We hope this finds you off to a smooth start to a new quarter and new beginnings!
We are pleased to usher in a new year full of activities that support our Office of Sponsored Projects mission “to ignite and support Seattle University's externally funded research, scholarship, and service endeavors.” This fall, we hope to see many of you at Research @ SU 101 – in which participants will learn of the ‘landscape’ of supports available across SU in pursuing scholarship – and at the first of our quarterly Lightning Talks – when we’ll learn of the interdisciplinary work of eight 2021 Summer Faculty Fellows.
We are also pleased to continue our ongoing collaboration with partners across campus toward the common goal of supporting faculty and staff. In our recently published 2020-2021 Annual Report, we highlight many of the valued partnerships we have engaged in, as well as thoughts from several faculty about how their local, national, and international collaborations have advanced their scholarship. You will see much evidence of our continued collaboration – As the saying goes, “it takes a village”!
Finally, we wish Gabrielle Mitrak, our long-time Senior Administrator, well as she left this month to embark on a new career. And we are excited to welcome back Jenna Isakson, OSP Director, when she returns in a few weeks after welcoming baby Otto on July 10th. Congratulations to Jenna and her partner Matt!
We look forward to building on the momentum of the last years by continuing to support the growing research and scholarship environment at SU in partnership with many of you!
Best,
Sarah Bricknell & Kara Luckey
Sponsored Research Officers | Office of Sponsored Projects
Download our 2020-2021 Annual Report here!
The Summer Faculty Fellowship is an internal funding opportunity open to individual tenure-track/tenured faculty and full-time librarians who are actively engaged in scholarship, broadly conceived, and are seeking support to build upon their current work and/or to move projects in a new direction. Applicants across all disciplines are welcome to apply for the $7,100 fellowship. Applications (available here) are due by 5:00pm Friday, November 5th via email to osp@seattleu.edu. Please note that proposals received after the due date and time will not be considered. Recipients will be notified in early 2022. More information and the 2022 Summer Faculty Fellowship application can be found here. Questions and applications can be directed to osp@seattleu.edu.
Seattle University requires an internal review and selection process for any funding opportunity that limits the number of applications, nominations, or proposals that an institution is eligible to submit to a sponsor (referred to as “limited submissions”).
Upcoming Limited Submission Opportunity – Carnegie Foundation Fellowship: All faculty, regardless of tenure status, are eligible to be nominated by SU for the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program, which provides one- or two-year fellowships to support ‘exceptional scholars’ in devoting time to their significant research and writing. SU may nominate two faculty members – one junior (10 years or less since receiving their PhD) and one senior (more than 10 years since receiving their PhD). Prospective nominees must submit an internal application to OSP by Friday, October 15th. More details about SU’s Carnegie Fellows nomination process are available on the Limited Submission Opportunities webpage. Note that the 2022 fellowship topics have not yet been published.
General information about SU’s limited submission and internal application process are documented here. For more information, please contact osp@seattleu.edu.
Thurs, October 7th 12:30-1:30pm via Zoom (link provided in advance)
Join OSP as we provide an overview of the ‘landscape’ of supports available to faculty in pursuing their scholarship, and in seeking external funding should they desire to do so. Resources relevant to all points of the research lifecycle will be highlighted, including those provided through the OSP and across multiple offices at SU. All faculty members are encouraged to participate, whether new to SU or in need of a better understanding of how resources can support their work!
Please RSVP here by Tues, October 4th and/or direct any questions to osp@seattleu.edu.
Thurs, October 28th 12:30-1:30pm via Zoom (link provided in advance)
Co-sponsored with the Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons
Join us as we kick off this year’s Lightning Talk series! Eight of the 2021 Summer Faculty Fellows will present their scholarship in this fast-paced format. Come and support your colleagues as you learn more about scholarship happening at SU and make interdisciplinary connections! Presenters include:
Please RSVP here by Tues, October 26th and/or direct any questions to osp@seattleu.edu
Congratulations to the below investigators who were recently awarded funding to support Seattle University research and initiatives*!
Duron Jones | Summer Business Institute 2021 | BECU Foundation (competitive renewal)
Duron Jones | Summer Business Institute 2022 | US Bank Foundation (competitive renewal)
Julie Hurst | 2021-2022 Jumpstart Program | Jumpstart for Young Children, Inc. (competitive renewal)
Jacqueline Helfgott | Seattle Police Micro-Community Policing Plans | City of Seattle Police Department (renewal)
Erica Rauff | Annual Northwest Student Sport and Exercise Psychology Symposium | Association for Applied Sports Psychology
Cinda Johnson | Inclusionary Practices Statewide Professional Development and Support | State of Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (competitive renewal)
Kerry Soo Von Esch | Preparing Teachers to Facilitate Asset-based Science & Literacy Discourse in Dual and Multilingual Elementary Classrooms | University of Washington (James S. McDonnell Foundation 21st Century Science Initiative – Understanding Teacher Change and Teachers as Learners) (renewal)
Alic Shook | Using Youth-Engaged Methods to Develop a Technology-Based Sexual Education Intervention for Transgender and Gender Expansive Youth | University of Wisconsin, Madison Social Media Adolescent Health Research Team
Mo-Kyung Sin | Blood Pressure, Microinfarcts, and Dementia: A Pathway for Alzheimer's Disease Management | National Institutes of Health
Brian Fischer | Coding of Auditory Space in the Avian Brain | Albert Einstein School of Medicine (National Institutes of Health)
Brian Fischer | From Microscale Structure to Population Coding of Normal and Learned Behavior | Albert Einstein School of Medicine (National Institutes of Health) (renewal)
Brett Kaiser| Characterization of the Bacterial BREX Phage Restriction System | National Institutes of Health
Woo-Joong (Andy) Kim | RUI: Search for Non-Newtonian Gravity Using a High-Sensitivity Torsion Balance at Seattle University: A Continuation | National Science Foundation
Henry Louie | Collaborative Research: RUI: Data-Driven Analysis, Modeling, and Design of Off-Grid Power Systems on Tribal Lands | National Science Foundation
Pasha Tabatabai | LEAPS-MPS: Emergent Mechanics of a Living Material | National Science Foundation
Michael Zanis, Carolyn Stenbak and Lindsay Whitlow | Supplement to EAGER: Exploring Phylogenetic Diversification of Phycodnaviruses across Aquatic Ecosystems in the Puget Sound Region | National Science Foundation
Margaret Fisher | 2021-22 Judicial Institute | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington (renewal)
Margaret Fisher | Seattle Youth Traffic Court | Seattle Municipal Court (renewal)
Colleen Montoya Barbano | Passport to College | Washington Student Achievement Council (renewal)
Sarah Barbara Watstein and Lara Branigan (Design + Construction) | Equipment for Billodue Makerspace, Augmented and Virtual Reality Lab, and Data Science Lab | E. L. Wiegand Foundation
Julian Franco | Seattle University AI4ALL Pre-College Program | AI4ALL (renewal)
In addition to the above awardees, we would like to congratulate the 21 investigators in Albers, Arts & Sciences, Education, Law, Nursing, Science & Engineering, Center for Community Engagement, Lemieux Library, Provost’s Office, and Student Success and Outreach who submitted 22 proposals this quarter!
*Note: This list comprises all new and renewed sponsored projects awarded in the first quarter of the current fiscal year (July 1 to Sept 30, 2021). For a complete list of funds awarded in previous fiscal quarters, please see past OSP Observers, here.
National Institutes of Health awards funds to three SU investigators
Brett Kaiser, Associate Professor of Biology | College of Science & Engineering
Characterization of the Bacterial BREX Phage Restriction System | National Institutes of Health (National Institute of General Medical Sciences)
Mo-Kyung Sin, Associate Professor of Nursing | College of Nursing
Blood Pressure, Microinfarcts, and Dementia: A Pathway for Alzheimer's Disease Management | National Institutes of Health (National Institute on Aging)
Brian Fischer, Associate Professor of Mathematics | College of Science & Engineering
Coding of Auditory Space in the Avian Brain | Albert Einstein School of Medicine (National Institutes of Health; National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)
Congratulations to Dr. Brett Kaiser (Biology), Dr. Mo-Kyung Sin (Nursing), and Dr. Brian Fischer (Mathematics), who have recently been awarded funds from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)! Their grants join only five previous NIH-funded awards and sub-awards made to SU in the last decade and demonstrate the continued growth and evolution of SU’s research enterprise.
Brett Kaiser (Principal Investigator) will investigate how certain bacteria prevent viral (phage) infection through funding from the NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Dr. Kaiser’s research will potentially lead to improvements in several health-related areas, including disease prevention and treatment of infections. The award is funded through the Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) R15 program, which supports investigators at educational institutions that are not major recipients of NIH funding in pursuing high-caliber projects that expose students to health-related bench research and strengthen the institution’s research environment. Dr. Kaiser’s award will support full-time summer research experiences for up to eight undergraduate students over the three-year award. Dr. Kaiser is the third SU investigator to be awarded an AREA grant.
Mo-Kyung Sin (Principal Investigator) will investigate the relationship between blood pressure, cerebral vasculopathies (abnormal blood vessels of the brain: cerebral amyloid angiopathy, arteriolosclerosis), and region-specific cerebral microinfarcts and their influence on the development of dementia through a grant funded by the NIH National Institute on Aging Small Research Grant (R03) program. To do so, Dr. Sin will use data from the Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) study, a longitudinal dataset that has been collected for over two decades by Kaiser Permanente and the University of Washington. Dr. Sin’s research will contribute to foundational knowledge about possible mechanism for preventing or delaying dementia in older adults, including interventions aimed at proper monitoring and treatment of blood pressure.
Brian Fischer will serve as Senior Personnel on a sub-award to Albert Einstein College of Medicine funded by the NIH National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders through the R01 Research Grant Program. Dr. Fischer’s collaborative project, “Coding of Auditory Space in the Avian Brain,” investigates the neural coding of sound location across the brains of barn owls with the overarching goal of understanding the principles driving sound localization and orienting behavior in birds and mammals. Dr. Fischer is also Principal Investigator on another collaborative NIH-funded award (“From Microscale Structure to Population Coding of Normal and Learned Behavior”), now in its fifth year, which investigates the activity patterns underlying sound localization behavior in barn owls and elucidating how neural populations encode learned adjustments in that behavior. Dr. Fischer has received funding from the NIH for these and previous projects since 2012.
In addition to these three new awards, OSP is also working with several investigators who aim to submit proposals to the NIH in the coming year.
Congratulations again to Drs. Kaiser, Sin, and Fischer for their success in the exceptionally competitive NIH funding environment, and for their ongoing contributions to enriching scholarship at SU!
The OSP is your partner in submitting grant proposals, letters of intent, subawards to other institutions, and contract proposals to external entities. In order to enable the OSP team to effectively support investigators in the submission and institutional review process – as well as ensure compliance with sponsor and internal policies – SU requires that investigators follow an established procedure. For those new to this process (or in need of a refresher), please visit the OSP website for an overview of the internal submission process, which is initiated by submitting a Notice of Intent to Apply. Please also be aware of our internal deadline policy. Please also feel to contact us with any questions!
A reminder that all Principal Investigators with active grants must complete a Disclosure of Financial Conflict of Interest Form at the start of each fiscal year. If you lead or co-lead an active external grant or sponsored project and have not already done so, please complete this form, sign, and return to osp@seattleu.edu.
Effective August 5, 2021, the updated SU travel policy permits all fully-vaccinated SU faculty and staff to travel for SU-related purposes, including for research. All travelers must complete their COVID-19 Vaccine Registration and should follow CDC guidelines on domestic and international travel, as well as state-, country-, and airline-specific requirements. All faculty and staff returning from University-related or personal travel must complete the Safe Start Health Check. See the full policy for additional details on returning to work after international travel.
Fall Virtual NSF Grants Conference (October 4-8): Registration is now open for the bi-annual NSF Virtual Grants Conference (full agenda here). Sessions that could be of particular interest to SU faculty include presentations by Program Officers of the following Directorates: Biological Sciences (Thurs 10/7 10am), Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (Thurs 10/7 10am), Education and Human Resources (Thurs 10/7 12pm), Computer and Information Science and Engineering (Thurs 10/7 12pm), Mathematical and Physical Sciences (Fri 10/8 10am), and Engineering (10/8 12pm). Sessions on Proposal Preparation (Mon 10/4 11:30am PT) and Merit Review Process (Tues 10/5 10am PT) may also be of interest. Advance registration required here.
Updated NSF Proposals & Awards Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), effective October 4, 2021: NSF recently announced a revised version of the PAPPG, effective for proposals due on or after October 4, 2021. Significant changes to policy and procedures are outlined here, and include an increase in the page limit for biographical sketches from 2- to 3-pages and improved clarity on disclosures of current and pending support that are required during both the pre- and post-award periods (more information here). View the new 2022 PAPPG in its entirety here.
As always, OSP is available to help faculty understand these new formats and requirements!
Research.gov Updates: NSF continues to expand the types of proposals that can be submitted through the Research.gov portal (latest here) and has announced that its old grant submission and management portal, Fastlane, will be closed December 31, 2022. In anticipation of this date, all prospective NSF investigators are encouraged to submit via Research.gov when possible!
New grant application forms required effective: The NIH has released their new grant application forms (“FORMS-G”), which are required for all submissions with due dates on or after January 25th. Grants submitted prior to that date must use FORMS-G. More details are here.
2021 NIH Virtual Seminar on Program Funding and Grants Administration (November 1-4): Registration is now open for the NIH’s annual seminar designed for researchers new to NIH and grants administrators (full agenda here). Sessions that may be of interest to SU investigators include those covering the fundamentals of NIH, grant writing, mock study section review, and the Academic Research Enhancement (AREA) award focused on institutions with little NIH support. Register here.
The Center for Faculty Development is hosting several virtual workshops in fall quarter as part of their regular series, all of which offer excellent opportunities for professional and personal growth. The following are particularly helpful in supporting faculty research and scholarship:
Faculty Writing Groups
Launch meeting: Tues, October 5th (12:30-1:30pm) | Register here for Zoom link
Affinity Group for Tenure-track Faculty of Color
Fridays: October 8th, October 29th, and November 19th (11:00-12:15) | Register here for Zoom link
Affinity Group for Faculty Parents
Tuesdays: October 12th and October 26th (1:00-2:00) | Register here for Zoom link
How do I Create a Holistic Faculty Development Plan?
Wed, December 8th (10:00-11:00) | Register here for Zoom link
Full descriptions of these events can be found on the CFD website. Registration for all events is here.
The National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD) – dedicated to advancing diversity in academia and supporting faculty in successfully navigating academic careers – provides many excellent resources, all of which are available to faculty through SU’s institutional membership. Instructions for activating your membership are here. Upcoming programs that may be of interest:
Secrets to a Super-Productive Semester | Wed, October 13th (11:00-12:00) – More information and registration here.
How to Manage Stress, Rejection, and Haters in Your Midst | Thurs, November 11th (11:00-12:30) – More information and registration here.
Overcoming by Understanding Academic Writer’s Block | Tues, November 11th (11:00-12:30) – More information and registration here.
Fall 14-Day Writing Challenge – Registration is open for this free program focused on establishing a daily writing routine with the help of group accountability and specialized software. The program runs from October 18-31; More information and registration here.
Spring 2022 Faculty Success “Bootcamp” Program – Registration opens October 16th for the next session of this popular 12-week online program that guides tenure-track and tenured faculty in maximizing productivity while maintaining a healthy relationship to work. The upcoming session runs from January 16-April 9. More information and registration is here, and program costs are here.
The Office of Sponsored Projects is here to help!
We are here to support the full life-cycle of your research and scholarship – from identifying funding opportunities and creating a research plan, developing and submitting competitive proposals, and managing awards. Please reach out to us to request a consultation, notify us of your intent to apply for a funding opportunity, or for help with managing your award!
Your OSP support team:
|
Sarah Bricknell, MBA Sponsored Research Officer Supports CAS, CCE, COE, |
Kara Luckey, PhD Sponsored Research Officer Supports ALB, CSE (not Bio), CON & Institutional Efforts |
Jenna Isakson, MPA Director |
Please direct any suggestions about how we can make the quarterly OSP Observer most useful to Kara Luckey – we welcome your thoughts!
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