Several weeks ago, the Senate Task Force on Public Higher Education released its report: Investing in Our Future. The report acknowledged that the legislature is reassessing the state of public higher education and is investigating strategic funding options.

The report has many good recommendations including increasing state spending on higher education, issuing General Obligation bonds to address capital/infrastructure issues on the campuses, supporting need-based financial aid, continuing funding of the Public Higher Education Endowment Incentive Program. The report also includes recommendations that focus attention on how UMass fuels the State's economic engine including creating a strategic plan that connects the University's outputs with state economic benefits, providing endowment matching funds for S&T professorships, establishing business and technology incubators at the UMass campuses, providing resources to develop new research labs and upgrade equipment and facilities, and reauthorizing expanded investment in the programs created by the Economic Stimulus Bill of 2003.

All this comes as a result of sustained attention and mutual cooperation from the business community, state agencies, and the campuses. Contact ILED (545-2706) to access some of the research enhancement resources already available from the state.

Deadline, May 9-The UMass System Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Properties (CVIP) Office is accepting proposals for the spring 2005 Technology Development Fund. The fund was established by the President's Office in 2004 to provide UMass researchers with supplemental funding to advance previously disclosed University technologies toward commercialization. The grant is intended to move technologies to the proof of concept stage or allow the investigator to take other critical steps to make the technology attractive for licensing or other forms of commercialization. The fund is NOT intended to support basic research, but rather close the gap between the research discovery and proven technology. Awards of up to $20,000 per project will be granted from the $60,000 fund. Only UMass system investigators are eligible. More information, including eligible technologies, selection criteria, and application instructions are available on the UMass Amherst CVIP website. The Research Area provides support services for your Technology Development Fund proposal. Contact Lyne Laliberté (545-1062) for more information. Look for a breakdown of IP-related resources in the May issue of Research ACCESS.

Attention problem solvers! New Nine Sigma industry RFPs released. NineSigma works with companies looking for innovative solutions from R&D institutions. RFPs are now available in the following areas: automotive/transportation; biology/biotechnology; engineering/materials; chemistry; food science; packaging and consumer products; and real-time video transmission. Check back soon for upcoming RFPs focusing on: Air Cleaning & Freshening Products; Biosurfactants; Biomimicry; Electrostatics; High- Speed, Low-Impact Folding of Flexible Products; Material Product Folding Devices; Sulfonation; and Water-in-Silicone Antimicrobials. Up-to-date RFP announcements from Nine Sigma are available on the ILED website. ILED provides support services for your Nine Sigma proposal. Contact Marla Michel or Karen Hayes (545-2706) for more information.

"Western Massachusetts today is like Boston/Cambridge in the 1960s in terms of technology-based development," said Intellectual Property Attorney Ed Gates of Wolf, Greenfield and Sacks, PC. "It's exciting to see the very highest levels of the University supporting entrepreneurial development." Gates and 14 other speakers talked to a group of more than 100 entrepreneurs, graduate students and faculty in attendance at the First Annual UMass Amherst Invention to Venture Workshop. The I2V workshop hosted a greater than expected number of attendees, 65% of whom were entrepreneurial graduate students. Throughout the day, workshop speakers described various aspects of technology-based entrepreneurship ranging from initial idea validation to financing and managing a successful business. In addition to hosting the 2nd Annual I2V Workshop next year, UMass Amherst will continue actively supporting campus entrepreneurs. Dean of Engineering Michael Malone and School of Management Professor Soren Bisgaard offer a course on Technology Entrepreneurship and a Business Plan Competition to be held next fall will award a cash prize of up to $50K For those who were unable to attend this year's I2V Workshop, speaker presentations are available online. The Workshop organizers welcome your comments and suggestions for next year's event. Please email your input to Marla Michel or call 545-2706. Of further interest to tech-oriented entrepreneurs is MIT's Ignite Clean Energy $125k business presentation competition for clean energy technologies. Wednesday, April 27 at the MIT Stata Center.

The UMass President's Office has announced two initiatives to encourage and reward effective teaching with academic technology.

Professional Development Grant Program: Deadline April 29th. Sponsored by the President's Office, the Information Technology Council and the campuses. Proposals are being sought from UMass faculty and staff for new initiatives that demonstrate the use of electronic technologies to improve learning and enhance academic experience. The goals of the program are to encourage effective use of instructional technology by faculty; advance the assessment of technology-mediated student learning outcomes; disseminate best practices about new ways of teaching students; advance the delivery of high-quality academic instruction to broad constituencies regardless of geography; and to demonstrate the marketability of courses, seminars and electronic tools beyond the campuses and University system. Awards range from $4000 - $6000 for a general project award and $8000 - $20,000 for multi-campus projects and projects of exceptional merit. The RFP can be found at www.umassp.edu/itc. Contact Mark Schlesinger (617-287-7137).

Leadership Award for Assessment of Student Learning with Technology: Deadline Friday, April 29th. Sponsored by the Subcommittee on Academic Technology and UMass Online, this award honors faculty who are providing leadership in the use of technology in the assessment of student learning. Awards will be made to instructors who demonstrate effective strategies for using technology in areas such as employing innovative tools to assess student learning and providing students and faculty with prompt feedback and engaging students in their own learning by encouraging self assessment. Applicants who are selected will be honored as exemplars of Best Practice, will receive a $2000 honorarium and will be recognized at a reception honoring their work in the fall of 2005. Note that this is an award for strategies that have already been implemented and can be documented. Contact Barbara Macaulay (508-856-5151), or Jacquie Moloney (978-934-2943) for more information.

Are you a Five-College faculty, staff or student looking for ways in which to expand the scope of your IT research? Then plan to attend a new seminar series designed to foster intellectual and interdisciplinary connections and opportunities for IT researchers in the Five-College community. Called the "Fourth Thursday" seminars, the once a month talks will highlight information technology research initiatives from across the Five-Colleges. The first sessions of the series are scheduled this spring at Du Bois Library at UMass Amherst, the location of the campus' new Learning Commons, which will become the focal point for Information Technology interchange. The next seminar on "Shaping a Vision for Instructional Technology" will be delivered by Robbie Moll on April 28 at 4:00 pm. More information is available on the Fourth Thursday Seminar Series website.

Registration deadline, April 28-A Ph.D. is not enough! Successful completion of a graduate program in science, technology, math or engineering does not assure career success. Today's graduate students must combine an innovative approach to research with a career development strategy. How this can be done and how faculty can help their students succeed will be the subject of an all-day workshop coordinated by the Vice Provost for Research and the Dean of the Graduate School. The UMass Amherst STEM Graduate Student Event, "A Ph.D. is Not Enough" will be held May 3. Registration is free to graduate students and faculty. Online registration required. Visit the workshop website for more information including, ten reasons why a Ph.D. is not enough.

David W. Ostendorf
Civil & Environmental Engineering
Sponsor: MA Highway Department
Title: Salt Remediation Program
Total Award: $5,969,432

Charlena M. Seymour
Provost's Office
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Title: No Longer a Dream Deferred: Greater Minority STEM Participation through Academic & Institutional Change
Total Award: $1,792,461

Elizabeth R. Dumont
Biology
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Title: Finite Element Analyses of the Mammalian Skull: The Impact of Biting Behavior
Total Award: $333,076

Edward Stanek
Biostatistics and Epidemiology
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
Title: Mixed Models for Finite Populations
Total Award: $331,392

D. Joseph Jerry
Veterinary and Animal Sciences
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
Title: Genetic Modifiers of Mammary Tumor Susceptibility
Total Award: $299,306

Jochen Weiss
Food Science
Sponsor: Coop State Res, Educ and Ext Service
Title: Ultrasonic Extraction and Sonochemical Modification of Chitin and Chitosan
Total Award: $250,000

Ronald K. Hambleton
Educational Policy Research & Admin
Sponsor: Measured Progress
Title: Research and Validity Studies for the MCAS
Total Award: $199,145

Ethan Katsh
Legal Studies
Sponsor: National Mediation Board
Title: Government Online Dispute Resolution
Total Award: $100,000

Please contact us with your questions, article suggestions and feedback.