RESEARCH

The Office of Management and Budget is consolidating four existing financial reporting forms (SF-269, SF-269A, SF-272 and SF-272A) into the FFR, SF-425. OMB has directed awarding agencies to transition to the FFR no later than October 1, 2009. I am writing to notify you of our plans for transitioning to the new Federal Financial Report (FFR).
ONR and other DoD Components are currently incorporating the requirement to use the FFR into the terms and conditions of new grant and cooperative agreement awards. ONR intends to modify existing DoD assistance awards that we administer to provide a uniform effective date of July 1, 2009 for transition to the new form. All grant and cooperative agreement financial reports submitted after that date must utilize the SF-425.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is actively recruiting candidates to participate in the fourth annual NIH National Graduate Student Research Festival, to be held November 12th - 13th, 2009 in Bethesda, Maryland. To be eligible, you must be enrolled in a PhD program in the U.S. and on schedule to complete your PhD degree requirements by October, 2010. The deadline for application is July 1, 2009. More information and the online application can be found at: http://www.training.nih.gov/postdoctoral/ngsrf

This amendment establishes a new program element in Appendix D.11 entitled "Technology Development for Exoplanet Missions." This new program element solicits proposals to develop specific technologies (TRL 4-6) that feed into key exoplanet exploration measurement techniques. The measurement techniques upon which future Exoplanet Exploration Program missions are likely to be based include astrometry, coronagraphy, interferometry, and precision photometry. Notices of Intent to propose are due June 30, 2009, and proposals are due August 28, 2009. An informational workshop describing available ExEP testbed capabilities and providing guidance for developing robust development milestones will be held July 8, 2009. Workshop information posted on the web at http://exep.jpl.nasa.gov
Proposal information posted on NASA homepage at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ (select "Solicitations" then "Open Solicitations" then "NNH09ZDA001N").

The Office of Academic Exchange Programs of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces an open competition for two or more assistance awards for the 2010 Critical Language Scholarships for Intensive Summer Institutes, which provide foreign language instruction overseas for American undergraduate and graduate students. Additional information at http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=47724

Purpose. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) issued by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), solicits Program Project Grant (P01) applications that propose systems biology analyses of early immune responses to HIV/SIV exposure or infection. The goal of the HIV Systems Biology Program is to gain a more comprehensive understanding of networks or interacting components in early immune responses to HIV/SIV in order to predict systems behavior that informs the outcome of HIV/SIV exposure or infection. Letters of Intent Receipt Date: November 2, 2009 Application Due Date: December 1, 2009
Additional information at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-AI-09-018.html

Purpose. With this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) invites applications for linked awards using the NIH P20 funding mechanism and intended for feasibility studies to assist researchers and faculty at Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) establish collaborative partnerships with the researchers and faculty of NCI-designated Cancer Centers (or other institutions with highly-organized, integrated research efforts focused on cancer). Additional details at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-09-201.html

Cooperative Agreement: The Corporation for National and Community Service (the Corporation) announces the availability of approximately $8 million for the first year of potential three-year cooperative agreements to fund organizations to provide training and technical assistance (TTA) to build the capacity of local programs and organizations that use service and volunteering to meet community needs. Closing date for applications is Jul 02, 2009. Additional details at http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=47747

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) issued by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), and the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) of the National Institutes of Health, will provide resources to validate candidate biomarkers for well-defined human diseases of the liver, kidney, urological tract, and digestive and hematologic systems, as well as endocrine and metabolic disorders, diabetes and its complications, and obesity, for which there are no or very few biomarkers, or for which standard biomarkers are currently prohibitively invasive or expensive. Opening Date: September 5, 2009 (Earliest date an application may be submitted to Grants.gov) Letters of Intent Receipt Date(s): Not applicable Additional information at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-09-204.html

Critically Endangered Animals Conservation Fund will fund projects that conserve the world’s most endangered species. Critically endangered species are those that face an extremely high risk of extinction in the immediate future. Funding is limited to vertebrate species with natural habitat ranges in developing countries. Details at: http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=47813

The NIH announced on May 8 that there will be a comment period on changes to the 1995 “Objectivity in Research” regulations for PHS-funded research. The announcement poses a number of questions to which the public and grantee institutions are invited to respond, "with particular interest in potential for expanding the scope of the regulation and disclosure interests; the definition of significant financial interest; identification and management of conflicts by institutions; assuring institutional compliance; requiring institutions to provide additional information to the PHS; and broadening the regulations to address institutional conflicts of interest," according to a news release. Comments will be accepted until July 7.

Link to notice: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-10666.pdf.

Link to submit comments: http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocumentDetail&o=090000648098854b (click on "Add Comments").

The Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative (CTSC) announces the July 1, 2009 quarterly competition for pilot funding of up to $10,000 to support activities provided by any of the CTSC Core facilities. This program is being supported by Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals of Cleveland, and MetroHealth Medical Center, and investigators whose primary appointments are based at these sites are eligible for this competition. Investigators at the Cleveland Clinic have access to internal pilot funds for clinical and translational research through the RPC Program. Information and details can be found at http://www.lerner.ccf.org/pathobio/rpc/. Click “Apply” on the right sidebar for the on-line application; contact Charlotte Bhasin at bhasinc@ccf.org with any questions about the Cleveland Clinic program.

Details and instructions will be posted at http://casemed.case.edu/ctsc/investigators/.

Deadline for submission extended to June 29, 2009. The Division of Infectious Diseases & HIV Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, with funds from STERIS Corporation, will provide seed money to faculty to foster research in emerging and healthcare-associated infections. Investigators in the basic science and clinical departments in the School of Medicine and Hospital System as well as in other departments throughout the University are eligible. Grants, not to exceed $37,500 direct costs each, will be awarded to investigators who intend to gather preliminary data to be used in seeking future independently funded awards. Basic science applications are encouraged but should have a clear translational component related to the themes of this request for application. Up to four grants annually will be awarded. At least one of these awards will be targeted directly to STERIS' interests. The University Hospitals Research Institute will serve as the fiscal entity through which the monies will be distributed and awards administered.

Read the full RFA at: http://ora.ra.cwru.edu/research/orc/Attachments/SterisRFA2009.doc.

Device Sciences of the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC)Global Research Collaboration (GRC)is soliciting white papers in Compact Modeling. Two-page white papers addressing needs in a new research needs document are due Thursday, JULY 16, 2009 at 3 PM ET/12 PM PT. A successful white paper will be invited to submit a full proposal for further consideration, leading to a 3-year research contract beginning January 1, 2010. Interested researchers should note the proposal and review schedule, needs document, and instructions for web-based white paper submissions on the SRC GRC Web site at: http://grc.src.org/fr/S200905_Call.asp.