One great example of a UMass Amherst/industry research collaboration that exists to solve practical problems is the work being done at the Food Biophysics and Nanotechnology Lab in Chenoweth Hall. Food Science Professor and Lab Director Jochen Weiss works with industry and university collaborators. He is working to increase food safety by using biophysics and nanotechnology to better understand fundamental physical principles in antimicrobials that affect agriculturally relevant biological and engineering processes. Essentially, researchers who use this lab are looking at ways to prevent post-processing contamination in food. Read more.

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The IBM/UMass Amherst partnership has a history of connection, innovation and generous support. Financially, the company has invested nearly $6.5 million in campus science and technology programs through grants, contracts and gifts in kind. Opportunities exist for faculty and students to partner with IBM for research, curriculum development, training, and employment. The IBM/UMass Amherst website is chock full of information on these opportunities, such as the IBM Open Source Lab, launched in 2005. The lab provides faculty in all disciplines with resources, training workshops and support that is connected with open source computing. Become a member of the IBM Academic Initiative, which delivers hardware, software and other technologies to institutions of higher education at no or low cost. The campus can also participate in the Shared University Research Program (SUR), an equipment award program that promotes research of mutual value. In 2005, Dr. Massimo Fischetti, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering received a $70,000 SUR grant in specialized computer hardware.

IBM also sponsors research through grants and contracts. For example, in 2006 Computer Science Professor Donald Towsley received nearly $177,000 to support research in collaborative wireless networks. This work will be undertaken as part of a world-wide consortium facilitated by IBM and the U.S. Army Research Office.

Over 400 UMass Amherst graduates are employed by IBM world-wide and opportunities exist for students to connect to IBM for education, training, employment and fellowship support. IBM is currently looking to hire a UMass undergrad for their campus Ambassador position. For more information on this paid position and other opportunities, visit the student portal of the partnership website.

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Researchers seeking patents will most likely have new filing regulations to follow in 2007. It is expected that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will enact rule changes that will significantly impact the way applicants develop patent portfolios. The changes are expected to influence the disclosure of information by requiring the applicant to describe the relevance of all documents submitted in an information disclosure statement as soon as 20 documents have been cited. Other new rules will limit the filing of continuing applications, a process that allows applicants to claim a patent invention and continue working on various components. USPTO is expected to minimize the number of patent applications associated with a single invention by regulating when these applications should be filed. Similarly, a third change will seek to limit the number of patent claims that USPTO will initially examine.

While USPTO has not announced a release date for these changes, it is expected that they will be announced before the end of the year and will take effect in January 2007. Questions about filing patents or the upcoming rule changes? Contact Nick DeCristofaro (545-1587) UMass Amherst CVIP Director.

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The campus received over $11 million in sponsored research awards from industry this year, about 10% of the total dollars awarded to the campus. Though the percentage is modest, it reflects a near doubling of activity from FY04 and is holding steady compared to last year. A review of industrial sponsored research data at UMass reveals that our faculty have a high proposal and award success rate for industrial-sponsored research when they do propose. In 2006, proposal success rate to industry was 85% and award success rate 84%. This compares to a 61% overall proposal success rate and 57% overall award success rate. Ten-year trends (1997- 2006) reveal the average industry proposal success rate is 91%, and average industry award success rate is 75%. Access the Sponsored Activities Report for more about industry awards.

The Research Area can help faculty who want to work with industry. Contact Karen Hayes (545-9586), Research Liaison and Development. Visit the corporate funding web page.

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’07-’08 IBM Herman Goldstine Postdoctoral Fellowship in Mathematical Sciences
Deadline: December 25, 2006
The Goldstine Fellowship provides scientists of outstanding ability an opportunity to advance their scholarship as resident department members at the IBM Mathematical Sciences Research Center. The Research Center is located in Westchester County, less than an hour north of New York City, and provides an atmosphere in which basic research is combined with work on technical problems arising in industry. If you intend to apply to this fellowship, please notify Karen Hayes (545-9586) Research Liaison and Development, so that we can alert the campus’s IBM partnership executive and can track the progress of the application appropriately. One fellowship of between $95,000 and $115,000 will be awarded. Access the Goldstine Fellowship website for the application and more information. Though online submittal of these proposals may be required, all proposals should be reviewed by OGCA first (545-0698).

Brewer Science RFP
Deadline: January 31, 2007
Brewer Science, a high-tech company working on semiconductor/microelectronics equipment and chemical markets, has announced an invitation-only Request for Proposal for "Development of High-Performance Polymers for Use in Reversible Adhesives for Microelectronic Applications." This is a confidential RFP. Only a select few universities have been invited to respond. For application materials and further information, contact Karen Hayes (545-9586) Research Liaison and Development.

CITI Higher Ed and K-12 RFPs Announced
Deadline: February 9, 2007
The Commonwealth Information Technology Initiative (CITI) issued three Requests for Proposal on December 11. The RFPs were developed after meetings throughout the state with K-12 and higher education stakeholders and industry representatives. For higher education, the RFP calls for proposals to address innovation (rolling out the next wave of computing programs to meet workforce needs) and collaboration (helping programs through sharing resources, mentoring and solving common problems). The two K-12 RFPs call for proposals to train middle school science and math teachers to integrate IT fluency into their curricula and to create pathways from high school into computing programs in community colleges and four year colleges. The deadline for all three proposals is February 9, 2007. For more information, see the CITI website.

SRC Fellowship Programs
Deadline: February 15, 2007
As a member institution of the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), UMass Amherst can encourage graduate students to apply for the Graduate Fellowship Program. The program rewards talented and promising PhD students whose research coincides with SRC's Global Research Consortium goals. Students must be working under an SRC approved faculty member at UMass Amherst. A list of approved faculty can be found here. SRC offers several other fellowship opportunities to UMass Amherst graduate students, including company-named fellowships and research fellowships. Though online submittal of these proposals may be required, all proposals should be reviewed by OGCA first (545-0698). For more information about these and other opportunities for students through SRC, visit the organization's student programs website.

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December 15: Massachusetts Water Research Center Call for Papers
January 5: Microsoft Computational Challenges in Synthetic Biology Proposals
January 5: Samuel F. Conti Faculty Fellowship Award Nominations
March 16: Faculty Research Grant/Healey Endowment Grant
April 6: Public Service Endowment Grant

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Fall RLA Grants Awarded
Congratulations to the fall 2006 recipients of Research Leadership in Action Grants. Awards totaling $50,626 were granted to five proposals. The following faculty members have been awarded grants for their respective projects: Assistant Professor Peggy Clouston, Natural Resource Conservation - "The Wood Structures Symposium," $17,000; Professor Jane Fountain, Political Science - "Emergent Technologies and Public Policy Workshop on Nanotechnology," $14,626; Dean George M. Langford, Biology - "National Consortium of Science and Engineering Deans," $5,000; Associate Professors Elizabeth Dumont and Ian Grosse, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering - "Finite Analysis of Biological Systems," $6,000; Professors Rod Warnick and David Bojanic, Hospitality and Tourism Management - "Research and Scholarship Applications for Club Managers," $8,000.

The RLA, an internal grant program launched by the Vice Provost for Research, encourages the showcasing of faculty leadership as well as developing connections to industry and other external partners for support of research programs. RLA grants are awarded twice a year in the fall and spring. The deadline for the spring round of RLA awards is May 1st, 2007. Visit the RLA website or contact Karen Hayes (545-9586) Program Administrator with inquiries.

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Report on Research Now Available
The Research Area produces two complementary publications that report on the campus’s fiscal year research activities. The UMass Amherst Report on Research is designed to give campus constituents a broad view of FY’06 research activity on the Amherst campus. Technology transfer, state science and technology grant programs, Research Area internal grant programs and private donations for research are highlighted in this report as well as sponsored activities. The Report on Research also highlights a number of the campus’s research programs and faculty and is designed to function as a marketing piece for UMass Amherst research.

As in past years, OGCA will issue the Fiscal Year Sponsored Activities Annual Report. This detailed piece includes views of FY’06 proposal and award activity, distribution of award and proposal dollars by sponsor, distribution of award dollars by MBU, proposal and award trends and much more. Both reports are available online and the Report on Research is also available in print for campus recruiting or other marketing needs. Please contact Becky McNiven, RL&D (545-2706) if you are interested in receiving copies.

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Paid Co-op to Support IBM/UMass Amherst Partnership
IBM is looking for faculty recommendations for a student intern to support the projects they have invested in on campus, e.g., CASA, MassNanoTech and the IBM Open Source Lab. Candidates should have a technical background as they will be asked to supply help on IBM products, e.g., Quickplace, Sametime, Websphere, Rational, and must be motivated to learn IBM technology. The position will also interface with professors, students, researchers and IBM managers and may be asked to coordinate IBM events on campus. The student should be an undergraduate (a junior or sophomore as of fall ‘06), be willing to work on average 10-15 hours per week (with a flexible schedule), and work without direct supervision. This is a paid position reporting jointly to the IBM Program Manager, and to the campus’s Industry Liaison, Karen Hayes (413) 545-9586. Access the job description. Contact Karen for questions or to apply.

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RTC Members Selected for Gubernatorial Committees
Several members of the Regional Technology Corporation (RTC) have been selected to serve on committees for Massachusetts-elect Governor Deval Patrick. Keith Parent, RTC Chairman and CEO of Court Square Data Group, will serve on the transition committee on technology. Other RTC member appointees include Allen Blair of Western Mass Economic Development Council for the economic development committee and Mark Tolosky of Baystate Health for the committee on healthcare. The appointments of these local leaders give the Pioneer Valley region a voice with the state’s executive branch and legislature.

The RTC helps to connect UMass Amherst and local industry through various networks and events. Existing networks include the Technology Enterprise Council, The Materials and Manufacturing Network, and the Bio Economic Technology Alliance. For more information about RTC, visit the organization's website or contact Marla Michel (577-0092) Director of Research Liaison and Development.

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In this issue of ACCESS we welcome new faculty from the Isenberg School of Management.

David Piercey, Accounting and Information Systems. Research interests: Judgment and decision making theory in accounting and auditing contexts; subjective risk assessment; belief-revision; audit quality.
Rebecca Townsend, Business Communication Program. Research interests: Rhetoric; ethnography of communication; local political and civic communication; intercultural communication.
Teri Yohn, Accounting and Information Systems. Research interests: Financial statement analysis; the impact of financial information on stock returns and information asymmetry in the stock market; the causes and consequences of earnings restatements.

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OGCA processed 172 proposals for a total of $28,821,088 in November. How does that stack up against last year and previous months? Have a look at the histograms to find out.

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Each month ACCESS includes a selection of grants and contracts awarded to faculty from across campus to provide a sense of what's going on in research at UMass Amherst. This month, ACCESS features grants and contracts awarded from industry for October and November. Because of publication restrictions on some grants not all are listed here. Also, since this is just a snapshot in time and grant/contract terms vary, actual award totals may be higher than the amounts listed.

Daniel R. Cooley
Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences
Sponsor: Red Tomato Inc
Title: Fungicide Control of Apple Diseases
Total Award: $1,500

Edward Bryan Coughlin
Polymer Science and Engineering
Sponsor: JSR Corporation Inc
Title: CUMIRP Part III: JSR Corporation
Total Award: $20,000

Todd S. Emrick
Polymer Science and Engineering
Sponsor: Advanced Cardiovascular Systems Inc
Title: CUMIRP Part III: Adv Cardio
Total Award: $5,000

Kevin E. Fu
Computer Science
Sponsor: RSA Security Inc
Title: Advances in RFID Security and Privacy
Total Award: $5,000

Lixin Gao
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Sponsor: Narus Inc
Title: BGP Analysis and Trouble-Shooting
Total Award: $25,000

Geunhwa Jung
Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences
Sponsor: Cleary Chemical Corp
Title: Turfgrass Pathology Research
Total Award: $10,500

Sandip Kundu
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Sponsor: Intel Corporation
Title: On-Die Circuitry to Enhance Survivability and Observability of Circuit Marginalities
Total Award: $55,000

Mitchell T. Mulholland
Anthropology - Archaeological Services
Sponsor: Allard's Farms
Title: Hadley-Walnut Grove Estates Archaeological Survey
Total Award: $18,995

James J. Watkins
Chemical Engineering
Sponsor: Semiconductor Research Corp
Title: SRC Association with Center for Hierarchical Manufacturing. MNT URG: SRC.
Total Award: $50,000

James J. Watkins
Chemical Engineering
Sponsor: Marubeni Corporation
Title: MNT URG: Marubeni Corporation
Total Award: $4,000

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