University Research Council

November 5, 2004

Meeting Summary

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THE PROVOST’S CHARGE

Provost James Maher delivered the Council charge. He asked the Council to:

• Consider the feasibility of an independent, interdisciplinary seed grant program (which is parallel in construction to the CRDF).
• Serve as a focus group for the Office of Research as it develops INFO ED modules.
• Provide guidance on selecting subjects for a research video series to be hosted on University’s research web page.
• Help develop a proposal to the Mellon Foundation that provides support for post-docs in the humanities.
• Create an ongoing series that brings a variety of speakers to the University to discuss current national research agendas.

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS

Mel Bernstein, Director of University Programs at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), visited the University. He discussed DHS support for Centers of Excellence. The DHS is sponsoring several multi-university, interdisciplinary academic centers dedicated to the study of national preparedness. Annual funding for the centers varies from $3.0 to $5.0 million over approximately five years. Centers devoted to economic risk analysis, food safety, and agricultural safety already have been established, and a center devoted to social and behavioral aspects of terrorism soon will be established. DHS will announce topics for future centers in the near future.

Dr. Bernstein also discussed:

• DHS funding via national labs
• The Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency
• DHS fellowship and scholarship programs

REPORT FROM THE OFFICE OF RESEARCH

Mike Crouch, Director of the Office of Research, discussed electronic research administration (ERA). The Office has signed a contract with Info Ed to develop the ERA system. A proposal-tracking module will be developed first and then a proposal-development module will be developed. It will take approximately one year to perfect each module.

The Office will devote more resources to educational and training programs. A newly hired Assistant Director, Allen DiPalma, will develop a research administration certificate program and coordinate information on compliance and certification. A research administrators’ forum will be launched in January.

MISCELLANEOUS

Several other issues were discussed:

• NSF undergraduate awards
• NASA funding
• Book subventions
• International Traffic in Arms Regulations
• Compliance rules and regulations