and will also be available individually and in breakout sessions for more specific discussions of potential research proposals. The Biological Sciences; Mathematical and Physical Sciences; Computer and Information Science and Engineering; Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences; and Engineering directorates will have representatives at the workshop. There is no registration fee; however, pre-registration is required by Friday, February 25, 2005. You can register electronically at www.research.lsu.edu/nsfdayatlsu.htm. The workshop will be held at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center Conference Center at 6400 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge (directions at above website).

NIH Program Official to Speak at Mississippi State ~ March 9
Dr. Rebecca L. Clark, Health Scientist Administrator at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, will visit Mississippi State University on Wednesday, March 9, 2005. Dr. Clark will give a presentation entitled “Social and Behavioral Science Funding from NIH: Perspectives from NICHD” from 9:00-10:00 a.m. She will also be available to interested individuals/teams for 20-minute consultations to be scheduled between 10:30-3:20 p.m. Deadline for registration is Tuesday, March 1, 2005; there is no fee, but pre-registration is required. For registration and more information concerning Dr. Clark’s presentation, visit www.research.msstate.edu/EPSCoR/NIH/mtginformation.htm.

ASM Biodefense Research Meeting ~ March 20-23
The American Society for Microbiology will hold its third annual Biodefense Research Meeting on March 20-23, 2005 in Baltimore, Maryland. This third biodefense meeting will emphasize select agents and countermeasure development, including diagnostics and forensics. The program and workshops will highlight practical issues related to biosafety and product development, including a keynote address on application of the recently enacted Bioshield legislation. For more information, visit www.asmbiodefense.org.

Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges at UM ~ April 1-2
The Third Annual Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges (CCSC), also known as the Mid-South College Computing Conference, will be held April 1-2, 2005 in Weir Hall on the Ole Miss campus. The conference seeks to provide a forum for the exchange of information on computing and college-level computing education, and invites the participation of faculty, students, staff and other interested persons. For more information, visit www.msccc.net.

R&D Conference in Boston ~ April 27-28
DHS Science and Technology is sponsoring Working Together: R&D Partnerships in Homeland Security, to be held April 27-28, 2005 in Boston. This conference encourages R&D partnering among scientists and engineers from government, national laboratories, universities and research institutes, and private sector firms investing in R&D, to address the collective science and technology research goals of the U.S. homeland security community. The conference will bring together more than 600 attendees supporting homeland security research and development, for information exchange and subsequent collaboration. For more information, visit the conference web site, www.homelandsecurityresearchconference.org.

14th International Scientific Congress in Havana ~ June 27-30
Every five years, the National Center for Scientific Research holds its International Scientific Congress, which will take place this year on June 27-30, 2005. The meeting aims to: (1) allow a gathering as well as a fruitful scientific-technical exchange among an important number of national and international specialists in their research fields; and (2) offer an opportunity for showing new products and technologies from the medical, pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries. For more information, visit www.cnic.edu.cu/14Congreso/Bienvenida.htm.

Conferences on Economy and Community ~ September 21-22 and 23-24
The Social Capital Foundation invites all interested persons or organizations to present a paper to one or both of its upcoming international, interdisciplinary conferences that will be held next September in the beautiful island of Malta.
Conference on Social Capital ~ 21-22 September, 2005
Conference on Economy and Community ~ 23-24 September, 2005

Paper proposals may take the form of a one-page detailed abstract. For more information on either conference, visit www.socialcapital-foundation.org/TSCF/TSCF%20conferences.htm.

A Few Program Announcements and Deadlines

Mississippi Arts Commission Annual Deadline
The FY2006 Mississippi Arts Commission application deadline for grants and opportunities to organizations and individual artists is March 1, 2005; included are project grants and opportunities for individual artists, among others. For convenience and to save time in the application process, applicants are strongly encouraged to apply electronically via the Commission’s website (www.arts.state.ms.us/). Guidelines and applications also are available in PDF and Microsoft Word formats online.

Other Arts Programs and Opportunities
National Endowment for the Arts FY2006 Grants for Arts Projects ~ see www.arts.gov/grants/apply/index.html.
Southern Arts Federation FY2006 Grant Opportunities ~ see www.southarts.org/GrantOpportunities.htm#grantsfy2006.

Mississippi Humanities Council
The Mississippi Humanities Council (MHC) is funded by Congress through the National Endowment for the Humanities to provide public programs in traditional liberal arts disciplines to serve nonprofit groups in Mississippi. MHC awards grants to nonprofit organizations to sponsor projects and public programs which use the knowledge and insights of one or more areas of the humanities to increase understanding of any aspect of human experience. The next round of application and review for MHC Minigrants and Planning Grants ($2,000 or less) is March 1, 2005. For more information, see www.mshumanities.org/pages/default.asp.

American Chemical Society ~ Medicinal Chemistry Predoctoral Fellowships
This year's announcement for the 2005-2006 Division of Medicinal Chemistry Predoctoral Fellowship Award Program was delayed in Chemical and Engineering News, and as such the ACSMEDI Executive Committee has extended the deadline for receipt of applications to March 1, 2005. This year, the Division will award seven predoctoral fellowships in the amount of $22,000.00 to qualified graduate students. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent resident visa holders at the time of application and must have at least one year of graduate school remaining at the time an award would begin (September 1, 2005). Complete details can be found in a .pdf file located on the Division WWW Site at www.acsmedchem.org.

Earth Sciences Research at the National Science Foundation ~ Continental Dynamics
The Division of Earth Sciences (EAR) supports research and education related to the Earth's terrestrial regions, interior, and freshwater systems. Projects may employ any combination of field, laboratory, and computational studies with observational, theoretical, or experimental approaches. Multidisciplinary work is strongly encouraged. Projects involving disciplines outside the earth sciences will be recommended for joint support with other programs within the Foundation. EAR will consider co-funding of projects with other agencies and supports international work and collaborations. For more information, see www.nsf.gov/pubs/2004/nsf04613/nsf04613.htm.

Funds Available to Colleges for Programs to Prevent High-Risk Drinking and Violent Behavior Among Students
The U.S. Department of Education is sponsoring a grant competition to support programs designed to develop, enhance, implement, and evaluate campus and community-based strategies to prevent high-risk drinking or violent behavior among college students. Institutions of higher education, consortia thereof, public and private nonprofit organizations, and individuals are eligible to apply for funding under this program. The department anticipates the award of approximately 20 grants under this program in FY 2005, in amounts ranging from $100,000 to $150,000, for project periods of up to 24 months. The application deadline is May 24, 2005. For more information, visit www.ed.gov/programs/dvphighrisk/index.html.

Find MORE on the ORSP Funding Opportunities Recent Announcements page

SEARCH for Funding Opportunities using Community of Science

Bits & Pieces

Streamlining Research Business Process
In several actions the Executive Office of the President, acting through the National Science and Technology Council, has taken steps to promote multidisciplinary and collaborative research and to streamline the business process for managing federal research grant awards. (1) The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has established appropriate policies to acknowledge more than one principal investigator (PI) when there is more than one collaborating investigator working on a federally-funded research project. This policy will help provide more uniform recognition of collaborating PIs across agencies as multidisciplinary science continues to increase over the next decade. (2) The OSTP and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have endorsed the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) model research subagreement as an effective practice that should be extended among all collaborating institutions. The FDP, which is a cooperative initiative among 10 federal agencies and 96 institutional recipients of federal funds designed to improve the effectiveness of research administration, has refined a model subagreement for use when scientists are collaborating on research projects at different institutions. (3) OSTP and OMB have proposed the establishment of a uniform and streamlined core set of terms and conditions on research awards, developed under the FDP, as guidance for all federal research agencies. This proposal would allow for more flexible and efficient use of federal research funds by institutions; would bring greater standardization to the management of research awards among federal agencies; and is consistent with the longer-term objective of standard award format and content for all federal grants and cooperative agreements.

NIH eRA News
Inside eRA for Partners, the newsletter of the NIH Electronic Research Administration (eRA), provides NIH grantees with pertinent information about eRA plans and progress. The eRA initiative is a collaborative endeavor of the full NIH community. The Web version of the latest issue is at http://era.nih.gov/eranews/latestpartners.cfm. Among the news items is the announcement that NIH began accepting electronic modular, non-consortia R01, R03, and R21 grant applications on January 12, 2005.

American Chemical Society Begins New Journal
ACS Journals announces the establishment of a new journal, entitled ACS Chemical Biology, which will begin publication in January of 2006. You are invited to visit the ACS Journals page to learn more about this new journal, and to download information and a printable flyer at the following URL: http://pubs.acs.org/promo/chemicalbiology/index.html.

ORSP News

Vice Chancellor's Office
Throughout the month of January, Vice-Chancellor Alice Clark met with individuals in state and federal government positions as well as business leaders and university researchers in order to advance UM programs, centers, and initiatives.

Division of Research
Recognizing that interaction and collaboration among disciplines is increasingly important in many research endeavors, a new internal grant program will provide limited internal support for Interdisciplinary Working Groups (IWoGs) to spawn active research connections across departments and units. A Request for Proposals for this program was issued on Friday, February 11, 2005; guidelines and application materials are available on the ORSP Funding Opportunities/Internal Support page. Applications are due in the ORSP on April 11, 2005.

Division of Research Integrity and Compliance

  • All faculty, students, and staff who have contact with human research subjects or human subject research data must receive online education. The deadline for completing online education is February 15, 2005. Beginning on that date, IRB applications will be accepted only when all project staff have completed the education requirement. All procedures and a description of the program are at www.olemiss.edu../../../compliance/human_CITI_readfirst.html.
  • NEWSFLASH: Read the new FAQ about mandatory online education, now available on the ORSP website at www.olemiss.edu../../../compliance/human_CITI_FAQ.html.
  • Compliance Tip of the Month: DO get all compliance forms directly from the Compliance Forms page of the ORSP website! ~ DON’T use old forms! ~ WHY? Because IRB and IACUC frequently update forms based on user feedback, regulatory changes, and efforts to simplify and clarify forms and instructions — using the latest forms reduces processing time.

Division of Technology Management

  • Many sponsored programs and other academic and research projects have the potential to create marketable products, technologies, or techniques. The ORSP’s Division of Technology Management helps identify this potential and promote its appropriate realization in the marketplace; it also assists faculty members in fulfilling their responsibility to cooperate with the University in patenting, licensing, and otherwise commercializing technology for which they are inventors.
  • The Division of Technology Management works to stimulate the development of alliances with corporate partners based on the technology strengths of the University in order to strengthen U.S. industry, especially industry in Mississippi, and works to ensure that inventions conceived and developed in University laboratories that have commercial potential are protected and commercialized for the benefit of the inventors, the University, the State of Mississippi, and society.
  • The Division’s staff has already started getting this message out to the various units on campus, with visits to the School of Engineering and the National Center for Physical Acoustics. If your department or unit is interested in hearing more about the services available to faculty through our division, please contact us at techmgmt@olemiss.edu or by phone at Extension 1604.

For complete information about the ORSP — mission, structure, services, responsibilities, and more — visit the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs page

Congratulations from the VCRSP

The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs oversees funding for research, service,
education projects. These activities complement the fundamental aspects of The University of Mississippi’s mission and are among its most tangible contributions to the future. Funding for these activities is one of the best measures of a university’s success in engaging with national and international communities.

All of us who have sought funding to test our ideas know that it is difficult and that the communities to which we belong are highly competitive. That spirit of competition is critical and it contributes more than a little to the relief and excitement a researcher feels on receiving a funding award.

Listed below are our colleagues who have been notified of external funding awards in the last calendar month. Please join me in congratulating them. The news of their discoveries and the importance of their contributions are part of all of our futures and the future of Ole Miss.
Alice M. Clark Signature
Alice M. Clark, Ph.D.
Vice Chancellor for Research and Sponsored Programs

PI Name PI Department/Unit Co-PI Name/s
Adcock, K. Pharmacy Practice
Bass, H. National Center for Physical Acoustics
Bouldin, A. Pharmacy Administration
Byrd, H. Pharmacy Practice
Cleary, J. Pharmacy Practice
Grisham, V. McLean Institute for Community Development
Hamann, M. Pharmacognosy Walker, L.
Holt, R. Geology and Geological Engineering
Johnson, J. Sociology and Anthropology
Marshall, T. Physics and Astronomy Stolzenburg, M.
Mossing, M. Chemistry and Biochemistry
Palmer, H. Political Science Brown, R.
Sabatier, J. National Center for Physical Acoustics
Seiner, J. National Center for Physical Acoustics
Showalter, S. Mississippi Law Research Institute
Vaughan, J. Mechanical Engineering
Vaughan, J. Mechanical Engineering Lackey, E.
Williamson, J. Medicinal Chemistry Haasch, M.
Williford, C. Chemical Engineering
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