August 18, 2014

Dear Colleagues:

It is critical to provide sustainable and economical energy systems on a scale sufficient to power all of society's needs. The development of clean energy technologies is an important step in that direction as it addresses the interrelated challenges of producing safe and responsible energy sources while reducing our dependence on foreign oil and minimizing the impact on the environment.

In summer 2014, a URS Corporation-led team of 40 university and industry partners won a 5-year umbrella government contract to conduct technical services related to defense systems. The specific areas of interest are: Weapons Systems Survivability/Vulnerability; Advanced Materials; Autonomous Systems; Non-lethal Weapons and Information Operations; Reliability, Maintainability, Quality, Supportability, and Interoperability (RMQSI); Energetics; Military Sensing; and Directed Energy.

Program:  The Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE) Research Infrastructure (CRI) program within the National Science Foundation (NSF) drives discovery and learning in the core CISE disciplines of the three participating CISE divisions by supporting the creation and enhancement of world-class research infrastructure that will support focused research agendas in computer and information science and engineering. This infrastructure will enable CISE researchers to advance the frontiers of CISE research.

The Foundation seeks to further the development of scientific leadership in the field of environmental chemistry with a postdoctoral fellowship program. This program provides a principal investigator with an award of $120,000 over two years to appoint a Postdoctoral Fellow.  The postdoctoral fellow is usually not already identified nor in the principal investigator's lab at the time of application.

Solicitation of Individual and Organizational Nominations

The UM Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) seeks pre-nominations by August 25, 2014, of UM individuals or organizations for the PAESMEM honorific awards program.

The Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium is soliciting proposals by 4 p.m. Central Time, August 7, 2014, for one- or two-year research projects to address Resilient Communities and Economies (RCE) along the Alabama and Mississippi coast. Up to $65,000 of federal funds can be requested per project, and a non-federal match of 1 dollar for every 2 dollars of federal funding is required.

Program:  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking applications that use a systems approach to investigate how drought, climate change, and land use practices impact the quality and availability of surface and groundwater sources nationally. EPA is also interested in research that will help communities anticipate, plan and adapt to these new climate scenarios in the future.

The NSF due date for the 2014 REU proposals is August 27, 2014.

UM faculty members considering an REU proposal are encouraged to notify your ORS Program Development Specialist by May 19^th (or as soon thereafter as possible) so that we can help identify resources to inform your proposal.

The NSF due dates for the 2014 CAREER competition are July 21 (BIO, CISE, HER); July 22 (ENG); and July 23 (GEO, MPS, SBE).

Eligible UM faculty members considering a CAREER proposal are encouraged to notify your ORSP Program Development Specialist/Research Advocate by May 19^th  (or as soon thereafter as possible) so that we can help identify resources to inform your proposal. 

The full NSF solicitation can be viewed here: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503214

Program:  The BElgium WAllonia REsearch (BEWARE) Fellowhips offer the possibility for highly skilled researchers to perform a research stay in Belgium (Wallonia and Brussels) and benefit from the expertise of innovative SMEs, research centers or universities. This program is co-funded by the European Commission through the COFUND program of the Marie Curie Actions.  All research fields are eligible but the research project must demonstrate an innovative aspect and/or enable technology transfer.