Originally published through the Research Radar e-newsletter
on May 22, 2024.
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Colleagues,
Commencement is over and we are all transitioning from faculty life to summer mode. Summer has always been my time to focus on research by kicking off new programs, attending conferences, and tending to my lab. Kim Christen, associate vice president for research, and I each had the pleasure of kicking off our two National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) programs on the Pullman campus: one in water and one in robotics. These incredible events brought cohorts of Ph.D. students together with faculty from many disciplines across our system. This week, I am sitting in Washington, D.C., where I will visit with some of our congressional delegations advocating for our research priorities. Today, I am attending the Aviation Emissions Characterization meeting at the National Academies of Sciences with the Federal Aviation Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Energy, and Transport Canada.
My family would always ask if the university paid for all these activities. Then, I would explain the faculty’s role in delineating scientific gaps, developing research hypotheses, write proposals, and, once funded, hiring students, establishing experiments, and analyzing data, all to test our hypotheses using the scientific method. This activity is the business of research entrepreneurship that is unknown to many outside of academia. The need to balance revenues, salaries, travel, goods and services, and equipment costs is similar to most small businesses. However, a unique aspect for us is to run our small businesses without a savings account. While the university backs our expenditures and revenue recovery with central programs, we need funds under our control to act strategically and advance our programs as faculty. Most faculty develop these funds by carrying forward either salary savings or F&A return funds.
Concerns over access to these funds have been one of the most significant topics you have discussed with me this year. In November 2023, Leslie Brunelli, executive vice president for finance and administration, sent a memo on the use of carryforward funds for financial units stating, “…there will be no blanket authorization for the use of carryforward funds in FY-2024.” Given some confusion and concern, in February she clarified that “…the intent of the carryforward policy is not to enforce a blanket restriction or to impede the progress of planned activities such as funding of graduate students this summer…”In other words, there is flexibility in use of carryforward funds and these memos have been shared with your associate deans and vice chancellors for research. If you continue to have questions over the ability to use these funds for research needs, I suggest you meet with your dean’s office to clarify what limitations are in place.
Enjoy the beginning of summer. Refresh your minds at conferences with colleagues. And ramp up your research activities.
Michael P. Wolcott
Regents Professor
Interim Vice President for Research
Office of Research launches research working group for AI
The Office of Research gathered researchers across the system to be part of the Advancing AI Research Working Group to define the current and emerging strengths in AI research at WSU. Led by Assefaw Gebremedhin, associate professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the working group will convene meetings, symposia, and other forums to engage faculty across disciplines to understand the breadth and depth of research areas. The group will also draft a roadmap for enhancing and building AI research at WSU in key growth areas with the potential for far researching benefits and impacts.
The Advancing AI Working Group was established to build upon current strengths at WSU and identify emerging areas of high priority and impact. The group held its first meeting on March 27. Gebremedhin currently serves as the lead PI and director of the CySER Institute and has led the effort to establish the Artificial Intelligence @ WSU web resource.
NSF Submission Updates: PAPPG 24-1
NSF has updated its Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide effective May 20, 2024. These include a revision of the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support, which must be completed using the SciENcv platform, clarification of submission deadline to mean 5 p.m. submitting organization’s time, updates to the mentoring plan requirement, and a new requirement for an individual development plan for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers.
For additional information, visit the Office of Research Advancement and Partnerships website, where you can find our Research Development Toolbox that includes NSF-specific information and templates.
Tribal Research Partnerships: Indigenous Agroforestry, Food Security and Sovereignty Webinar
The next installation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Transdisciplinary Approaches Webinar Series will take place from 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., on Wednesday, May 29. The session will highlight opportunities and challenges of transdisciplinary approaches within tribal agroforestry and food security research. The panel will include diverse tribal, academic, non-governmental organization, and U.S. Department of Agriculture transdisciplinary research approaches, how and in what ways this research is serving tribal communities, and overcoming challenges. Panelists will share information about what processes fosters success among research partnership teams and highlight the role of partners in large-scale projects. Check out previous webinars and RSVP to attend.
Wildlife Disease Association Small Grants
Wildlife Disease Association (WDA) Small Grants are intended to support non-research activities greater than $5,000. Grants are awarded for projects that have defined and measurable goals that support the WDA mission. The mission of the Wildlife Disease Association is to promote healthy wildlife and ecosystems, biodiversity conservation, and environmentally sustainable solutions to One Health challenges.
Examples include publication of manuals, production of educational materials, translation of information sources, public outreach, geographic section recruitment drives, or development of newsletters apps or other media. Proposals are due October 15 and should be submitted to Small Grants at WDA.grants@wildlifedisease.org.
Trailblazer Award for New and Early Stage Investigators (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)
The Trailblazer Award is an opportunity for NIH-defined new and early stage investigators to pursue research programs that integrate engineering and the physical sciences with the life and/or biomedical sciences. A trailblazer project may be exploratory, developmental, proof of concept, or high risk-high impact, and may be technology design-directed, discovery-driven, or hypothesis-driven. Importantly, applicants must propose research approaches for which there are minimal or no preliminary data.
A distinct feature for this FOA is that no preliminary data is required, expected, or encouraged. However, if available, minimal preliminary data is allowed. Preliminary data is defined as material which the applicant has independently producted and not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal. All preliminary data should be clearly marked and limited to one-half page, which may include one figure. Applications including data more than one-half page or more than one figure will be considered non-compliant with the FOA instructions and will not go forward to review.
The Office of Commercialization and Washington Research Foundation to host annual Commercialization Gap Fund competition
Once annually, the Office of Commercialization organizes the Commercialization Gap Fund (CGF), which grants researchers up to $50,000 (with a maximum of $2,000 earmarked for business development initiatives) to individuals showcasing innovations with the potential to generate economic impact in our society. Letters of Intent are due by 5 p.m., on Friday, July 19.
American Abatement and Demo named the 2024 Star Client
American Abatement and Demo of Auburn has been named the 2024 Washington Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Star Client. Business owners Mari and Aaron Borrero were honored at the Small Business Awards Gala on May 1 at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.