G&SP BULLETIN An occasional publication |
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The G&SP Office assists grantseekers in identifying funding sources, preparing proposals & securing required internal approvals before submission. Contact us as soon as you decide to prepare an application.
Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)
A new National Science Foundation Grant Proposal Guide goes into effect on January 4, 2010. One significant change is the addition of a required certification that "the institution has a plan to provide appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research to undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers who will be supported by NSF to conduct research." While the plans do not have to be included in future proposals, the plans are subject to review upon request. Institutions are also required to verify undergraduates, graduate students and postdocs have received RCR training. (National Institutes of Health Research Service Award Training Grants proposals require inclusion of a plan.) The NSF RCR requirement is being implemented to meet the terms of Section 7009 of the America COMPETES Act.
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Research Integrity (ORI) has an education program online at http://ori.hhs.gov/education/products/rcr_general.shtml. ORI identified nine instructional areas. A WSU Task Force created online modules covering those topics in 2002. Basic Issues in RCR covers data acquisition, management, sharing and ownership; collaborative science; mentor-trainee responsibilities; peer review; and publication practices and responsible authorship. General Regulatory Issues in RCR covers conflicts of interest and commitments; and research misconduct. The Human Subjects Education Module and Animal Subjects Education Module had been previously developed by the Institutional Review Board and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee respectively. All modules can be accessed via http://www.winona.edu/grants/education/rcr.htm.
The RCREC (Responsible Conduct of Research Education Committee of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics) lists other RCR educational resources at http://rcrec.org/resources.htm.
The Development of Research.gov
NSF is leading an initiative to create a Grants Management Consortium providing a single access portal for multiple agencies that provide research support -- Research.gov at http://www.research.gov. To date, other participants include NASA, Department of Defense (research components), USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service. Additional agencies will be phased in over time.
The Grants Application Status Overview allows G&SP Directors and Principal Investigators (PI) to check a Dashboard that lists recent submissions (to all the participating agencies) and their status in the review process. It also allows PIs to view panel reviews of their reviewed applications. The Federal Financial Report function allows for filing of required financial reports. The Policy Library Includes a one-stop access to government-wide and agency specific statutes, regulations and policies. The Research Spending and Results lets you search for awards made to institutions in your field of interest. Abstracts are included. (This could be useful in identifying agencies' funding interests.) There is also a list of events that might be of interest to the research community -- conferences, workshops, etc. -- as well as news items on recent research findings and discoveries.
Al NSF Fastlane users have been automatically enrolled in www.research.gov and can login using their Fastlane username and password. If anyone else is interested in being registered on the site, contact the G&SP Office.
FedConnect Connection
Fedconnect at www.fedconnect.net is a portal site that lists solicitations from the Departments of Homeland Security, Energy, the Interior and Agriculture and the U.S. Postal Service. Often these are requests for construction bids but contracts for specific research projects are also posted for bid. Applications are made directly through FedConnect. If anyone is interested in having access to the site, contact the G&SP Office.
Bulletin Suggestions
If there are any grant-related questions and/or topics you would like to see addressed in the G&SP Bulletin, please let us know. Email npeterson@winona.edu or call ext. 5519.