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Research Matters

USC Dornsife Research office weekly updates from Stephan Haas, Vice Dean of Research

Research Matters Archive

Awards

This information is based upon official award data from the Contracts and Grants office. It is provided to make you aware of the interesting research that is being conducted by our colleagues and that is supported through extramural sources.

· Yehuda Ben-Zion, Earth Sciences, Spatio-Temporal Changes Of Earthquake And Fault Zone Properties, National Science Foundation.

· Burton Jones, Marine and Environmental Biology, Modeling And Observational Assessment Of Offshore Effluent, Orange County Sanitation District.

· Karen Hennigan, Psychology, Gang Prevention And Intervention Intake And Progress Assessment, City of los Angeles.

· Karl Christe, Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute, Challenging Problems In Synthetic Chemistry, National Science Foundation.

· Arieh Warshel, Chemistry, Structure Function Correlation Of G-Proteins, National Science Foundation.

· Jed Fuhrman, Marine and Environmental Biology,  Dimensions: Pattern and Process in Marine Bacterial, Archaeal, and Protistan Biodiversity, and Effects of Human Impacts, National Science Foundation.

· Franklin Manis, Psychology, Research Assistant Funding, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.



Accolades

In addition to information about faculty grant awards, I would like to include other awards and accolades received by our fabulous faculty.  This is not only to note accomplishments but to make all of us aware of the quality and diversity of College scholarship.  Please email me (shaas@dornsife.usc.edu) with recent successes of yours or your colleagues.

On January 19, the Southern California Earthquake Center's Mark Benthien accepted the Federal Emergency Management Agency's 2011 Individual and Community Preparedness Award on behalf of the Earthquake Country Alliance. He also met with staff from Senator Barbara Boxer's (D-CA) office and the United States Geological Survey.

The most recent book "The Queer Art of Failure " of Judith Jack Halberstam (English, Gender Studies, American Studies and Ethnicity) was recently highlighted in the Chronical Review:  http://chronicle.com/article/Queer-20/130156/?key=SjgiJ1l%2BYS0VZn03bW4WZjoHP318MxonZiAaP3subl9TEA%3D%3D

Antonio Damasio (USC Dornsife Brain and Creativity Institute) has been chosen to receive the 2012 USC Associates Award for Creativity in Research and Scholarship.

 


Announcements
 
Proposals for the Ming Hsieh Institute are due on February 22.   Although the deadline for submitting letters of intent has passed, full proposals will still be accepted until the deadline (with or without submitting a Letter of Intent).   

The Ming Hsieh Institute funds research that brings together medical doctors with scientists and engineers to develop nanomedicine therapies and diagnostics for cancer.   Awards are up to $80,000.  For details on the program, see:

http://research.usc.edu/for-investigators/funding/usc/ming-hsieh/

https://research.usc.edu/ming-hsieh-institute/

 


The French Office for Science and Technology of the consulate general of France in Los Angeles is partner of a joint workshop on nanomedicine co-organized by the California NanoSystem Insitute of UCLA (CNSI, http://www1.cnsi.ucla.edu/index) and The CEA-Leti-Clinatec of Grenoble (http://www.leti.fr/en) on February 1, 2 and 3 at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles). We would like to invite to this event French post doctorates working in the field of nanoscience.

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/ (in French)

 

Advancing Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences RFP (deadline Feb. 17)

There is a USC internal competition to assist junior faculty in preparing grants for select fellowships.

The application form is available online at

https://fpd.usc.edu/ashss/ashss-grant-writing/. There are two deadlines:

Feb. 17 for Spring 2012 and Summer  2012 fellowship deadlines and April 2 for Fall 2012 fellowship deadlines.

The deadline to submit applications for Advancing Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences research grants is Feb. 17. The application form is available at

https://fpd.usc.edu/ashss/ashss-research-grants/

Any questions can be directed to vpfpd@usc.edu or Lydia Lee at 213.740.6799.

 



Upcoming Funding Opportunities


- Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Centers (OAICs) and Coordinating Center (P30), National Institutes of Health

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-AG-13-002.html

This FOA issued by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) supports new and renewal applications for Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Centers (OAICs), centers of excellence in geriatrics research and training. This FOA solicits applications for OAIC sites and/or an OAIC Coordinating Center.

 

- Competing Revisions for Macromolecular Interactions in Cells (R01), National Institutes of Health

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-GM-13-003.html

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to diversify and extend the scope and capabilities of currently funded NIGMS R01 and R37 projects for studies on macromolecular interactions and their relationship to function in cells. This FOA solicits competitive revisions (formerly called "competing supplements") of currently funded NIGMS grants specializing in the analysis of molecular systems and mechanisms in live organelles, cells, tissues, or organisms. Applicants may increase their budgets to extend the scientific scope of their projects or to add new approaches that enhance their capabilities for research on macromolecular interactions in cells. Collaboration is not a requirement of this initiative, but applicants may request support for collaboration (including subcontracts) with investigators who have complementary expertise Support for access of modestly funded laboratories to experimental approaches and research objectives that are otherwise financially out of reach is one priority of this FOA.

 

 

- Development of Tools to Study the Synaptome (R21), National Institutes of Health

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-MH-12-140.html

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) issued by the National Institutes of Health, encourages applications that will develop novel technologies and/or tools to facilitate the study of genes and proteins at the synapse on a large scale. Being able to characterize the synaptome in the context of hundreds of genes/proteins would be a major advance for basic and translational research. The technologies/tools created would be expected to affect the fields of neurology, psychiatry, and neuroscience by enriching existing resources as well as those in development. The new tools should enable discovery science related to the synapse by providing for substantially greater sensitivity, selectivity, spatiotemporal resolution and markedly decreased costs compared to currently available technologies.

 

-  RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES IN SPACE AND EARTH SCIENCES 2012, NASA

http://nspires.nasaprs.com/

NNH12ZDA001N, entitled "Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences - 2012 (ROSES-2012)," will be available on or about February 14, 2012, by opening the NASA Research Opportunities homepage at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ and then linking through the menu listing "Solicitations" to "Open Solicitations." This NASA Research Announcement (NRA) solicits proposals for supporting basic and applied research and technology across a broad range of Earth and space science program elements relevant to one or more of the following NASA Research Programs: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Planetary Science, and Astrophysics. This ROSES NRA covers all aspects of basic and applied supporting research and technology in space and Earth sciences, including, but not limited to: theory, modeling, and analysis of SMD science data; aircraft, stratospheric balloon, suborbital rocket, and commercial reusable rocket investigations; development of experiment techniques suitable for future SMD space missions; development of concepts for future SMD space missions; development of advanced technologies relevant to SMD missions; development of techniques for and the laboratory analysis of both extraterrestrial samples returned by spacecraft, as well as terrestrial samples that support or otherwise help verify observations from SMD Earth system science missions; determination of atomic and composition parameters needed to analyze space data, as well as returned samples from the Earth or space; Earth surface observations and field campaigns that support SMD science missions; development of integrated Earth system m odels; development of systems for applying Earth science research data to societal needs; and development of applied information systems applicable to SMD objectives and data.

 

- Jointly Sponsored Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Institutional Predoctoral Training Program in the Neurosciences (T32), National Institutes of Health

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-12-084.html

The Jointly Sponsored NIH Predoctoral Training Program in the Neurosciences supports broad and fundamental research training in the neurosciences via institutional NRSA research training grants (T32) at domestic institutions of higher education. Trainees appointed to this training grant are financially supported for either one or two years, during the first 2 years of their graduate research training. The primary objective is to prepare individuals for careers in neuroscience that have a significant impact on the health-related research needs of the Nation.

 

- MacroSystems Biology, National Science Foundation

http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf12532


The MacroSystems Biology: Research on Biological Systems at Regional to Continental Scales will support quantitative, interdisciplinary, systems-oriented research on biosphere processes and their complex interactions with climate, land use, and invasive species at regional to continental scales as well as planning, training, and development activities to enable groups to conduct MacroSystems Biology Research.

 

- Atmospheric System Research (ASR), DOE Office of Science

https://www.fedconnect.net/

The Atmospheric Systems Research Program (ASR) in the Climate and Environmental Sciences Division, Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) of the Office of Science (SC), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) supports clouds, aerosol, and radiative transfer research that has the potential to improve the accuracy of regional and global climate models. ASR hereby announces its interest in receiving applications for grants that address an under-represented portfolio and opportunity within the program. For this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), priority will be given to applications that use or extend the new capabilities of the Recovery Act Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) instrumentation, address topics within the Aerosol-Cloud-Precipitation Interactions area, and propose program relevant studies involving the recent/ongoing campaigns listed in the Supplementary Information section of this FOA.

 

- Targeting Inflammation and Immune Activation in HIV Disease (U01), National Institutes of Health

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-AI-12-007.html

This FOA solicits applications that propose small proof-of-concept clinical trials, with concurrent intensive laboratory studies, designed to evaluate the effect of an intervention on chronic immune activation or persistent inflammation in HIV-infected individuals who are taking effective antiretroviral therapy. The intervention must have a known mechanism of action. The goal of this initiative is to identify specific mechanisms or pathways that can be targeted to prevent or reverse persistent immune activation in HIV-infected individuals.

 

 

-- Special Program Announcement for 2012 Office of Naval Research Research Opportunity: Basic Research Challenge: Carbon Molecular Electronics, Office of Naval Research

http://www.onr.navy.mil/en/Contracts-Grants/Funding-Opportunities/Special-Notices.aspx

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is interested in receiving proposals on carbon-based molecular electronics. The objective of this Basic Research Challenge (BRC) program is to encourage research and innovation in bottom-up chemical synthesis and assembly of carbon, particularly graphene, based electronic devices and circuits with atomic precision and Angstrom resolution. The program will address the challenges and limitations in top-down fabricated graphene nanoelectronic devices, where structures are too large (limited by lithography) and intrinsic graphene properties are often masked by edge roughness and hard to measure. The long term vision of the program is to enable a new kind of molecular electronics – a single giant molecule made of carbon or other related materials that functions as electronic, magnetic or optical devices or circuits. We envision a future when we will build large scale electronic systems in a hierarchical fashion, where nanoscale objects built with atomic precision and up to the size of , say ~ 1 μm, will seamlessly interface with microscale systems, built with top-down lithographic techniques (i.e., top-down meets bottom-up).

 

-- Genomic Science: Biosystems Design to Enable Next-Generation Biofuels, Office of Science

https://www.fedconnect.net/


The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) hereby announces interest in receiving applications for research that supports the Genomics Science Program and addresses DOE?s missions in energy and the environment in the following research areas: a) Microbial systems design for biofuels, from computer modeling to experimental validation: To develop modeling algorithms and innovative biosystems design technologies to define, build, and apply functional biological modules for the generation of novel biological systems that advance toward the production of biofuels; and b) Plant systems design for bioenergy: To develop novel technologies to re-design bioenergy crops that can grow in marginal environments while producing high yield of biomass that can be easily converted to biofuels. Applications should also address potential societal implications of engineered organisms.

 

-- Biomechanisms of Peripheral Nerve Damage by Anti-Cancer Therapy (R01, R21), National Institutes of Health

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-12-082.html


The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to encourage basic biologic research on damage to the peripheral nervous system instigated by pharmacologic cancer treatments, known as chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). The majority of acquired peripheral neuropathy research has focused on diabetic and inherited diseases; this FOA intends to stimulate neuroscience researchers to apply their expertise from studying these other neuropathies to the injuries incurred by cancer treatments. More data is necessary to understand the mechanisms of neuronal damage and to identify the targets instrumental to CIPN initiation and maintenance. Preclinical research that focuses not only on peripheral neuropathic pain but also on neurosensory symptoms such as paresthesias and peripheral anesthesias is invited. The ultimate goal of this FOA is to lead to a molecular understanding of CIPN that allows for the rational development of interventions that will treat or prevention CIPN.

 

-- NINDS Institutional Center Core Grants to Support Neuroscience Research (P30), National Institutes of Health

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-12-081.html

NINDS invites new and competing renewal applications for Center Core Grants that provide resources and facilities shared by a minimum of six NINDS-supported investigators. The proposed Centers will offer services and expertise that would be difficult or impractical to support in individual labs. The Centers are expected to capitalize on economies and synergies associated with shared resources, and to foster a collaborative environment among neuroscientists at host institutions.

 

-- Dimensions of Biodiversity, National Science Foundation

http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf12528

Despite centuries of discovery, most of our planet's biodiversity remains unknown. The scale of the unknown diversity on Earth is especially troubling given the rapid and permanent loss of biodiversity across the globe. With this loss, humanity is losing links in the web of life that provide ecosystem services, forfeiting an understanding of the history and future of the living world, and losing opportunities for future beneficial discoveries in the domains of food, fiber, fuel, pharmaceuticals, and bio-inspired innovation.The goal of the Dimensions of Biodiversity campaign is to transform, by 2020, how we describe and understand the scope and role of life on Earth. The campaign promotes novel, integrated approaches to identify and understand the evolutionary and ecological significance of biodiversity amidst the changing environment of the present day and in the geologic past.This campaign seeks to characterize biodiversity on Earth by using integrative, innovative approaches to fill the most substantial gaps in our understanding of the diversity of life on Earth. It takes a broad view of biodiversity, and currently focuses on the integration of genetic, taxonomic/phylogenetic, and functional dimensions of biodiversity. Successful proposals should integrate these three dimensions to understand interactions and feedbacks among them. While this focus complements several core NSF programs, it differs by requiring that multiple dimensions of biodiversity be addressed simultaneously, in innovative or novel ways, to understand their synergistic roles in critical ecological and evolutionary processes.Investigators wishing to inquire about the suitability of potential projects for Dimensions of Biodiversity are encouraged to email a brief summary and contact information to Dimensions@nsf.gov.

 

-- Biodemography of Aging (R01,R21, R03), National Institutes of Health

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-12-078.html


http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-12-079.html

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-12-080.html

Biodemography, the integration of demographic and biological theory and methods, provides an innovative tool for understanding the impact of aging on health and longevity. This FOA encourageapplications for research combining demographic and life-science approaches for expanding the current understanding of aging/senescence, frailty and mortality. Applications should include evolutionary and life history theories as a framework for investigating individual and population-level factors that underlie changes in lifespan and healthy life expectancy, including sex and population differentials in late-life frailty and mortality. 

Awards

This information is based upon official award data from the Contracts and Grants office. It is provided to make you aware of the interesting research that is being conducted by our colleagues and that is supported through extramural sources.

- Stephen Smith, Shoah Foundation Institute, IWitnessProject, Rosenthal Family Foundation
- John Wilson, Geography, Shortest Network Paths: New Algorithms and Applications, North American Assn. of Central Cancer Registries
- Patrick James, Center for International Studies, Diversionary Dragons or Talking Tough in Taipei, Taiwan Foundation for Democracy
- Nelson Bickers, Physics and Astronomy, NIST Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program, National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Paolo Zanardi, Physics and Astronomy, Geometric Quantum Information Processing in Open Systems, National Science Foundation


Accolades

In addition to information about faculty grant awards, I would like to include other awards and accolades received by our stellar faculty.  This is not only to note accomplishments but to make all of us aware of the quality and diversity of College scholarship.  Please email me (mailto:dbyrd@college.usc.edu) with recent successes of yours or your colleagues.


Announcements

New to writing an NIH R01, or maybe it’s been a while? Here is a tip-sheet created for our College faculty: http://dornsife.usc.edu/nih-r01-tip-sheet/

NSF CAREER full proposal deadlines (due by 5:00 P.M. proposer's local time) are
- July 20, 2010, for BIO, CISE, HER, OCI;
- July 21, 2010, for ENG; and
- July 22, 2010, for GEO, MPS, SBE, and OPP.  
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08557/nsf08557.htm?govDel=USNSF_25

Please give me a heads-up if you are applying.

USC Stevens "Ideas Empowered" Funding Program
http://stevens.usc.edu/ideasempowered.php
USC Stevens is launching a 2-year pilot of the “Ideas Empowered” program that is designed to bridge the gap between academic ideas and the marketplace, and to provide support for students participating in this process. It will provide funding of typically $50K for proof-of-concept experiments and prototype development, along with connections to resources and coaching from industry experts.  Applications for the Ideas Empowered program are due on June 30, 2010. For questions, contact Juan Felipe Vallejo at jvallejo@usc.edu.


Upcoming Funding Opportunities

-- New Directions Fellowships
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation  
****Institutionally Limited.   Internal Selection Process.*****
These highly selective fellowships provide support for exceptional faculty members in the humanities and humanistic social sciences who received their doctorates between five and fifteen years ago, and whose research would benefit from their acquiring systematic training outside their own disciplines.  New Directions Fellowships are primarily for advanced training in pursuit of a specific research agenda.  Unlike other fellowship awards, this program does not aim to facilitate short-term outcomes, such as completion of a book.  Rather, New Directions Fellowships are meant to be viewed as longer-term investments in scholars' intellectual range and productivity.  The fellowships cover salary for approximately one academic year and two summers (including released time from teaching, if required). Once an award is completed, fellows will be eligible to apply for supplemental funding to permit them to make appropriate scholarly use of their newly acquired training.  This opportunity is institutionally limited.  If you are interested, please send me your CV and proposal abstract by August 1.

-- Fellowship Programs at Independent Research Institutions
http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/fpiri.html
NEH
Grants for Fellowship Programs at Independent Research Institutions (FPIRI) support fellowships at institutions devoted to advanced study and research in the humanities. NEH fellowships provide scholars with research time and access to resources that might not be available at their home institutions. Fellowship programs may be administered by independent centers for advanced study, libraries, and museums in the United States; American overseas research centers; and organizations that have expertise in promoting research on foreign cultures. Individual scholars must apply directly to the institutions themselves. A list of currently funded institutions is available.   http://www.neh.gov/projects/fpiri.html   In evaluating applications from programs at institutions located in the United States, priority is given to those with library holdings, archives, or other special collections-either on site or nearby-that are available as resources for NEH fellows. American overseas research centers should demonstrate a particular benefit to NEH fellows by virtue of their location and other resources. FPIRI grants provide funding to programs for humanities fellowships of four to twelve months. Fellowship tenure must be fulltime and continuous. FPIRI grants support fellowship stipends and standard allowances, as well as a portion of the costs of selecting the fellows. Indirect costs are not allowed in this program. Institutions are expected to pay FPIRI fellows stipends at a rate of $4,200 a month; therefore the minimum stipend would be $16,800 for a four-month fellowship, and the maximum stipend would be $50,400 for a twelve-month fellowship.

-- HFSP Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships (CDF)
http://www.hfsp.org/how/appl_form.php
Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) Organization
Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships (CDFs) are open to applicants with a Ph.D. from outside the life sciences, e.g., in physics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering or computer sciences, who have had limited exposure to biology during their previous training. Applicants for the CDF should propose a significant departure from their past research by changing, e.g., from material science or physics to cell biology, from chemistry to molecular biology, or from computer science to neuroscience.  The Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) supports innovative basic research into fundamental biological problems with emphasis placed on novel approaches that involve scientific exchanges across national and disciplinary boundaries. Biological research has become increasingly quantitative through the participation of scientists from disciplines outside the traditional life sciences such as biophysics, chemistry, computational biology, computer science, engineering, mathematics, nanoscience or physics. Such collaborations have opened up new approaches for understanding the complex structures and regulatory networks that characterize the evolution and interactions of organisms and biological systems. Within this framework the HFSP invites applications for international programs that offer postdoctoral fellowships for basic research training. The HFSP focuses on elucidating the complex mechanisms of living organisms. Emphasis is placed on novel, innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to basic research that involve scientific exchanges across national boundaries. In particular, HFSP encourages research into biological problems involving approaches and knowledge from different disciplines such as chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science, engineering, and material sciences because significant new ideas, techniques, and discoveries often arise at the boundaries between disciplines.  In addition to its international, and especially intercontinental, character, the HFSP places emphasis on supporting researchers who are early in their careers and who are expected to play an important role in generating and pursuing original research.  The scope of HFSP funding ranges from biological functions at the molecular and cellular level up to biological systems including cognitive functions. Within this broad area, all levels of analysis are supported, from studies on genes and individual molecules, intracellular networks, intercellular associations in tissues and organs, to networks underlying complex functions of entire organisms. In order to be eligible, candidates with a Ph.D. must have obtained their doctoral degree in the three years prior to the submission deadline (between September 1, 2007, and September 9, 2010). Deadline Aug 27, 2010

-- Advances in Biological Informatics (ABI) - NSF 10-567
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10567/nsf10567.htm
National Science Foundation (NSF)
The ABI program seeks to encourage new approaches to the analysis and dissemination of biological knowledge for the benefit of both the scientific community and the broader public. The ABI program is especially interested in the development of informatics tools and resources that have the potential to advance, or transform, research in biology supported by BIO. The ABI program accepts two major types of proposals: Innovation awards that seek to pioneer new approaches to the application of informatics to biological problems and Development awards that seek to provide robust cyberinfrastructure that will enable transformative biological research.  The ABI program encourages proposals that conduct collaborative and planning activities such as workshop series, network retreats, exchange visits, and the development of virtual organization frameworks. Those activities that promote interaction between the computational sciences and biology communities, as well as innovative networking strategies that foster research collaborations or enable new research directions, are especially encouraged. The ABI program will place a higher priority on proposals to create computational/informatics tools and database architectures that are applicable to a broad range of biological research questions.

-- NCRR Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) (R25)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-10-206.html
NCRR
*********institutionally limited competition*********
NCRR encourages applications to its Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program for the development and evaluation of innovative research education programs to improve PreK-12 research career opportunities and the community's understanding of the health science advances supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded clinical and basic research. SEPA encourages dynamic partnerships between biomedical and clinical researchers and PreK-12 teachers and schools and other interested organizations. Particular importance will be given to applications that target PreK-12 and/or ISE/media topics that may not be addressed by existing curriculum, community-based or ISE/media activities. USC is allowed only one slot for this program; interested PIs can put forward a research summary and biosketches to me no later than June 25.

-- Sloan Research Fellowships
http://www.sloan.org/fellowships
Sloan Foundation, Alfred P. Science and Technology Fellowships
The Sloan Research Fellowships seek to stimulate fundamental research by early-career scientists and scholars of outstanding promise. These fellowships are awarded to researchers in recognition of distinguished performance and a unique potential to make substantial contributions to their field. Candidates for Sloan Research Fellowships are required to: * hold a Ph.D. (or equivalent) in chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science, economics, neuroscience or computational and evolutionary molecular biology, or in a related interdisciplinary field; * be members of the regular faculty (i.e., tenure track) of a college or university in the United States or Canada; and * be no more than six years from completion of the most recent Ph.D. or equivalent, unless they have held a faculty appointment for less than two years or unless one of the following special circumstances apply: military service, a change of field, or child rearing. While Fellows are expected to be at an early stage of their research careers, there should be strong evidence of independent research accomplishments. Candidates in all fields are normally below the rank of associate professor and do not hold tenure, but these are not strict requirements.  Candidates are nominated by department heads or other senior researchers. More than one candidate from a department may be nominated, but we recommend no more than three. Direct applications are not accepted. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation welcomes nominations of all candidates who meet the traditional high standards of this program, and strongly encourages the participation of women and members of underrepresented minority groups.  Deadline Sept 15; please coordinate through me (dbyrd@college.usc.edu) and departmental chair.

-- Grants for Research and Exploration
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/research/grant/rg1.html
National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society awards grants for scientific field research and exploration through its Committee for Research and Exploration (CRE). All proposed projects must have both a geographical dimension and relevance to other scientific fields and be of broad scientific interest. Applications are generally limited to the following disciplines: anthropology, archaeology, astronomy, biology, botany, geography, geology, oceanography, paleontology, and zoology. In addition, the committee is emphasizing multidisciplinary projects that address environmental issues (e.g., loss of biodiversity and habitat, effects of human-population pressures). This grant program does not pay educational tuition, nor does it offer scholarships or fellowships of any kind

-- High-Throughput-Enabled Structural Biology Research (U01)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-10-214.html
NIH
This FOA encourages applications to establish partnerships between researchers interested in a biological problem of significant scope and researchers providing high-throughput structure determination capabilities through the NIGMS PSI:Biology network. Applicants to this FOA should propose work to solve a substantial biological problem for which the determination of many protein structures is necessary. The proteins should be amenable to high-throughput structure determination and/or should provide suitable targets to motivate new technology development. Awardee principal investigators will become part of the PSI:Biology Network Steering Committee and will work jointly with other investigators and NIH staff to manage the overall PSI:Biology initiative.

-- Expanding and Personalizing Treatment Options for Alcohol Use Disorders Including Pharmacogenomics (R01)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAS-10-215.html
NIH
Under this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) requests research project grants (R01) to study how genetic variation affects responses to medications for the treatment of Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD). Both human and animal studies are encouraged to determine the full range of genetic variation affecting both pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic parameters resulting in altered drug efficacy and toxicity.

-- PFINDR: Phenotype Finder IN Data Resources: A Tool to Support Cross-study Data Discovery Among NHLBI Genomic Studies (UH2/UH3)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-HL-11-020.html
Department of National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites applications for projects that propose to develop and apply advanced informatics approaches to categorize phenotypic measures in multiple datasets in data repositories to help researchers identify potentially relevant genomic studies across cardiovascular, lung, blood, and sleep research domains.

-- Army Research Office (ARO) Broad Agency Announcement for Basic and Applied Scientific Research (W911NF-07-R-0003)
http://www.arl.army.mil/www/default.cfm?Action=6&Page=8
United States Department of Defense (DOD), Department of the Army, Army Research Office (ARO)
The U.S. Army Research Office (ARO) solicits proposals for basic and scientific research in mechanical sciences, environmental sciences, mathematical and computer sciences, electronics, computational and information sciences, physics, chemistry, life sciences, and materials science. Research areas of interest include the following: 1. Research Area 1: Mechanical Sciences, 2. Research Area 2: Environmental Sciences, 3. Research Area 3: Mathematical Sciences, 4. Research Area 4: Electronics, 5. Research Area 5:, Computing and Information Sciences, 6. Research Area 6: Physics, 7. Research Area 7: Chemistry, 8. Research Area 8: Life Sciences, 9. Research Area 9: Materials Science, 10. Research Area 10: ARO Special Programs.  Additional programs include the Short Term Innovative Research (STIR) Program; Young Investigator Program (YIP); Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE); Research Instrumentation (RI) Program; and DOD Programs (DURIP, DEPSCoR and HBCU/MI Infrastructure Program). The Army supports conferences and symposia in special areas of science that bring experts together to discuss recent research or educational findings or to expose other researchers or advanced graduate students to new research and educational techniques. The Army encourages the convening in the United States of major international conferences, symposia, and assemblies of international alliances. Scientific, technical, or professional organizations which otherwise qualify for a grant under the criteria in this BAA may receive conference and symposia grants. Open through 30 September 2011.