The American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund announced the upcoming cycle for the Undergraduate Research (UR) and Undergraduate New Investigator (UNI) grant programs. The submission window for both programs will be from September 23, 2019 to October 18, 2019. A brief overview of each program can be found below. Make sure to click on the appropriate program link for more information.

Undergraduate Research (UR) - This program supports research programs of established scientists and engineers within non-doctoral departments for seed money that also provides financial support to undergraduate students to become involved in advanced research opportunities.

Funding Amount: $70,000 over 3 years

Undergraduate New Investigator (UNI) - This program is intended to initiate the research program of new scientists and engineers who are faculty members at undergraduate research institutions and to provide financial incentives for students at those institutions to become involved in research activities leading to employment or continued study in graduate school.

Eligibility - PIs must be within the first 3 years of their first academic appointment

Funding Amount: $55,000 over 2 years

Please get in contact with OSP if you would like to submit a proposal to either program.

Grants.gov's July 2019 Newsletter contained grant writing tips for developing a strong budget justification where you can view tips for building a strong budget justification for federal agencies. Recent trends at the university are shifting towards a more precise and descriptive justification for budget items. Check out the recommendations and view what sponsor templates are available in the full article available here.

The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) has several budget justification templates and examples posted on our Forms, Tools, and Resources web page for your use. OSP personnel can also assist with strengthening your justification. Be sure to provide us with a draft 5 business days in advance of the submission date for adequate review and input!

We are pleased to welcome two “new” employees to the office of Sponsored Programs Accounting.

Donna Crumpton accepted the position of Manager of Sponsored Programs Accounting in June. Donna has 19 years of experience with the office which has made the transition to her additional duties very smooth. Donna will manage the day to day operations of the office as well as supervise the two Financial Administrator employees.

Carmen Witmer has recently accepted the offer to fill Donna’s vacant Financial Administrator’s position. Following the retirement of Brenda Wilburn last spring, Carmen has done a great job in a wage position assisting with Brenda’s duties.  Again, the experience Carmen has with the office should make the transition go smoothly.

With Kyra Shiflet in the other Financial Administrator’s position we are very pleased that Sponsored Programs Accounting is now back to ‘full strength’ and operating under experienced management with such excellent employees. There will be some realignment of job duties under this new organizational structure, but feel free to contact Donna, Kyra, or Carmen with any post-award need.

A recent topic of interest in the federal grants space is disclosing any foreign ties in Financial Conflict of Interest Disclosures. Agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have started to issue clarifications to their long existing policies to ensure the protection of US research. When completing your Financial Conflict of Interest Disclosure forms and at the proposal stage of the grant seeking process, make sure to indicate any foreign ties including both monetary and non-monetary support of research (such as supplies or travel payments). The university will be liable and must repay any federal support if an agency discovers noncompliance from a PI or other Senior or Key Personnel.

You can view NIH's clarification to disclosing Other Support here and NSF's Dear Colleague Letter on the topic here. OSP has increasingly come across articles discussing the developments on this topic over the past few months. If you are interested in staying abreast of this topic, we recommend reading the recent American Institute of Physics article published on July 12, 2019: "Universities Under Pressure as Lawmakers Push Research Security".