seasonal photo image ResearchHighlights Newsletter

May 2007

Welcome to ResearchHighlights, the online newsletter of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at The University of Mississippi. Archives of past issues are available here. 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 ~
No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.
FOCUS: A New Beginning ~ ORSP Moves to Barr Hall

Making way for the renovation of the Old Chemistry building for the School of Engineering, the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) will soon move to Barr Hall, directly across the street from Johnson Commons.

Located on the first floor of Barr will be the ORSP reception desk and the offices of the Division of Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA). The SPA staff includes the program development specialists, who assist faculty with the preparation and submission of grant proposals, and the contracts and grants staff, who manage the review, negotiation, and acceptance of grant awards, maintain records, issue subcontracts, and monitor reports.

Second-floor residents include staff of the Division of Research Integrity and Compliance, who manage the University’s oversight of research involving animal or human subjects, and also work to create and maintain a culture of responsible conduct of research among administrators, researchers, students involved in research, and research support staff at UM.

The ORSP’s computer network and web development staff and equipment will also be housed on the second floor, along with the combined conference room and Access Grid Node facility for high-quality live videoconferencing.

Barr Hall’s third floor will be home to the Division of Research Development director and staff, who work with University faculty and staff to enable and support their activities in research, creative, and scholarly activities. The economic development arm of the ORSP, including the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research and Sponsored Programs, will also occupy the third floor along with other ORSP administrative and development staff. The Executive Director of the UM Research Park will be housed there temporarily until the park offices become available.

The anticipated move date from Old Chemistry to Barr is early June, so ORSP clients may experience some disruption in services in early summer. Telephone extensions and e-mail addresses are expected to remain the same.

For more information about the ORSP and its responsibilities and services, we invite you to visit our web pages. We look forward to welcoming you to Barr Hall and the new Office of Research and Sponsored Programs soon.

Faculty Q&A
Answering your questions

Each month we answer a question from the faculty. Please send your questions to research@olemiss.edu.

Q:
What are the criteria for charging direct costs to a federally sponsored project?
A:

The federal government has given us very precise criteria for determining when direct costs (those costs that can be identified specifically with a particular sponsored project) can be charged to a federally sponsored project. Direct costs must be:

  1. Reasonable – a prudent person conducting the project would spend the funds in the same manner under the same circumstances; and
  2. Allocable – the goods or services involved are chargeable to the project in direct relation to the benefits received; and
  3. Consistently treated – like costs must be treated the same way throughout the university (they can’t be charged as a direct costs on some projects and as F&A on other projects); and
  4. Allowable – allowed by the sponsoring agency and the university.

OMB Circular A-21, Section J, provides an alphabetical list of common cost items, along with information on whether the items are allowable or unallowable costs on federal awards.

Speaking of COS

Stepping Up the Effort for COS Expertise
This summer the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) will conduct an intensive effort to upgrade and complete the information available about UM faculty in the COS Expertise database.

Under the direction of ORSP staff, two graduate students – Dale Clemence and April Garza – will work to gather and input already-available information about UM faculty, and then will follow up with individual interviews to complete needed data on expertise and research interests.

If you are contacted by April or Dale in the next few months, please take the time to speak with them and provide a few basic pieces of information about your areas of expertise and your research interests; they may also ask you for an up-to-date curriculum vitae in electronic form to aid in the completion of your COS profile.

Don't Know About COS?
Check out our COS page, the January 2005, September 2006, and March 2007 newsletter articles, and/or the COS home page. COS is for all UM faculty in all academic disciplines and research areas.

Some Upcoming Events

EPSCoR Research Theme Forum ~ June 12, 2007
Strategies for Building Center-Level Research Themes at the University, State, and Multi-University/-State Level: A national EPSCoR retreat/forum focused on identifying, selecting, focusing, and developing research themes that draw on institutions’ and states’ strengths and positioning to represent future research centers targets. The one-day workshop is targeted to senior-level administrators and key faculty from the EPSCoR community. Panelists and presenters include representatives from NSF and successful EPSCoR and non-EPSCoR center PIs and members of university and state research leadership.
www.epscorideafoundation.org/ascend/w2.html

BRINGING THE “I’s” TOGETHER: Toward IACUC, IBC and IRB Harmonization Conference ~ June 14-15, 2007
The 2nd annual BRINGING THE “I’s” TOGETHER conference will focus on how the research community can share competencies in a professional setting. An international conference faculty will help participants confront tough issues and develop new approaches to enhancing the entire research process through interdisciplinary cooperation and collaboration. The goal is to bring together IACUC, IBC and IRB experts to build stronger relationships between industry, academia and government, and to increase communication and interaction among these entities.
www.msmr.org/bringing_registration2007.html

SICU2: An International Workshop on Historic Scientific Instrument Collections in the University ~ June 21-24, 2007
The first international conference on Scientific Instrument Collections in Universities (SICU) was held at Dartmouth College in 2004. The SICU1 conference began addressing the unique challenges faced by those who deal with university collections, while also striving to increase awareness among those who may not recognize the importance of their collections. The purpose of the SICU2 workshop (hosted by the University of Mississippi) is to continue solidifying the foundation for finding, describing, organizing, preserving, and utilizing the vast resource of historic scientific instrument collections that reside in academic institutions. These instruments are a vital part of our cultural and scientific heritage. Scientists, junior scholars, advanced graduate and undergraduate students, and people from outside academia are particularly encouraged to participate.
home.olemiss.edu/~sicu2web/index.html

Third International Joint Conferences on Computer, Information, and Systems Sciences, and Engineering (CISSE 2007) ~ December 3-12, 2007
CISSE 2007 provides a virtual forum for presentation and discussion of the state-of the-art research on computers, information and systems sciences and engineering. The virtual conference will be conducted through the Internet using web-conferencing tools, made available by the conference. CISSE 2007 is composed of the following four conferences:

  • International Conference on Systems, Computing Sciences and  Software Engineering (SCSS 07)
  • International Conference on Telecommunications and Networking (TeNe  07)
  • International Conference on Engineering Education,  Instructional Technology, Assessment, and E-learning (EIAE 07)
  • International Conference on Industrial Electronics, Technology and Automation (IETA 07)
More information is at www.cisse2007online.org.
A Few Program Announcements and Deadlines

SIGNIFICANT AWARD
Cottrell Scholar Awards ~ Deadline September 1
Awards will be made to U.S. and Canadian universities to further the teaching and research of faculty members in Ph.D.-granting astronomy, chemistry, and physics departments. The Cottrell Scholar Awards are designed for institutions and faculty members who wish to excel at both teaching and research. They enable recipients to implement their plans to become outstanding scientists and educators as well as tomorrow’s academic and scientific leaders. The awards also seek to reinforce faculty mentoring, communication, and a heightened appreciation for instruction in university science departments. Applicants must be in the third calendar year of their first tenure track position.
Sponsor Website: www.rescorp.org/grants.php#CSA
COS Record: fundingopps.cos.com/cgi-bin/getRec?id=3087

American Lung Association Nationwide Research Program ~ Deadline September 4
The mission of the American Lung Association is to prevent lung disease and promote lung health through research, education and advocacy. The American Lung Association Nationwide Research Program fosters basic, clinical and behavioral research designed to find cures and to prevent and relieve the suffering associated with lung disease. The American Lung Association portfolio of awards and grants is unique in its breath and approach to achieving the American Lung Association’s mission.
Sponsor Website: http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=486859

SIGNIFICANT AWARD
American Council of Learned Societies Fellowships ~ Deadline September 27 (anticipated)
The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Fellowship Program invites research applications in all disciplines of the humanities and humanities-related social sciences. The ultimate goal of the project should be a major piece of scholarly work by the applicant that will take the form of a monograph or other equally substantial form of scholarship. ACLS does not fund creative work (e.g., novels or films), textbooks, straightforward translation, or pedagogical projects.
Sponsor Website: www.acls.org/felguide.htm
COS Record: fundingopps.cos.com/cgi-bin/getRec?id=20411

Find MORE on the ORSP Funding Opportunities Recent Announcements page

SEARCH using COS Funding Opportunities

Bits & Pieces

What Are Significant Awards?
TheCenter is a research enterprise focused on the competitive national context for major research universities. TheCenter’s staff has developed a variety of methods for measuring university performance. Among the measures on which universities are ranked is the number of “significant faculty awards” earned by those affiliated with the institution. Increasing UM’s rate of applications for these and other forms of research recognition and support is a goal that can bear fruit in a number of ways, and one of those ways is that it may lead to higher national rankings of the institution. For more information about TheCenter and significant faculty awards, see the March 2005 Research Highlights newsletter feature article. For a complete listing of significant awards with descriptions, deadlines, and web links, see www.research.olemiss.edufunding/significant_awards.html.

Of course, the many other awards, contracts, grants, fellowships, and faculty achievements sought and won by UM faculty are significant throughout all disciplines, and the faculty’s success in those endeavors is equally important to the institution as a whole. The ORSP staff is available to help with any funding opportunities, regardless of the sponsor, the award size, or whether it will appear directly in future rankings of the University.

ORSP News

Proposal Activity ~ ORSP staff (Lesha Agnew, Mickey McLaurin, Linda Stone) processed 25 external funding proposals during April 2007. For a complete listing, see the Monthly Report page.

Award Activity ~ ORSP staff (Scottie Casey, Julie Edgington, Anita Randle) processed 22 external funding awards during April 2007. For a complete listing, see the Monthly Report page.

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
Altinakar, M. National Center for Computational Hydroscience and Engineering
Angle, T. Division of Outreach and Continuing Education Love, F.
Bass, H. National Center for Physical Acoustics
Brown, P. Office of Research and Sponsored Programs Rauschenberger, K.
Byrd, H. Pharmacy Practice
Cantu, J. Theatre Arts
Chambers, J. National Center for Physical Acoustics
Cheng, A. Civil Engineering Al-Ostaz, A.
Mantena, P.
Mullen, C.
Dougherty, B. Center for Educational Research and Evaluation
ElSohly, M. National Center for Natural Products Research Khan, I.
Gabrynowicz, J. National Remote Sensing and Space Law Center
Gross, A. (2 awards) Psychology
Holland, M. Biology Highsmith, R.
Holt, R. Geology and Geological Engineering Kuszmaul, J.
Jackson, C. Biology
Kartiganer, D. English
McConnell, G. Curriculum and Instruction Guest, B.
McCurdy, C. Medicinal Chemistry Matsumoto, R.
Parker, J. School of Education
Vaughan, J. Mechanical Engineering Lackey, E.
Wilkin, N. Pharmacy Administration

Monthly Report: A list of awards received and proposals submitted by The University of Mississippi in the previous month.

April Proposals Submitted: 25

April Awards Received: 22 totaling $4,345,827

FY07 Year-to-Date Number of Active Sponsored Projects: 537

FY07 Year-to-Date Number of Active Investigators: 235

Copyright ©2006 The University of Mississippi. All rights reserved.
Please send comments and suggestions to ORSP web page manager.
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