University Research Council
September 8, 2004
Meeting Summary
FUTURE ACTIVITES
The Provost will deliver the Council’s charge on November
5. He will ask the Council to continue
to work with the Office of Research on the small grants program and on the
Office’s electronic research administration procedures. He also will ask the Council to explore
several potential research and grant initiatives and
the feasibility of an interdisciplinary small grant program and an ongoing
speaker series.
NATIONAL
PREPAREDNESS
The Department of Homeland Security released an RFP for a
Center for the Behavioral and Social Science of Terrorism. Members of the Keystone Alliance, several
non-Pennsylvania universities, and several non-academic partners are
collaborating on a proposal for the Center.
SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM
The Council funded 28 of the 53 Central Research
Development Fund applications. Thirteen
awards were in the social sciences and humanities, six awards were in the
health sciences, and nine awards were in the sciences and engineering. The Council is developing software that will
permit this year’s applicants to submit their applications electronically.
COPYRIGHT POLICY
The copyright policy has been reviewed and approved by the
Provost Office’s senior staff. The Faculty Senate, Deans’ Council, and senior
staff within the Chancellor’s Office, as well as the Chancellor, must now
review the policy.
REPORT FROM THE
OFFICE OF RESEARCH
InfoEd is providing the software that the
Office of Research is using to update its electronic administrative procedures
(better known as electronic research administration, or eRA). A proposal-tracking module will be created
first followed by a proposal-processing module.
These modules then will be linked to Oracle and Prism.
The Office has hired several individuals to help process
its growing workload. A new Assistant
Director for Education and Training will develop a research administration
certificate program. Two new corporate
and clinical contracts officers will process contracts in their respective
areas, and two new information technology specialists will develop the Office’s
new electronic administration system.
MISCELLANEOUS
Bianca Bernstein, Director of the NSF’s Division of Graduate
Education, recently spoke to University faculty about NSF funding for graduate
students. Members of the University’s
faculty now are encouraging undergraduate and graduate students to apply for
graduate-level NSF awards.
Representatives of the NIH visited the University on July
14th and 15th and delivered a lecture entitled “A Culture
of Compliance” to approximately 450 people.
Representatives of the Association for
Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care will visit the
University in November to assess the care of laboratory animals.
Several other issues were discussed: