February 2015 Newsletter

COCA Workshop for Arts Faculty Set for March 3   

The Office of Proposal Development will host Dr. Audra Pittman, executive director for the Council on Culture & Arts for Tallahassee/Leon County (COCA), to speak on Thursday, March 3rd, 2015. COCA’s mission is to serve as a catalyst for development and support of arts and culture in Florida's capital region. Dr. Pittman is an FSU alumna, earning her Ph.D. in Art Education/Arts Administration and Art Museum Education. The goal of the workshop is to help arts faculty connect with local arts opportunities - funding and otherwise - through COCA. For more information about this workshop, and to register, please visit the workshop page.  

Nonprofit Networking: FSU/INIE Connect: Your opportunity to connect with local non-profits

Public research universities are in a position to both serve and benefit from partnerships with nonprofit organizations serving the local and broader community. Some of the advantages of working with non-profits include the ability to:       

• Develop applied and collaborative research projects not otherwise possible.       
• Increase funding stream opportunities       
• Enhance broader impacts       
• Leverage resources to increase cost sharing options       
• Address shared needs       
• Increase opportunities for students     

The Office of Proposal Development is teaming with the Institute for Nonprofit Innovation and Excellence to host, Nonprofit Networking: FSU/INIE Connect, a networking event bringing together FSU faculty members from across campus with local non-profit agencies.   

The event will take place Thursday, March 26 from 3:30 – 6:30 at the FSU Alumni Center. Plan to come by during this time to see how you can connect. For more information about this workshop, and to register, please visit the workshop page.

2015 Technology Commercialization Grant Program   

The Leon County Research and Development Authority (LCRDA) is pleased to announce its Technology Commercialization Grant Program for 2015. Supporting the development of innovative technology into commercial products and/or services is an important aspect of LCRDA's mission.   

By providing up to $15,000 per grant, LCRDA will support local technology research and development efforts, while cultivating Leon County's economic development environment. Entrepreneurs from existing and start-up businesses interested in commercializing their technology are invited to compete in this exciting competition. The competition will culminate in our 'Elevator Pitch Night' Event, held this May.   

2014's winners, General Capacitor and ReclaimRX, were each awarded $15,000!   

Between 2005 and 2014, LCRDA awarded twenty-one grants totaling $337,000 to nineteen companies through its Technology Commercialization Grant Program.   

Important Dates (subject to change):   

Orientation Meeting for Interested Applicants: February 3, 2015 @ 4:00 p.m. located at Knight Admin Centre, 1736 W Paul Dirac Drive   

Application Deadline: March 10, 2015   

Finalists Announced: April 7, 2014   

Elevator Pitch Night Event: May 14, 2014 @ Goodwood Museum Carriage House   

View more information and download an application.

Learning about Horizon 2020: The Opportunities and Hands-On Knowledge   

Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation program ever with nearly 90 billion dollars of funding available over seven years. This is a special announcement regarding a special Horizon 2020 workshop in Orlando on March 4, 2015.   

If you are new to Horizon 2020, or even if you already know the potential opportunities for U.S. researchers, this workshop will provide: (1) an introduction to this research program, and (2) hands-on training in finding appropriate funding opportunities, registering your institution in the electronic system, and suggestions for resolving common issues in the grant agreement. Finally, like any government grant program, there are restrictions on who can apply and how the money can be spent.   

This workshop will answer all of these questions as well as provide an opportunity to meet with European research managers who are very experienced in dealing with European Commission grants.   

The following are the details of the event:  

Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2015   

Time: 1:00-5:00 PM   

Cost: NONE, though attendance is limited and registration is required. Click here to register.   

Location: Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin, Oceanic 300 1500 Epcot Resorts Blvd., Orlando, FL 32930        

FASEB Report on Sustaining Discovery in Biological and Medical Sciences   

The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) has released a Discussion Framework on Sustaining Discovery in Biological and Medical Sciences and is welcoming comments from the research community. Visit the FASEB website to view the report.    

National High Magnetic Field Laboratory Open House Event   

The MagLab will hold its annual open house event on February 21, from 10:00am – 3:00pm. This free event features something for visitors of every age: hands-on demonstrations, self-guided tours, activities from the lab’s educational partners, food, and the chance to meet and chat with scientists and other MagLab staff. It's also a chance to do good for the community: The canned goods collected as the unofficial price of admission go to America's Second Harvest Food Bank of the Big Bend. For more details, visit the NHMFL website.

Important Information Regarding Automated Compliance Checking of NSF Proposals and Other Policy-Related Changes   

On January 26, 2015, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will implement changes in FastLane to support the revised version of the Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) and to run additional automated compliance checks on proposals.   

Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 15-1)   

A revised PAPPG was issued on November 20, 2014, which incorporates OMB’s Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), as well as other policy updates. The following changes will be made to FastLane to support the revised PAPPG:  

• Budget Form Update: The budget form will be updated so that the “Residual Funds” line (Line K) will not be editable for all programs except Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR). As this field is currently used for the purpose of collecting fees, “Residual Funds” will be renamed to “Small Business Fee.”       
• Budget Justification Upload: Budget justification can no longer be entered as text. Awardees will be required to upload a budget justification for each organization added to the budget via an upload screen. Already, 95% of proposers take advantage of the upload option.       
• Cost Sharing Notifications Requirement: The existing requirement that only awards with cost sharing of $500,000 or more must submit a cost sharing certificate will be modified to support the revised policy which specifies that cost sharing notifications must be submitted by all awardees with awards that include cost sharing.       
• New Funding Mechanism: The FastLane proposal cover sheet will be updated to include the new funding mechanism type, Ideas Lab. Ideas Lab is designed to support the development and implementation of creative and innovative project ideas. These projects will typically be high-risk/high-impact as they represent new and unproven ideas, approaches, and/or technologies.  

FastLane will begin to run an additional 24 automated compliance checks on proposals to ensure they comply with requirements outlined in the PAPPG, Chapter II.C.2 of the Grants Proposal Guide (GPG). These checks will validate a proposal for compliance with page count, proposal sections per type of funding mechanism and budget related rules for proposals submitted in response to the GPG, Program Announcements and Program Descriptions. At this time, these checks will not be enforced for proposals submitted in response to Program Solicitations.      

• Page Count: Page count rules will be enforced on the following proposal sections:                    
  • Project Description: 15-page limit [exceptions: 8-page limit for Early-Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER), and 5-page limit for Rapid Response Research (RAPID)]
  • Budget Justification: 3-page limit for the proposing institution and a separate, 3-page limit for each sub-recipient organization
  • Mentoring Plan: 1-page limit
  • Data Management Plan: 2-page limit
• Budget: Budget-related checks will focus primarily on proposal duration and requested amount. For example, the system will enforce a maximum requested amount of $200,000 for a RAPID proposal and $300,000 for an EAGER proposal.
• Proposal Section: Proposal sections will be enforced by their funding mechanism for Program Announcement, Program Description and other GPG-type funding opportunities. For example, an error message will appear if a Project Description was not provided for an EAGER proposal.

The checks detailed above will be triggered when the “Check Proposal,” “Forward to SPO,” or “Submit Proposal” functions are selected by a proposer or proposing organization. Depending on the rule being checked, a warning or error message will display when a proposal is found to be non-compliant. If an error message appears, the organization will not be able to submit the proposal until it is compliant. View a detailed list of all compliance checks.

Please contact policy@nsf.gov for any further questions.

Coastal and Marine Laboratory Open House Event   

The FSU Coastal and Marine Laboratory (FSUCML) will hold its biannual open house event on April 25, from 10:00am – 3:00pm. The theme of the event is “Restoring Resiliency, Protecting Our Oceans & Coastlines.”   

Highlights of the event will include:  

• Tours of our 65-ft research vessel, APALACHEE       
• Displays and activities presented by the scientists on their research       
• Activities Presented by Saturday-at-the-Sea (SATS)    
  • Salty Seas
  • Hard Luck Stories
  • Touch Tanks
  • Thar She Blows! (sperm whale exhibit)
  • Irradiation Station (orient yourself with critters that naturally protect themselves from the sun)
  • Fishy, fishy, fish.....
• Search for prizes using an ROV
• Interactive displays by scientists from FSU and Florida conservation agencies
• "In the Know" Talks in the FSUCML Auditorium
• Scavenger hunt for the kids
• Food available for purchase from a local vendor
• Showing of the documentary “Saving Sawfish”, featuring Dr. Dean Grubbs
• The ever popular snail races

From tiny tots to the most mature adults, there will be something to educate, fascinate and entertain everyone. For more details, visit the Marine Lab website.

Federal Lobbying Activities Report is Due April 5   

Federal regulations require that FSU report to the U.S. House and Senate all time and expenses related to federal lobbying activities conducted by its faculty and staff. To aid us in completing those reports accurately, employees who participate in federal lobbying related to University activities should report those activities to FSU’s Office of Federal Relations. The Federal Lobbying Activities Report covering the period January-March 2015 should be submitted to the Office of Federal Relations no later than April 5, 2015. To access the form and additional information, please visit the Federal Relations page.

Council on Research and Creativity Updates   

The CRC Submission Documents for all CRC programs were updated and effective December 23, 2014. For more details on the specific forms for each program please visit the CRC forms page.

Equipment & Infrastructure Enhancement Grant proposals are due by February 9, 2015 at 11:59 pm. View the Request for Proposals (RFP) page. 

Planning Grant proposals are due by February 20, 2015 at 11:59 pm. View the Request for Proposals (RFP) page.   

Small Grant Proposals are due by February 25, 2015 at 11:59 pm. View the Request for Proposals (RFP) page.   

Nominations for the Honorary Recognition Programs that are due in February:  

• Distinguished Research Professor Award nominations are due by February 5, 2015 at 11:59 pm       
• Distinguished University Scholar Award nominations are due by February 16, 2015 at 11:59 pm

For more details on the requirements please visit the DRP page or the DUS page.

CRC Programs: Submit Early for Technical Review

As with any grant, the programs of the CRC have guidelines that must be followed for submission. Failure to complete all forms and documents as requested can result in a proposal not going forward for review. In an effort to assist faculty, the CRC Coordinator is now providing faculty the opportunity for a technical review as long as proposals are submitted seven working days prior to the program deadline.

By submitting your proposal seven days before the due date, the CRC Coordinator will review your proposal to ensure that the proposal follows the program guidelines, the budget is accurate, required documents are incorporated, Chair and Dean approvals have been obtained, etc. If your submission is received after the seven day window, an effort will be made for review; however, there is no guarantee that a technical review will take place. Please note that ultimately, your proposal’s accuracy is in your hands and is not the responsibility of the CRC to correct. Additionally, revisions cannot be accepted after the program deadline. In order for the proposal to receive a technical review, all the required documents listed in the Request for Proposals (RFP) must be uploaded and submitted in the CRC Submission Portal (or EIEG Submission Portal) seven days before the program deadline.    

Funding Opportunities   

Access some of the latest funding opportunities available for the arts, humanities, social sciences, STEM disciplines and medicine.

Editing Proposals for English as a Second Language (ESL) Speakers   

It’s easy to get frustrated when writing grant proposals, and when English is not your first language, it can be even more daunting. The Office of Proposal Development offers copyediting services for researchers who speak English as a second language. Your proposal will be read for grammar, punctuation, and clarity. If you would like to know more about this service, please contact Emily Hutcheson in the Office of Proposal Development at ehutcheson@fsu.edu.

FSU Awards Report Now Available   

A monthly awards report is now available online. This report will allow interested faculty, staff and others, to learn more about who has been recently awarded research grants. Learn more, and access this report at the Research Awards page.

Sponsored Research Administration Certificate Series   

Sponsored Research Administration Certificate Series will provide central and departmental staff with the skills and knowledge to manage sponsored projects fiscally and administratively. Space is limited for some classes; please register through OMNI HR Self Service. The following courses are offered during February:      

The entire course list can be found on the Sponsored Research page and on the FSU HR training site.

Washington Update   

Learn of recent activities in Washington effecting higher education. Included are budget and appropriations updates, new funding announcements and other important campus related issues.

NSF Spring 2015 Grants Conference in Tampa   

The National Science Foundation (NSF) spring 2015 Grants Conference will be held in June 2015 in Tampa, FL, and will be hosted by the State University System of Florida. Key representatives from the NSF as well as your colleagues - faculty, researchers and grant administrators - representing colleges and universities from around the US will participate.   

This two-day conference is a must, especially for new faculty, researchers and administrators who want to gain key insight into a wide range of current issues at NSF including the state of current funding; new and current policies and procedures; and pertinent administrative issues. NSF program officers representing each NSF directorate will be on hand to provide up-to-date information about specific funding opportunities and answer your questions.  

• New programs and initiatives;       
• Future directions and strategies for national science policy;       
• Proposal preparation;       
• NSF's merit review process       
• Cross-disciplinary and special interest programs;       
• Conflict of interest policies; and       
• Breakout sessions by discipline.

Sign up to be notified when conference registration is available