UMass Amherst Research ACCESS Newsletter


Research ACCESS	Expanding the Capacity for Research & Innovation June 11, 2008

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Volume 4 Issue 11

· Facilities Profile: Joseph Troll Turf Research Center

· Campus Energy Summit Showcases Faculty Research

· More Support Now Available for Fulbright Exchanges

· Industry Partners Connect to Campus

· Funding Opportunities

· Announcements

· Events

· OGCA Histogram

· May Grants & Contracts Snapshot

Facilities Profile: Turf Research Center

Turf Center

At UMASS Extension's Joseph Troll Turf Research and Education Center in South Deerfield, the faculty, staff, and students in the UMass Amherst Turf Management Program undertake scientific studies to better understand the effects of water usage, nutrition, and wear on different species and varieties of turfgrass, as well as ways to biologically control insects, diseases and weeds while minimizing reliance on pesticides. One of the oldest continuously operating turf programs in the nation, their work is building connections with external partners in landscape services and turf management across the country. [Read More]

Staff Profile: Kim Fill

Kim Fill

URE TO COME)
While working as assistant to the UMass Amherst Vice Chancellor for University Advancement in the late 1990s, Kim Fill was studying for her BA in Marketing Promotions and Public Relations. She was also starting her family; her son was only 20 months old when she graduated in 2001. Earning a degree while raising a child and working full time took a great deal of focus, commitment, and energy - all qualities that Kim applies to her new job as assistant to Paul Kostecki, Vice Provost for Research. [Read More]

Campus Energy Summit Showcases Faculty Research

Co-op Power and the UMass Amherst Office of Research host the 4th Annual Regional Sustainability Energy Summit Taking Charge of Our Energy Future June 20 and 21 at the UMass Amherst Campus Center. New this year is a special track on Renewable Energy R&D Frontiers which highlights the work UMass Amherst faculty are doing in energy research. The two-day summit also features dozens of workshops, job training sessions, exhibits, and networking opportunities on responding to the climate change crisis and reducing energy costs. Many of these activities build on the contributions of UMass Amherst researchers and experts.

The Summit will present opportunities relevant for municipal leaders, business owners, community leaders, environmental justice leaders, individuals seeking green job skills, teachers, parents, and students. A full-day Friday workshop on energy savings and transitioning to a sustainable campus will include an open to the public "Town Meeting" by Chairman Daniel Bosely on the Green Communities Act at 3:15pm in Campus Center 101. More information and registration materials can be found online.

Also, be sure to save the date of November 22 for the Greater Springfield-UMass Amherst Partnership's Clean Energy Connections, the region's first career fair focused on clean-energy businesses and featuring a symposium and panel discussions on higher education and training programs, research and technology commercialization, and business development and green entrepreneurism. For more information, contact RLD Associate Director Loren Walker (413-577-3725).

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More Support Now Available for Fulbright Exchanges

The Research Area is continuing to expand and strengthen opportunities for faculty and students to engage in international research. As part of this growth, UMass Amherst Associate Director for International Research Rick Taupier has been named to the Fulbright Senior Specialists Roster by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars. The Roster is a list of research specialists who are eligible for grants to visit with and assist foreign universities seeking to establish new research programs and activities. The goals of the Senior Specialists program are to increase the participation of leading U.S. scholars and professionals in academic exchanges, encourage new activities beyond lecturing and research, and promote increased connections between U.S. and non-U.S. post-secondary academic institutions.

Taupier's candidacy in this program presents new opportunities for the campus as a whole by providing another unique link to the global research community that will help ensure UMass Amherst continues to be a leader in global research and scholarship. Currently, Taupier is actively involved in recruiting UMass Amherst faculty who wish to apply to any of the Fulbright exchange programs, as well as helping to bring more visiting Fulbright scholars at UMass Amherst. More information about RLD's international research program is available online.

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Industry Partners Connect to Campus for Research and Recruiting

This spring, UMass Amherst industry partners have connected to campus with renewed interest in research collaboration and recruiting. As with the other corporate partnerships that the Research Area continues to develop, these relationships present excellent opportunities for campus researchers seeking sources for sponsored funding, innovation licensing, job placement for graduate students, and project collaborations.

On April 9, research administrators and scientists from Cisco Systems, a leading supplier of information technology networking equipment and management, held a joint conference with UMass Amherst administrators and researchers to further develop the company's collaborative partnership with the campus. The UMass Amherst-Cisco Research Summit highlighted areas of shared interest between the two organizations, including wireless networks and mobility, internetworking, security and reliability, and sensing and virtualization. As part of its ongoing collaboration with university researchers, Cisco has issued multiple RFPs for sponsored research projects on many of the pressing issues, topics, and problems in networking science that were highlighted at the Summit.

A team of scientists and executives from IBM's Healthcare and Life Sciences Group visited campus on May 27th to reinvigorate discussions with campus researchers on high performance computing. IBM presented the company's Blue Gene architecture (billed as the fastest and greenest path to petascale computing) and how it can enable academic research. Representatives from the company addressed IBM's desire to learn more about the campus' high performance computing activities in order to build a closer compatibility with the teaching and researching needs of the faculty.

Eastman Kodak Company is now hiring Ph.Ds into multiple positions in its Research Labs and is activley seeking applications from UMass Amherst graduates. The positions include opportunities for research scientists, polymer chemists, and technology analysts. Full job descriptions and application materials are available online.

In 2006, UMass Amherst signed a collaborative Master Research Agreement with Kodak, an industry leader in imaging products and services, to further the development of new technologies. The campus is one of a handful of universities Kodak has targeted for investment as the it seeks opportunities to develop cutting-edge technologies that will enhance "info-imaging," the hundred-billion dollar industry created by the convergence of images and information technology.

UMass Amherst faculty interested in exploring collaborations and building relationships with these and other corporate partners should contact Karen Hayes (413-545-9586) for assistance and further information.

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Funding Opportunities

Semiconductor Research Corporation BEP & Packaging Grants
White Papers Deadline: June 26, 2008
Proposal Deadline: September 11, 2008
Estimated Award Size: Varies
The Interconnect & Packaging Sciences area of the SRC Global Research Collaboration is soliciting white papers in BEP & Packaging for work to begin February 1, 2009. This call for research, issued to universities worldwide, may be addressed by individual investigators or by research teams. Successful white paper authors will be invited to submit a full proposal. Contracts resulting from this solicitation are anticipated to be three years in duration. The areas of extendability of Cu-Low K, novel approaches to interconnect and the global interconnect problem, chip/package system concepts, power delivery, and thermal management are of special priority in this solicitation. In addition, special attention will be paid to white papers that include teamed theoretical and experimental investigators. More information and application materials are available online.

Gulf War Illness Research Program
Pre-Application Deadline: July 2, 2008
Proposal Deadline: October 15, 2008
Estimated Award Size: Varies (see below)
The U.S. Department of Defense's Office of Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs seeks proposals for innovative research that will improve the health and lives of veterans who have Gulf War Illness (GWI). The Program supports innovative projects that have the potential to make a significant impact on GWI. The Program encourages risk-taking research; however, all projects must demonstrate solid judgment and rationale. Three different award categories are available:

Idea Award (up to $200,000 for up 2 years), Investigator-Initiated Research Award (up to $600,000 for up to 3 years), and Clinical Trial Award (up to $750,000 for up to 3 years). More information about each individual category, as well as application instructions, can be found online.

The following funding opportunities are from nonprofit organizations and foundations. For assistance applying to these opportunities, please contact Susan Worgaftik Corporate and Foundation Relations, University Advancement at (413-547-2956).

Childhood Obesity Research Grant
Deadline: Rolling
Estimated Award Size: Up to $150,000 for up to 1 year
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation seeks proposals for projects to be funded by its Childhood Obesity program area. The overall aim of this program is to provide key decision- and policy-makers with evidence to guide effective action to reverse the rise in childhood obesity. This CFP seeks time-sensitive, opportunistic studies that evaluate changes in policies or environments with the potential to reach children who are at highest risk for obesity, including African-American, Latino, Native American, Asian American, and Pacific Islander children who live in low-income communities or communities with limited access to affordable healthy foods and/or safe opportunities for physical activity. More information is available online.

Environmental Education Initiative
Deadline: June 16, 2008
Estimated Award Size: $10,000 in the first year; $5,000 in the second
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation seeks applications from organizations interested in initiating the Nature of Learning program in their communities. The Nature of Learning is a community-based environmental education initiative of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge System that uses National Wildlife Refuges as outdoor classrooms to promote a greater understanding of local conservation issues, encourage an interdisciplinary approach to learning that seeks to enhance student academic achievement, utilize field experiences and student-led stewardship projects to connect classroom lessons to real-world issues, and involve a partnership among local schools, community groups, natural resource professionals, and local businesses. Programs must promote an understanding of local conservation issues, improve scientific literacy, and conform to appropriate academic standards of learning. More information is available online. UMass Amherst researchers interested in applying for this grant must work in partnership with a local school, which will serve as the PI for the project.

Breast Cancer Research Funding
Deadline: July 1, 2008
Estimated Award Size: Up to $150,000 per year for up to 2 years
The Avon Foundation has launched the Avon Breast Cancer Research Bridge Program to provide bridge funding to scientists with innovative concepts in breast cancer while they develop the pilot data necessary to seek funding from larger sources. Proposals must focus on the use of human tissues and samples, or cell culture or other models that do not involve the use of animals. Further information on Avon's priority areas and other application criteria is available online.

Renewable Energy & Wildlife Conservation Research Prize
Deadline: August 15, 2008
Estimated Award Size: $100,000
Established by Anheuser-Busch and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, this Prize is to advance new technologies or practices that contribute to making renewable energy a more practical energy alternative. The prize will be awarded in consideration of a project's ability to develop or evaluate new cost-effective renewable energy technologies or practices for industrial applications and demonstrate the measurable benefits such practices may have in advancing wildlife conservation. More information is available online.

Australian-American Health Policy Fellowships Program
Deadline: August 15, 2008
Estimated Award Size: Up to $55,000 (AUD) for 6-10 months
On behalf of the Australian Department of Health and Ageing, The Commonwealth Fund invites applications for the 2009-10 Packer Policy Fellowships, an Australian-American Health Policy Fellowships Program. The Packer Policy Fellowships offer a unique opportunity for outstanding, mid-career U.S. professionals to conduct research in Australia and work with leading Australian health policy experts on issues relevant to both countries. In addition to undertaking original policy research, fellows will participate in seminars and policy briefings, which include meetings with senior officials at the Commonwealth and State levels, Ministerial officers, service providers, academics, and other stakeholders in the public and private sectors. More information is available online.

Marijuana Policy Project Grant
Deadline: September 1, 2008
Estimated Award Size: Up to $60,000
The 2008 Grants Program administered by the Marijuana Policy Project will fund efforts that foster measurable changes in U.S. public policy leading to marijuana's being regulated similarly to alcohol and to marijuana's availability for medical use. The grants program does not fund political parties or candidates for office, state ballot initiatives, or hemp-related projects. More information is available online.

Health & Society Scholars Program
Deadline: October 3, 2008
Estimated Award Size: $86,000 first year, $89,000 second year
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars program is designed to build the nation's capacity for research, leadership, and policy-change to address the multiple determinants of population health and is based on the principle that progress in the field of population health depends upon multidisciplinary collaboration. The program's goal is to improve public health by training scholars to investigate connections among biological, genetic, behavioral, environmental, economic, and social determinants of health and develop, evaluate, and disseminate interventions that act on these determinants. More information can be found online.

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Announcements

Research Leadership in Action Awardees Named

Congratulations to the recipients of Spring 2008 Research Leadership in Action Grants: John Kingston (Linguistics) for the 12th Laboratory Phonology Conference and Stephen Schrieber (Art) for the Fall Meeting of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. The Research Leadership in Action program is an internal grant competition sponsored by the Vice Provost for Research. The program supports faculty interested in showcasing leadership in their field of research and scholarly activity through highly visible, results-focused campus events, such as conferences, professional meetings, and performances. These events bring together researchers and scholars from other academic institutions, industry, government and the public. Applications for the Fall 2008 RLA Awards are now available online.

House Committee Votes on Nanotechnology Bill
The following is from the May 15, 2008 Bulletin of the American Institute of Physics: "The House Committee on Science and Technology recently voted to favorably report H.R. 5940, the National Nanotechnology Initiative Amendments Act of 2008, to the House for consideration. The bill would amend the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act of 2003 which authorized funding for nanotechnology research and development under the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI)." [Read More]

Passport UMass Summer Issue Available
The summer 2008 issue of Passport UMass is now available online. Passport UMass is a regular publication of the University of Massachusetts International Relations Advisory Council and highlights the ongoing international research and scholarship activities of the University, its faculty, staff, and students. More information on the University's international activities can be found on the UMass International Relations homepage.

UMass Conference Services Survey
UMass Conference Services will be conducting a survey to better understand the range of the campus' needs for conferences, exhibitions, events, meetings, seminars, and other types of organized activities. The Isenberg School of Management's Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management is assisting this unit better understand its markets and their respective clients' needs. The survey will be completed online over the next several weeks and faculty, staff, and administrators will be contacted soon by email to participate. Individuals who respond will be entered into a drawing for one of three Apple Nano IPODs. Survey comments will be keep confidential and only summary results released. Please help the survey team by participating and identifying the appropriate person(s) in your department, center, or administrative unit who handle(s) the scheduling of meetings and events. Questions about the survey may be directed to Michael Ellman in Conference Services or the survey's research coordinator, Ellie Cao of the Hospitality and Tourism Management Department.

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Events

June 12: OGCA Brown Bag Lunch on Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) projects. SBIR opportunities are highly competitive programs that encourage small business to explore technological and commercialization potential. STTR is a small business program that expands funding opportunities in the federal innovation research and development arena. 12pm-1pm; Research Administration Building Room 104. To register, contact Kimberley Broderick.

June 13-14: The School of Education celebrates 100 years of preparing educators at UMass Amherst. As part of the celebration the School will host a two-day conference bringing together faculty, students, alumni, and friends to exchange ideas, share innovative educational practices, strengthen connections, and honor the School's legacy of supporting excellence and equity in education. The conference will feature poster and paper sessions, symposia, panel discussions, and a banquet on Friday. More information is available online; to register, visit the online registration website.

June 17: OGCA Brown Bag Lunch on "Prop and Award". This session will cover the procedures, and challenges, that accompany receipt of an award for which no proposal was submitted through OGCA. 12pm-1pm; Research Administration Building Room 104. To register, contact Kimberley Broderick.

June 18: UMass Turf Research Field Day at the Joseph Troll Turf Research Center in South Deerfield. More information, including registration materials, can be found online. Also, see the Facilities Profile in this issue of Research ACCESS.

June 20-21: Co-op Power and UMass Amherst Office of Research host the 2008 Regional Sustainable Energy Summit, Taking Charge of Our Energy Future, at the UMass Amherst Campus Center. Information and registration is available online.

June 22-28: The Juniper Summer Writing Institute, a project of UMass Amherst's MFA in Writing program, offers a week of intensive writing workshops, craft sessions, readings, Q&As, and manuscript consultations with world-renowned faculty. At the heart of the Institute are intensive workshops in poetry, fiction, and fiction/memoir. Specializing in one genre and working closely with a core group of readers, participants generate new work or revise work in progress. In addition to workshops, the daily schedule features interactive craft sessions and readings by acclaimed faculty and writers in residence. Special workshops for high school aged writers are offered through the Institute for Young Writers.

June 24: A conference on "Best Practices in Science Education" will be held from 8:30am to 2:30pm in the Amherst Room at the Campus Center. The conference, funded in part by a UMass Amherst "Research Leadership in Action" award, will identify activities that increase the number and diversity of undergraduates in S&E disciplines, highlight curriculum reform and "best practices" for retaining S&E majors, expand the number of graduates entering the Massachusetts S&E workforce, and build momentum and visibility for new legislation and funding opportunities. More information is available online.

August 10-13: UMass Amherst hosts the 2008 IWA Membrane Research Conference, showcasing advances in membrane technologies for water and wastewater treatment as well as membrane materials and processes. Conference themes include advances in membrane materials and modeling, drinking water treatment, wastewater treatment and reuse, gas transfer applications, desalination, and fouling mechanisms and control. Full program and registration materials can be found online. Funded in part by the Research Leadership in Action program.

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