1 CHBE 594 Lect 09 What Do Agencies Really Fund?

2 Reminder about the first assignment Find a interesting topic, and provide a 1 page summary of the topic explaining how your idea fufills the Heilmeier criteria (or indicate which criterion are not satisfied) Due Sept 19

3 Today’s Objective Finding Research Areas For Funding Methods of identifying what agencies really fund Discussions with program officer Looking up past awards SBIR calls Targeted BAA’s Funding priorities of agencies NSF, NIH, DOE, NASA, PRF, ARO Finding ideas within those areas

Background Grant agencies usually post very broad statements about what they fund Make sure everything is covered for legal reasons Actually only fund a small fraction of what they list Object today find out what they really fund 4

Who Decides What to Fund? NSF Review panel (varies with every proposal) recommends Program officer decides which recommended group to fund NIH Study section ranks proposals Those above the pay line (now at 19%) are funded. ARO, NRO, DARPA Govt experts review Grant officer decides 5

6 Can We Look At Agency Mission Statements To See What They Fund? Example: one of your classmates is interested in NSF curriculum development awards sp?pims_id=5741&org=DUE&from=home sp?pims_id=5741&org=DUE&from=home What do they really fund?

7

8 Program Statement

9 What Did They Really Fund Money to departments that have nothing Grants to education colleges and educational psychologists

10 Conclusion Cannot tell what an agency actually funds from a general proposal call Only three sources work List of actual awards SBIR calls Direct discussions with program officer or members of review panel where allowed Targeted BAA’s

11 Visiting Grant Officer Best Way To Learn About Programs (except NSF, NIH) Come with 4-5 slides that explains your interest Listen to what the grant officer says Grant officers will tell you what they are excited about, what new opportunities are coming up Do not talk to grant officer after submitting a proposal – rules may disqualify your proposal

12 Best Way To Learn About NIH Programs Find a way to meet people on the NIH study section in your area (listed at or Lunch at technical meetings etc Bring slides of what you are doing Be sure to tell them how much you like their work Listen Example the Synthetic and Biological Chemistry Study SectionSynthetic and Biological Chemistry Study Section Example the nano study sectionnano study section

13 Proposal Calls As Sources Of Research Ideas The government publishes many research ideas Broad agency announcements Small business innovation research (SBIR) These are good sources of ideas even if you are not eligible You can find a list of SBIR programs at I posted a number of these calls at posal_ideas/

14 Lets Go Through Some Of The Proposal Calls To See What They Fund 594/proposal_ideas/sbir_calls/ 594/proposal_ideas/sbir_calls/ Consider NIH, AF 07.03, army , nasa roses

15 All of this is useless for NSF Grant officers need to listen to review panel 1 senior scientist in a related area Industrial representative Many assistant professors (want to learn the review process, impress the grant officer) Diversity representatives Women or minorities People from Epscor states People from smaller universities Different reviewers every review cycle

16 Key Things For NSF Funding Keep it simple Make sure someone who just skims the proposal can get the ideas Do not propose a breakout idea NSF lets you change areas after you get the money Make the research plan clear Be sure to include preliminary data Do not ask for too much money

17 NSF Programs Of Interest To Chemists Disciplinary Research Activities Analytical & Surface Chemistry Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Physical Chemistry Integrative Chemistry Activities (ICA) Chemistry Centers Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities Collaborative Research in Chemistry

18 Selected Current Grants Ab Initio Multiple Spawning Dynamics Martinez, Todd New Hydrogen Bonding Modules for Supramolecular Polymer Chemistry Zimmerman, Steven Asymmetric Catalysis in Main Group Chemistry with Chiral Lewis Bases Denmark, Scott Patterning and Visualizing Interfacial Chemistries in Complex Systems Nuzzo, Ralph Characterization of Electrode Activity through Photoelectron Spectroscopy: A Coordinated Synchrotron and Laboratory XPS Approach to Electrocatalysis Wieckowski, Andrzej 2D Molecular Grids Made to Order Moore, Jeffrey Electroreduction Reactivity and the Structure of Solvents on Electrode Surfaces Gewirth, Andrew Catalytic, Regioselective Functionalization of Alkane and Arenes Hartwig, John

19 Research Areas For Engineers Biomedical Engineering and Engineering Healthcare Biomedical Engineering Biophotonics, Advanced Imaging, and Sensing for Human Health Research to Aid Persons with Disabilities Chemical, Biochemical, and Biotechnology Systems Biotechnology, Biochemical, and Biomass Engineering Catalysis and Biocatalysis Chemical and Biological Separations Process and Reaction Engineering Environmental Engineering and Sustainability Energy for Sustainability Environmental Engineering Environmental Sustainability Environmental Technology Transport and Thermal Fluids Phenomena Combustion, Fire, and Plasma Systems Fluid Dynamics Interfacial Processes and Thermodynamics Particulate and Multiphase Processes Thermal Transport Processes

20 Selected Current Grants NIRT: Single molecule detection in living cells using carbon nanotube optical probes, Strano Computational Study of Three Dimensional Concentrated Emulsions and Foams with Surfactant Effects, Higdon CAREER: Quantitative analysis of translational regulation, Rao CAREER: Membraneless Micro Fuel Cells, Kenis Construction of Hybrid Viral/Synthetic Gene Delivery Nanovectors, Pack SST: Colorimetric MicroArrays for Detection of Toxic Industrial Chemicals, Kenis

21 Search Engine For NSF Grants Can look up grants at dispatch=4 dispatch=4 Useful to see what your competition is doing

22 Every NSF Proposal Needs To Have an Impacts Statement Details of impact statement can be found at broaderimpactsposters/ Need to say how proposed work will contribute to society Basic science without societal impact not fundable Major proposals need outreach to minorities, high schools Bring science to all segments of society Epscor states (Those with less funds) priority for funding Spread science to all geographic areas

23 Details Of Impact Statements Advance discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training, and learning, for example, by training graduate students, mentoring postdoctoral researchers and junior faculty, involving undergraduates in research experiences, and participating in the recruitment, training, and professional development of K-12 mathematics and science teachers. Broaden participation of under-represented groups, for example, by establishing collaborations with students and faculty from institutions and organizations serving women, minorities, and other groups under-represented in the mathematical sciences. Enhance infrastructure for research and education, for example, by establishing collaborations with researchers in industry and government laboratories, developing partnerships with international academic institutions and organizations, and building networks of U.S. colleges and universities. Broaden dissemination to enhance scientific and technological understanding, for example, by presenting results of research and education projects in formats useful to students, scientists and engineers, members of Congress, teachers, and the general public. Benefits to society may occur, for example, when results of research and education projects are applied to other fields of science and technology to create startup companies, to improve commercial technology, to inform public policy, and to enhance national security Source:

24 Summary Of Today’s Lecture The most important thing you can do to get funded is to meet the grant officer or study session members Ignore general proposal calls Consider: BAA’s, SBIR calls, lists of grants that are actually funded Expired BAA’s are still ok – they often have more money

25 Questions?