SPONSORED PROJECTS

Research Newsletter 2005
April - June News

This electronic newsletter is distributed to faculty, postdoctoral researchers and staff who are interested in current research news and funding opportunities. Information is compiled by Rosemary Alexander (rosemary.alexander@case.edu) and Todd Packer. (todd.packer@case.edu). Editor: Rosemary Alexander

Sponsored Projects News

Case News

Research ShowCASE 2005

Approximately 1,800 visitors attended seminars, viewed live demonstrations and learned about the Case commitment to research at this year's Research ShowCASE event on April 6 and April 7. Several new and popular features were introduced this year, including pre-conference seminars, a stage with brief live demonstrations, multiple formats (including lectures) for research presentations, and a new floor plan for ease of navigation.

"Research ShowCASE continues to demonstrate the diversity of top-notch research conducted at Case and our affiliates," indicated Eric Cottington, Associate VP for Research. "We were pleased with the expanded participation this year by several schools, including Arts and Sciences and the Law School, and we look forward to improving the experience for researchers and attendees for 2006."

In addition to the wide range of symposia, workshops, panel discussions and lectures, Research ShowCASE 2005 featured presentations by over 550 researchers from Case and its collaborating institutions including University Hospitals of Cleveland, the MetroHealth System, the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

"We are proud that Research ShowCASE highlights the multidisciplinary learning community at Case," explained Linda Clark, Project Coordinator for Research ShowCASE, and now the Director for Communication and Development. "With the valuable feedback provided by participants as well as the generous support of our sponsors, we will work hard to ensure that Research ShowCASE continues to highlight the achievements of our university to our faculty, staff, students and visitors."

As Research ShowCASE only receives external support from the State of Ohio and private sponsors, the event continues to expand and diversify as new partners are identified. One component of sponsorship is the Graduate Student Poster Awards. The 2005 graduate student winners represent a wide range of schools and departments, including Nursing, Psychology, Biomedical Engineering and the Weatherhead School of Management. For a full list of the winners, click here.

The dates for Research ShowCASE 2006 have been set for April 5-6, 2006. Calls for submissions will be announced in the fall.

To access abstracts from this year's event, please visit the Research ShowCASE 2005 website at: showcase.case.edu

Principal Investigator/Project Director Policy Statement
In June, OSPA posted the Case Principal Investigator/Project Director Policy Statement providing guidance regarding who is the individual, designated by the university, who will assume overall responsibility for the scientific and/or technical aspects and the day-to-day management of a project or program, explaining as well that the responsibilities accompanying that position. Please take the time to review this statement at http://ora.ra.cwru.edu/ospa/policies/PI_Policy6-1-05.pdf .

Presidential Research Initiative (PRI) Grant Awards
Congratulations to all seventeen PRI 2005 grant recipients this year. "We were extremely happy with the diversity and quality of the proposals the researchers submitted for funding," said Eric Cottington, associate vice president for research. "The program is designed to encourage researchers from different disciplines to collaborate, and it is attaining that goal." This year's winners representing four schools within the university received a total of $960,000 in research funding. The list of winners is posted on the OSPA website at http://ora.ra.cwru.edu/ospa/2005_PRI.pdf . More details

Gifts vs. Grants - What's the Difference?
Do you understand the difference between a gift and a grant? The distinction can be very important in the conduct of a award. Posted on the OSPA website is an explanation of the difference. It is posted under the FYI section of the OSPA website at http://ora.ra.case.edu/ospa/FYI/ .

OSPA 2004 + 2005 Annual Report / Value of Research publication
The OSPA Annual Report contained in the Value of Research publication is posted on the OSPA home page. It is a large pdf file which may take awhile to download --perhaps best done on campus with a high speed connection.

Independent Contractor Agreements - Important Rules to Note

1. If a contractor happens to come to your office to sign an independent contractor agreement, make sure that the contractor reads the contract before signing. DOCUMENT that they have read it prior to signing.



2. Under NO circumstances is it acceptable to have a contractor sign an incorrect or incomplete contract and then make substitutions or changes in the contractor's absence without having the contractor initial the changes or without clear written permission from the contractor. Such practices render the terms of such contracts INVALID. If, in lieu of initially changes, a separate written permission was obtained from the contractor to change the terms after he/she signed, such documentation must be stapled to the contract.



3. Whiteout must NEVER be used to change the terms of a contract. Cross out text to be changed and add the correct text in a nearby space, LEGIBLY, preferably using a typewriter with a line drawn to clearly indicate the point of insertion of new text.



4. Changes to a contract that are not initialed by all parties to the contract are NOT valid changes. Having a contractor merely sign the first page of an independent contractor agreement, and then adding an Exhibit A after-the-fact, renders the whole contract invalid. Substituting the whole Exhibit A after the contractor signs and leaves your office, renders the new Exhibit A invalid. UNLESS the university signatory and the contractor both initial the new Exhibit A, only the Exhibit A attached at the time the contractor signed is the valid one. BUT if you have redone the whole Exhibit A, it is better to just have the contractor sign a new "clean" contract.



5. Each party to a contract is entitled to a contract original. A contract original is a contract document containing original, i.e., not copied, signatures. Hence, you should always make sure that a contractor signs TWO originals of a contract. The university signatory will sign both, and one will be sent to the contractor for his/her files.

New F&A Cost Rate Agreement
Announced previously via oranews:
Case recently executed a new Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Cost Rate Agreement with the federal government. For the period July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2008, Case’s F&A Cost Rate is 54.5%. This applies to all federally funded research conducted at Case and at University Hospitals, the MetroHealth System, and the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine (NIH only). The new off-campus rate is 26%. The federal fringe benefit rate for the period July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006 is 25%.

All new proposals submitted to the federal government should use these new rates. New proposals that have already been submitted (using the old rate) that are still pending and that have a start date on or after July 1, 2005 will be awarded at the new F&A Cost Rate. If the Notice of Grant Award (NGA) issued after July 1, 2005 from the sponsoring agency does not reflect the new F&A Cost Rate, please notify your research administration office so that this error can be communicated to the sponsor and a revised NGA issued.

Non-competing continuation awards for existing grants and contracts awarded under the old rate will not receive additional funding and will continue to be awarded under the old F&A cost rate.

Please do not hesitate to contact your school/college research office, the Office of Sponsored Projects Administration, or the Grants Accounting Office if you have any questions or concerns.

University Review Form (URF)
Announced previously via oranews:
Please be aware that the University Review Form (URF), which is used when routing proposals and contracts for department, school/college and institutional approval, was revised to make it more compatible with the PeopleSoft Grants Module and to incorporate changes requested by the various schools and colleges. A fillable pdf version of the revised University Review Form is downloadable from the OSPA Forms website. The revised URF is now required for institutional approval. 

University Guidelines on Authorship of Research and Scholarly Publications
Announced previously via oranews:
The University Guidelines on Authorship of Research and Scholarly Publications is now posted on the OSPA website under Policies at http://ora.ra.cwru.edu/ospa/policies/index.cfm.

Case Spotlight

Hillel Chiel, Ph.D. Professor of Biology Professor of Neurosciences Professor of Biomedical Engineering

"...It's no good
to stay at the edge
like a seawall or a mollusk that tries, in its limy way, to look like a stone.
It's better, pure and easy, to surrender yourself to the delight of flowing, getting lost, finding yourself in the rhythm of the huge human heart that beats all around you...."
- from the poem "In The Square" by Vicente Aleixandre
(Original Spanish 1954, translated by Lewis Hyde (1979)

At the juncture of neuroscience, computer science and biomedical engineering, a primary goal of Professor Hillel Chiel's research is to understand biological principles fundamental to animal adaptive behavior, i.e., behavior that allows animals to survive and reproduce. Professor Chiel's laboratory, supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, investigates animal adaptive behavior through innovative research on the the neural and biomechanical mechanisms of feeding in the marine mollusk Aplysia californica. Based on experimental work, Professor Chiel's lab creates computer models of the neural control and the biomechanics that have been tested through in vivo and in vitro experiments, as well as through the development of biologically inspired robots. In addition, in collaboration with Professors Steven Garverick and Massood Tabib-Azar (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) and Professor Heidi Martin (Chemical Engineering), Professor Chiel's lab has begun to develop novel techniques that make it possible to wirelessly record and stimulate neurons in intact animals to identify key neurons that can shape and flexibly alter behavior.

Dr. Chiel’s laboratory focuses on multifunctionality, i.e., the ability of the same neural controller and body to generate several qualitatively different behaviors (just as the human hand can be used to play piano, throw a ball, unscrew a jaw, or pound a table). His laboratory has shown that small changes in the activation of neurons, amplified by the biomechanics, can lead to large qualitative changes in behavior. These results have led to the design of biologically-inspired artificial devices with the flexibility of animals. In collaboration with Professor Roger Quinn, director of the Biorobotics Laboratory, Professor Randy Beer, electrical engineering and computer science, and mechanical engineering graduate students Elizabeth Mangan and Gregory Sutton, two robots have been designed that are based on the motion of slugs and worms. One device is a novel endoscopic device that can literally worm itself into complex spaces, like the human colon. The Olympus Medical Systems group is interested in determining whether this device, which has recently been patented, can be used as an assist to existing endoscopes, reducing the risk of damage to patients as a scope is inserted. The other device, a "gripper," based on the function of Aplysia’s feeding apparatus, could address the need of industry to pick up and delicately handle soft, irregular objects. An interactive poster describing this work can be found at www.case.edu/its/itac/poster .

1) What does the data show?
2) Does the data support the hypothesis?
3) What experiment would you do next?

More information on Professor Chiel's work may be found in the following articles:

Hillel Chiel Research Interests

Worms, slugs inspire robotic devices created by Case biology, engineering team

Biology professor helps students develop intellectual tools

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Federal News

Among other clarifications and responses to public comments, the department ruled that:

Universities are not required to establish new programs to train their employees in the responsible conduct of research. Like the draft version, however, the final rule requires institutions to foster an "environment that promotes the responsible conduct of research." Some people who had commented on the draft criticized the wording as beyond the rule's appropriate scope.

Institutions must report to the department's Office of Research Integrity if they settle an accusation of research misconduct before the investigation concludes. But they are not required to report preliminary investigations, called inquiries, if they find no research misconduct was committed.

Universities may, but are not required to, give people accused of research misconduct an opportunity to cross-examine their accusers."

Policy

Implementation of Policy on Enhancing Public Access to Archived Publications Resulting from NIH-Funded Research
NOT-OD-05-045
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) published its Public Access Policy (Policy) in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts on February 3, 2005, and in the Federal Register on February 9, 2005. These announcements and additional relevant information, including Questions and Answers regarding copyright and other concerns, are available at the NIH Public Access Web site. The Public Access Policy Authors' Manual may be viewed at http://www.nih.gov/about/publicaccess/publicaccess_Manual.htm.

The Policy became effective May 2, 2005. The Policy requests and strongly encourages all NIH-funded investigators to make their peer-reviewed author's final manuscripts available to other researchers and the public at the NIH National Library of Medicine's PubMed Central (PMC) [see www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov] immediately after the final date of journal publication. At the time of submission, authors are given the option to release their manuscripts at a later time, up to 12 months after the official date of final publication. NIH expects that only in limited cases will authors deem it necessary to select the longest delay period.

The Policy applies to all research grant and career development award mechanisms, cooperative agreements, contracts, Institutional and Individual Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards, as well as NIH intramural research studies. The Policy applies to peer-reviewed, original research publications that have been supported in whole or in part with direct costs1 from NIH, but it does not apply to book chapters, editorials, reviews, or conference proceedings. NIH is requesting that authors submit publications resulting from 1) currently-funded NIH research projects or 2) previously-supported NIH research projects where manuscripts were accepted for publication on or after May 2, 2005. Publications resulting from non-NIH-supported research projects should not be submitted. NIH welcomes comments and suggestions about the submission process. Contact NIH by emailing PublicAccess@nih.gov. More details in the full announcement.

NIH Notice of Change in Number of Revisions of Small Grant Applications (R03)
NOT-OD-05-046
With two specific exceptions, noted below, all NIH Institutes and Centers will accept two revisions of a previously reviewed R03 small grant application. This includes applications submitted in response to the general omnibus NIH Program Announcement PA-03-108, as well as those submitted in response to Program Announcements issued by one or more Institutes/Centers. For specific information about the R03 programs click here.

Investigators are reminded that all small grant applications must identify a Program Announcement on line 2 of the face page of the application form PHS 398 (see NOT-OD-05-001). The two exceptions relate to applications submitted in response to a Request for Applications (RFA) and to the specialized B/Start programs of the NIAAA and specialized B/Start and I/Start programs of NIDA. Read the full announcement for details.

National Cancer Institute (NCI) Grant Recycling
NCI has instituted a grant recycling program to redistribute grant workloads over the year. In recent years, project funding periods have gotten clustered late in the fiscal year creating unwieldy burdens on NCI staff who administer these awards. To solve this problem, NCI has decided to recycle them to other quarters in the year. Competing R01s with project periods of four or more years and noncompeting R01s with two or more years remaining will be recycled. Details about the logic and the methodology may be reviewed by clicking here.

NSF Revised Grants Policy Manual
National Science Foundation has published a revised version of the NSF Grant Policy Manual (GPM) (NSF 05-131), effective July 1, 2005. This revision implements important changes to NSF's policies and procedures, as well as implements enhanced capabilities in FastLane. A by chapter summary of significant changes has been developed to assist the user in navigating through these changes. At this time, the GPM only is available in PDF format, but the HTML version will be added to the NSF website soon. Questions or comments about the GPM should be addressed to the Policy Office, Division of Institution and Award Support, at (703) 292-8243 or by e-mail to policy@nsf.gov.

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NIH Announces New Closeout Feature in the eRA Commons and Reminds Grantees of Required Closeout Reports for NIH Assistance Awards
NOT-OD-05-051

The eRA Commons now includes the capability to electronically submit required Closeout Reports—final progress report, final Financial Status Report (FSR), and final inventions statement. Commons-registered grantee institutions may now query in the Commons Status system for those grants that are in a closeout status. Commons users can then enter the Closeout screens to electronically process and submit the required reports. For the final progress report, users will attach a PDF, Word, or text file. For the Final Financial Status Report users are directed to the eRA Commons FSR system. For the Final Inventions Statement users indicate if any Inventions are being reported and when yes, are provided with text entry areas to report inventions. Note, a future enhancement of Closeout will include an automatic link to the IEdison system. Each required report can be submitted independently; however, grantees are reminded that closeout is not complete until all reports have been submitted.

NIH recipients shall submit within 90 calendar days after the last day of the final budget period a Final Financial Status Report, a Final Progress Report, and a Final Invention Statement and Certification (as applicable). It is important to note that unless the Grants Management Officer (GMO) of the respective awarding agency approves an extension of this 90-day reporting window in writing, grantees must submit the final reports within the prescribed timeframe.

More details may be found in the announcement.

Reminder: Mandatory use of New Instructions and Forms for PHS 398 (DHHS Public Health Service Grant Application) and PHS 2590(DHHS Public Health Service Non-Competing Grant Progress Report)
NOT-OD-05-043

Use of the revised instructions and forms (9/04) for the PHS 398 and PHS 2590 are mandatory for receipt/submission on or after the following dates:

May 10, 2005 for the PHS 398
May 1, 2005 for the PHS 2590

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NSF

NSF Announces Intent to Establish Two New Science and Technology Centers
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced it intends to establish two new Science and Technology Centers (STCs) in fiscal 2005. One is a major collaborative cybersecurity project led by the University of California, Berkeley, and a second, centered at the University of Kansas, will study how the balance of mass in the polar ice sheets may affect sea level. Click here for the full announcement.

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Miscellany

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Compliance News

Special Protections for Children as Research Subjects
Children Involved as Subjects in Research: Guidance on the HHS 45 CFR 46.407 ("407") Review Process
Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP)
This document provides guidance on the HHS 45 CFR 46.407 review process ("407 review process") as required under subpart D of HHS Protection of Human Subjects Regulations at 45 CFR part 46.In particular, the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) offers guidance on the following topics:

(1) IRB findings necessary to submit a protocol to OHRP for 407 consideration and/or review;

(2) steps in the submission process;

(3) OHRP's response to submissions;

(4) the schedule and details for 407 panel review; and

(5) potential outcomes of the 407 review process.

This guidance applies to HHS- conducted or -supported research.

Click here to read the full announcement.

ORI Publishes Final Misconduct Rule
The Office of Research Integrity in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has published its final rule on Public Health Service Policies on Research Misconduct in the Federal Register on May 17. The final rule implements the standard federal policies and procedures on research misconduct issued by the Office of Science and Technology Policy on December 6, 2000. It adopts the federal-wide definition of misconduct as "fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism," eliminating some vagueness in prior attempts at rulemaking. It also establishes a uniform process that will be used to address misconduct. The rule goes into effect on June 15.

To review the ORI rule, visit:
http://ori.hhs.gov/documents/FR_Doc_05-9643.shtml

Research Equipment Resources

Equipment to Borrow or Lend?
Do you need some equipment but do not have the funds to purchase it? Do you have equipment you are not using and would be willing to lend to other researchers at CWRU? This spot in the newsletter will be devoted to those needs. Send notices of equipment you are willing to lend or need to borrow to Rosemary Alexander at rosemary.alexander@case.edu.

Equipment Broken or Working Poorly?
The Scientific Instrument Repair Center (SIRC), directed by William M. Frank, services a wide variety of research equipment from small bench top equipment to X-ray generators for any laboratory on campus at reduced cost. The SIRC also offers advice when purchasing new equipment and extended warranties. The Center is located on the CWRU campus in the School of Medicine in TB07. Contact Mr. Frank at 368-3225 or william.frank@case.edu for details about fees and services or go to http://mediswww.cwru.edu/sirc/.

If you need to borrow equipment while yours is being serviced, you are welcome to post a notice in this space. Email Rosemary Alexander with your notice.


Need Specialized Equipment Built?
The Design and Fabrication Center (DFC), located on campus in the School of Medicine in EG-1, is a fully equipped machine shop, and will custom build new equipment or modify existing equipment to meet your needs at reduced cost. The DFC can provide technical and engineering support service for any mechanical, electrical, and computerized application, for significantly less money. The DFC provides services not only to any CWRU lab, but also to University Hospitals, Cleveland Clinic, and CWRU-affiliated biomedical companies. Contact Mr. Torontali at 368-3461 or steven.torontali@case.edu. The DFC website, currently under construction, will be available at http://mediswww.cwru.edu/DFC/.

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Funding Opportunities

OSPA Funding News
The Office of Sponsored Projects Administration (OSPA) maintains a funding page at the this link (http://ora.ra.cwru.edu/OSPA/News/Funding_news.cfm). This list of funding announcements is not meant to be comprehensive. It changes at least monthly, sometimes daily. Announcements will be displayed on the website until the letter of intent due date or the application due date and will not be archived, so be sure to save any announcements to which you wish to refer in a future month. The list may include internal funding opportunities as they arise, as well as some less publicized and/or cross-discipline funding announcements sent to us by various routes. OSPA assumes that the reader is also making use of Community of Science (see below), to which the university subscribes, as well as the other resources listed in the links which follow these announcements. If you know of funding announcements that you think should be posted on this page, please contact Rosemary Alexander at rosemary.alexander@case.edu.

Community of Science (COS)
Case is a subscriber to Community of Science (COS), which makes it possible for you as faculty or research staff to make use of this excellent service. If you have not already set up your own profile in Community of Science and need help in doing so, please do not hesitate to call OSPA for guidance (368-4510). You may also contact the Case campus COS liaisons, Monica Bradley (368-4432 or monica.bradley@case.edu) or Narinder Dhaliwal (368-2001 or narinder.dhaliwal@case.edu) for help.

School of Medicine Funding Alerts
While many of you may already receive hard copies of the School of Medicine Funding Alert, the School of Medicine's quarterly newsletter listing funding opportunities and grant-writing tips, you may not be aware that the Funding Alert is also available, in its entirety, online in PDF format. A comprehensive list of RFP's available for the current period, may be viewed at http://mediswww.cwru.edu/researchoffice/index.html. At this URL, click on "Funding Opportunities". Then choose the current School of Medicine Funding Alert. Contact Narinder Dhaliwal in the School of Medicine at 368-2001 or narinder.dhaliwal@case.edu if you have questions.

Links to Sponsors
For an ever-growing list of links to many sources of funding announcements, both public and private, to aid your searches, click on the OSPA Links page.

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Conferences & Symposiums

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Re. Printing this newsletter:

If you wish to save this newsletter as a pdf file, you may do so on PCs via Adobe Acrobat (the full version), which is downloadable for free to faculty, staff, and students from the Case Software Center. In Adobe Acrobat, choose "Open Web Page" from the "File" menu, then insert the URL and click "Download". Adobe Acrobat may display an error message re. one gif file which may not load correctly. Just ignore this, it does not affect the appearance of the newsletter. Mac users using the Safari browser, may choose to print to pdf. Internet Explorer also will print to pdf, but truncates the right portion of the page in doing so.

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To unsubscribe:
If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, please contact Rosemary Alexander at rosemary.alexander@case.edu. If you are aware of individuals who are not currently on our mailing list and would like to receive the newsletter, please have them email Rosemary Alexander.