University Research Council

November 7, 2002

Meeting Summary

 

 

THE COMMITTEE CHARGE

 

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

  • Continue to use the CRDF to help junior faculty develop self-sustaining research projects and senior faculty to reorient their research portfolios.
  • Review the recommendations of its task force on the Copyright Policy of the University and fashion a document in collaboration with the General Counsel’s Office.
  • Develop a proposal-writing workshop that draws upon expertise from a variety of local sources.
  • Determine how the University can better publicize its research capabilities and accomplishments.
  • Explore how faculty at the University can take advantage of the change in research orientation at the Department of Energy.
  • Develop guidelines that encourage faculty in the social sciences to secure externally sponsored research.

 

REPORT FROM THE OFFICE OF RESEARCH

 

Mike Crouch discussed his trip to Brookhaven National Lab, where Ray Orbach, head of the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, discussed the change in research emphasis at the Department. The Department will develop a broader, more interdisciplinary research program and move away from its traditional emphasis on issues related to nuclear and atmospheric science.

 

COMPLIANCE ISSUES AND PROPOSAL REVIEW

 

Members of the Council discussed how faculty could work with the Office of Research to ensure that proposals are adequately reviewed. The Office reviews proposals before they are submitted to funding agencies, yet proposals are often submitted to the Office with little time left for review. Members of the Council discussed a required five day review period as a possible solution.

 

The new regulations on patient privacy will affect how medical researchers conduct their studies (i.e., HIPPA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996). Data that could be used to identify a particular patient must be excluded from analyses. Medical researchers are setting up systems that permit them to disentangle identifying attributes from data in a way that lets them conduct meaningful research.

 

SUBCOMMITTEES

 

Subcommittees are to be created in conjunction with the Provost’s charge. They will be composed of the following members:

Copyright Policy: Steve Husted (convener), Patricia Dowling, Mike Madison, Mary Marazita, and Raman Venkataramanan.

Research Successes: Mary Kerr (convener), David Brienza, Steve Graham, Patrick Loughlin, Roberta Ness, and Frank Tabakin.

Proposal Workshop: Jack Yalowich (convener), German Barrionuevo, John Beuthin, Evelyn Rawski, Richard Steinman, and David Tipper.

Department of Energy: Anne Robertson (convener), Irving Lowe, and Assad Panah.

Social Sciences: Gene Gruver (convener), Phyllis Coontz, and John Prescott.

 

MISCELLANEOUS

 

George Klinzing discussed the following items:

  • A theft at a laboratory at Cornell University.
  • A nanotechnology conference to be held at the University.
  • Creating and maintaining a database of faculty interests.
  • NIH funding of established and young investigators.
  • Issues related to the Department of Defense and secret research.
  • Pharmaceutical companies and academic research.
  • Guidelines on questions of authorship.