MacArthur Foundation Announces Open Call for Documentary Film Proposals

MacArthur supports the production of social-issue documentary films on important contemporary topics, intended for a broad audience, particularly in the U.S.  Over the last 30 years, we have supported over 200 films by some of the most critically acclaimed filmmakers in the country.  Their documentary work combines exceptional storytelling with in-depth journalism. Many of these films have had a long life beyond festivals and broadcast, and been used in educational, community, and policymaking settings over many years, sparking conversations and activities that contribute to social and policy change. 

Application Process

MacArthur accepts applications for documentary production funding once or twice a year through the Documentary Open Call.

Online applications will be accepted between July 15 - 31, 2013. If your project is selected as a semi-finalist, we will contact you by September 1 and ask you to submit a full proposal and detailed budget. Funding decisions are expected in November.

New for 2013: You must apply through our online application (no emails, please).

- See more at: http://www.macfound.org/info-grantseekers/grantmaking-guidelines/media-grant-guidelines/media-documentary-films-guidelin/#sthash.0SOClvzh.dpuf

Alan Alda's 'Flame Challenge' Winners Answer the Question: What Is Time?

FROM AAAS:

Alan Alda today announced the winners of Stony Brook University's Flame Challenge contest, in which scientists had to explain "what is time?" in a way that would interest and enlighten 11-year-olds.

The winners, Steven Maguire, 33, and Nicholas Williams, 71, received trophies and congratulations from Alda and hundreds of children at the "What is Time?" event at the World Science Festival in New York City. Maguire, a chemistry graduate student at the University of Ottawa, in Canada, won for the top-ranked video explanation (see above). Williams, a retired engineer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNB) in California, won for the top-ranked written answer. The entries were judged by nearly 20,000 schoolchildren around the world.

Maguire's winning video couldn't be simpler: He just looks into the "I was impressed that hundreds of scientists took up the challenge of answering such a tough question posed by 11-year-olds," said Alda, a visiting professor at the Stony Brook University School of Journalism. "And it was touching to see how thoughtfully and seriously the kids went about judging the entries. Their thoughts about communicating science are valuable feedback that can help scientists and the public carry on a real conversation."

READ MORE

Nature Editorial: The paper trail: Scientists must embrace funding-agency efforts to track research outputs and encourage open access to the literature.

04 June 2013

Article too

Last week, the world’s research-funding agencies signalled a welcome desire for wider access to published papers. The Global Research Council, a voluntary discussion forum that takes input from hundreds of funding agencies in regional meetings around the globe, released an action plan for promoting open access — although specific policies are left up to individual agencies (go.nature.com/gonk6w).

Scientists need this top-down push. Individually, they have proved reluctant to make their papers freely available, despite the determined efforts of open-access campaigners. For example, although the Wellcome Trust in London, one of the world’s biggest biomedical research charities, has since 2005 provided an open-access mandate and the money to support it, by last June only 55% of the research papers that it funded were open access. Most of those had been uploaded into repositories by publishers, rather than by researchers.

READ MORE

Melanoma Research Alliance - Hidary Foundation Team Science Award for Acral Melanoma Genomics

Call for Proposals

Proposals due Wednesday, July 31, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Acral melanoma, which occurs on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, and under the nails, accounts for a small number of melanoma cases but has a survival rate of 10-20% lower than for cutaneous melanomas overall. Recognition that acral melanomas have a distinct genetic profile may account for the difference in survival. Yet, aside from the identification of cKIT alterations in 15-20% of acral melanomas, little is known about other molecular drivers of the disease.

The Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA) is proud to partner with the Hidary Foundation to offer a Team Science Award tocomprehensively characterize acral melanoma patient samples via state-of-the-art genomic technologies and other analytical approaches in the context of cutting edge biology for new points of therapeutic intervention. Multidisciplinary teams of two or more Principal Investigators (PIs) will receive up to $750,000 USD total over 2 years. There will be only one Award made under this mechanism.

http://www.curemelanoma.org/research/request-for-proposals/

NEH America's Media Makers: Development Grants

Division of Public Programs

Receipt Deadline August 14, 2013 for Projects Beginning April 2014

Brief Summary

America’s Media Makers (AMM) grants support the following formats:

• interactive digital media;
• film and television projects; and
• radio projects.

Interactive digital media may be websites, games, mobile applications, virtual environments, streaming video, podcasts, or other digital formats.

Film and television projects may be single programs or a series addressing significant figures or events and drawing their content from humanities scholarship. The programs must be intended for national distribution.

Radio projects may involve single programs, limited series, or segments within an ongoing program. They may also develop new humanities content to augment existing radio programming or add greater historical background or humanities analysis to the subjects of existing programs. They may be intended for regional or national distribution.

NEH encourages projects that feature multiple formats to engage the public in the exploration of humanities ideas. Proposed projects might include complementary components that expand or deepen the audience’s understanding of a subject: for example, museum exhibitions, book/film discussion programs, or other formats that engage audiences in new ways. America’s Media Makers grants may not, however, be used to support programs’ general operating costs.

Development grants enable media producers to collaborate with scholars to develop humanities content and to prepare programs for production. Grants should result in a script or a design document and should also yield a detailed plan for outreach and public engagement in collaboration with a partner organization or organizations.

Program Statistics

In the last five competitions the America's Media Makers: Development Grants program received an average of 47 applications. The program made an average of five grants per competition, for a funding ratio of 11 percent.

The number of applications to an NEH grant program can vary widely from competition to competition, as can the funding ratio. Information about the average number of applications and awards in recent competitions is meant only to provide historical context for the current competition. Information on the number of applications and awards in individual competitions is available from publicpgms@neh.gov.

Questions?

Contact the staff of NEH’s Division of Public Programs at 202-606-8269 and publicpgms@neh.gov. Hearing-impaired applicants can contact NEH via TDD at 1-866-372-2930.

Dreyfus Foundation Invites Applications for Postdoctoral Program in Environmental Chemistry

Postdoctoral Program in Environmental Chemistry

Deadline: August 14, 2013
Announcement: early November 2013

The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation seeks to further the development of scientific leadership in the field of environmental chemistry with a postdoctoral fellowship program. The Postdoctoral Program in Environmental Chemistry provides a principal investigator with an award of $120,000 over two years to appoint a Postdoctoral Fellow in environmental chemistry.

Eligibility
The Postdoctoral Program in Environmental Chemistry is open to all academic and other not-for-profit organizations in the States, Districts, and Territories of the United States of America. Applications are accepted from principal investigators that have well-established research efforts in environmental science or engineering. These research activities need not be located in traditional departments in the chemical sciences, and collaboration across departments and institutions is encouraged. Note: award recipients must wait two years from the conclusion of an award before being eligible to reapply.

Research Areas of Interest
Applications most likely to be of interest should describe innovative fundamental research in the chemical sciences or engineering related to the environment. Examples include but are not limited to the chemistry associated with: the climate, the atmosphere, aquatic or marine settings, toxicology, soil or groundwater. Also of interest are chemistry-related energy research (renewable sources, sequestration, etc.), and new or green approaches to chemical synthesis and processing, with a clearly stated relation to the environment.

READ MORE

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Accepting Applications for Early Career Fellowship Awards

Deadlines

(Please note: completed applications and CDs/DVDs/USB flash drives must be in our office by 4:00 pm (ET) on the deadline—NOT simply postmarked by the due date.)

Application due on or before:	Degree conferred between*:	Joined Sponsor’s Lab on or after:	Selection meeting date:	Award begins first day of:
August 15, 2013	October 15, 2012-August 15, 2013	October 15, 2012	November 8, 2013	January, February, March or April 2014
March 17, 2014	April 15, 2013-March 15, 2014	April 15, 2013	May 9, 2014	July, August, September or October 2014

*Include a copy of the diploma to confirm date of conferral.

Program Description

The Foundation encourages all theoretical and experimental research relevant to the study of cancer and the search for cancer causes, mechanisms, therapies and prevention.

Candidates must apply for the fellowship under the guidance of a Sponsor—a scientist (tenured, tenure-track or equivalent position) capable of providing mentorship to the Fellow.  In addition to aiding in the planning, execution and supervision of the proposed research, the Sponsor’s role is to foster the development of the Fellow’s overall knowledge, technical and analytical skills, and capacity for scientific inquiry.  The Sponsor is also expected to assist the Fellow in attaining his/her career goals.

Awards are made to institutions for the support of the Fellow under direct supervision of the Sponsor.  Candidates who have already accepted a postdoctoral research fellowship award are not eligible.

The primary criteria used to evaluate applicants are:

• the quality of the research proposal (importance of the problem, originality of approach, appropriateness of techniques and clarity of presentation)
• the qualifications, experience and productivity of both the candidate and the Sponsor
• the quality of the research training environment in which the proposed research is to be conducted and its potential for broadening and strengthening the candidate's ability to independently conduct innovative and substantive research.  The proposed research and training environment should represent a new opportunity for the candidate to expand his/her scientific skill set.  Direct extensions of the candidate's graduate work (in approach, technique or exact area of study) will not be funded.

Damon Runyon Postdoctoral Research Fellowships are granted for a three-year term with second- and third-year funding contingent upon satisfactory progress reports.  Fellows in their first- and third-years of funding will attend Damon Runyon Fellows' Retreats designed to foster collaboration and interaction between scientists working in different fields relevant to cancer.  Click here for more information on Damon Runyon Fellows' Retreats.

All fellowship awards are approved by the Board of Directors of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation acting upon the recommendation of the Fellowship Award Committee (FAC).

READ MORE

NIBIB Biomedical Technology Service Centers (P30)

NIBIB-supported Biomedical Technology Service Centers (NIBIB P30 Centers) ensure that independently-funded NIH investigators working in a targeted area will have access to biomedical technologies and expertise that are not widely available.

NIBIB P30 Centers must serve investigators from multiple institutions outside the applicant institution and are expected to be regional or national in scope. 

Resources available in a typical NIBIB P30 Center could include, but are not limited to, specialized shared instrumentation, customized algorithms, novel tissue/organ engineering platforms or open bioinformatics systems.

NIBIB P30 Centers will not support independent scientific research or unfunded pilot studies, except for limited development of novel technologies that support the NIBIB P30 Center service mission (see "Technology Service Cores" section). 

NIBIB will not support P30 Centers that focus on a specific disease, and will not support P30 Centers that involve clinical trials or patient services.

NIBIB will not support P30 Centers that overlap with pre-existing facilities at the host institution.

Consistent with their function to help the community gain access to these resources, NIBIB P30 Centers should engage in dissemination activities.

If appropriate, NIBIB P30 Centers may also engage in training activities.

NIBIB P30 Centers shall consist of one Administrative Core and one or more Technology Service Cores.   

The Administrative Core coordinates the different components and activities of the NIBIB P30 Center including training and dissemination, etc.

Technology Service Cores are shared facilities that provide a needed service to investigators outside of the NIBIB P30 Center, enabling them to conduct their funded individual research projects more effectively. 

Each Technology Service Core shall have an associated Research Base component consisting of projects that will utilize the Technology Service Core. Investigators using the Technology Service Cores (i.e., the "Research Base") are expected to have highly-regarded existing biomedical research programs funded by NIH Institutes or Centers, other Federal Agencies, or other nationally or internationally-recognized funding sources.

NIBIB P30 Centers have an External Advisory Committee (EAC) that advises the Program Director/Principal Investigator on current operating procedures and future directions for the NIBIB P30 Center.

Because extensive planning is required in preparing NIBIB P30 applications, prospective new applicants are encouraged to discuss their plans with the relevant NIBIB Program Directors (refer to http://www.nibib.nih.gov/Research/ProgramAreas) well before the application is prepared.

READ MORE

Defense Medical Research and Development Program Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program Discovery Award

SUBMISSION AND REVIEW DATES AND TIMES
• Pre-Application Submission Deadline: 5:00 p.m. Eastern time (ET), July 23, 2013
• Application Submission Deadline: 11:59 p.m. ET, August 6, 2013
• Peer Review: September – October 2013
• Programmatic Review: February 2014
All applications for PRMRP funding must specifically address at least one of the Topic Areas as directed by Congress, and must be directly relevant to the health care needs of the military service members, Veterans, and/or beneficiaries. If the proposed research does not specifically address at least one of the FY13 PRMRP Topic Areas, the Government reserves the right to administratively withdraw the application. The Government also reserves the right to reassign the application’s Topic Area if submitted under an inappropriate Topic Area. The FY13 PRMRP Topic Areas are listed below.
• Chronic Kidney Disease
• Chronic Migraine and Posttraumatic Headaches
• Composite Tissue Transplantation
• Dengue
• DNA Vaccine Technology for Postexposure Prophylaxis
• Dystonia
• Epilepsy
• Food Allergies
• Fragile X Syndrome
• Hantavirus
• Hereditary Angioedema
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease
• Interstitial Cystitis
• Leishmaniasis
• Lupus
• Malaria
• Nanomedicine for Drug Delivery Science
• Pancreatitis
• Polycystic Kidney Disease
• Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis
• Pulmonary Hypertension
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Scleroderma

The intent of the PRMRP Discovery Award is to support innovative, untested, high-risk/ potentially high-reward concepts, theories, paradigms, and/or methods. Studies supported by this award are expected to lay the groundwork for future avenues of scientific investigation. The proposed research project should include a well-formulated, testable hypothesis based on strong scientific rationale and study design.
The proposed research project should be novel and innovative. Innovative research may introduce a new paradigm, challenge existing paradigms, look at existing problems from new perspectives, or exhibit other highly creative qualities. Research that is an incremental advance upon published data is not considered innovative and is not consistent with the intent of this award mechanism.
Inclusion of preliminary data is strongly discouraged. READ MORE

NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program

Deadlines

July 22, 2013

BIO, CISE, EHR, OCI

     July 23, 2013

ENG

     July 24, 2013

GEO, MPS, SBE, OPP

 Synopsis of Program:

CAREER: The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations. Such activities should build a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research. NSF encourages submission of CAREER proposals from junior faculty members at all CAREER-eligible organizations and especially encourages women, members of underrepresented minority groups, and persons with disabilities to apply.
PECASE: Each year NSF selects nominees for the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from among the most meritorious recent CAREER awardees. Selection for this award is based on two important criteria: 1) innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology that is relevant to the mission of the sponsoring organization or agency, and 2) community service demonstrated through scientific leadership, education or community outreach. These awards foster innovative developments in science and technology, increase awareness of careers in science and engineering, give recognition to the scientific missions of the participating agencies, enhance connections between fundamental research and national goals, and highlight the importance of science and technology for the Nation’s future. Individuals cannot apply for PECASE. These awards are initiated by the participating federal agencies. At NSF, up to twenty nominees for this award are selected each year from among the PECASE-eligible CAREER awardees who are most likely to become the leaders of academic research and education in the twenty-first century. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy makes the final selection and announcement of the awardees.
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2011/nsf11690/nsf11690.htm

NIAID News: Unfunded? Repurpose Your Application

I

NIAID Funding Newsletter

NIAID Funding Newsletter provides funding, policy, and other information to NIAID's extramural research community and Institute staff. You can Subscribe to Email Alerts for the newsletter and follow @NIAIDFunding on Twitter.

In the event your application doesn't fare well, e.g., scores outside the payline, keep this in mind: just because it was not funded doesn't necessarily mean it's not useable.

Before discarding it, consider repurposing it since you can sometimes breathe new life into an unfunded application.

Here we give you some basics on how to do that along with some advice on whether going the repurposing route is right for you.

Note: repurposing is just one of three basic options you have when your application is unfunded. For the other two, see Options if Your Application Isn't Funded, linked below.

Repurpose or Start Fresh?

Before we talk about how to repurpose, let's address whether you should. Sometimes an application may be so flawed or unfixable that repurposing wouldn't be worth it.

To decide whether that's the case, look dispassionately at your summary statement and assess what reviewers thought were defects in your application.

For instance, was it criticized for a lack of significance, critical preliminary data, or expert collaborators? Was it because of a weak central hypothesis? Or perhaps you applied to a request for applications (RFA) or program announcement (PA) and your application was deemed to be nonresponsive.

Talk with your program officer to get the answers and see if he or she has further insights. Together, determine whether the better approach is repurposing or starting from scratch. We advise you not to make this decision on your own.

READ MORE

Study to Examine Academic Lab-Safety Culture

From Science Careers

By 

Beryl Lieff Benderly

June 05, 2013

Only 46% of those who say their work requires a lab coat report wearing one at all times.

Recent weeks have seen a pair of developments that could focus and intensify the national discussion of academic lab safety. On 9 May, after many delays, University of California, Los Angeles, professor Patrick Harran was arraigned on felony charges arising from the 2009 death of lab assistant Sheri Sangji. A judge entered four not guilty pleas on Harran's behalf, setting the stage for the first-ever trial of a university lab chief on criminal safety charges. The judge is expected to decide in late June when the trial will begin.

Then, in a step that could have even broader ramifications than the unprecedented trial, on 15 May the National Academies held a public fact-finding meeting in Washington, D.C., kicking off a yearlong study of lab safety in nonindustrial institutions. Together, these events could transform the academic community's understanding of faculty and institutional responsibility for safety and provide high-profile proposals for improving universities' safety performance.

Entitled "Establishing and Promoting a Culture of Safety in Academic Laboratory Research," the National Academies study plans to focus on "laboratory safety in chemical research in non-industrial settings," according to its statement of scope, but its recommendations likely will be relevant to other disciplines as well. The committee will examine, among other issues, institutions' "current hierarchy of actors responsible for laboratory safety," which is considered by many experts to be a crucial factor in any organization's safety performance. The group plans to "examine knowledge from the behavioral sciences, and experience with safety systems from other sectors (such as industrial research facilities, nuclear energy, aviation and medical) for key attributes of successful safety systems and cultures," and "Use this to draw lessons that could be applied [to] non-industrial laboratory research."

READ MORE

Consortium for Tobacco Use Cessation Technical Assistance

Dates:
 Informational conference calls: CDC will conduct two conference calls for all interested applicants to provide technical assistance and respond to any questions regarding this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). The calls will take place on June 26, 2013 at 10:00am and 3:00 pm, U.S. Eastern Standard Time. The dial-in information is: 1-888-609-7382; Passcode: 36742490. The calls will be recorded. Instructions for accessing the recording and a list of Frequently Asked Questions will be available at: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/osh/foa/consortium/.
 Letter of Intent Deadline Date: June 28, 2013
 Application Deadline Date: July 15, 2013, 11:59 p.m. U.S. Eastern Standard Time, on www.grants.gov
Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the United States. More than half of smokers attempt to quit each year, but only 4-7% succeed. Evidence-based cessation treatments, including individual, group, and telephone counseling and seven FDA-approved cessation medications, exist, but are underutilized. Cessation interventions by health care providers increase quit rates, but many health care providers do not routinely intervene with their patients who use tobacco products. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health proposes a
competitive, non-research Funding Opportunity Announcement to seek applicants to develop a consortium for tobacco use cessation technical assistance. The aim of the cessation consortium is to provide technical assistance to state tobacco control programs and national and state partners by translating the science of tobacco control cessation into public health action which increases the number of tobacco users who quit. Specifically, the consortium is intended to provide technical assistance to state tobacco control programs and national and state partners to support their efforts to (1) enhance state quitline capacity and sustainability and (2) promote comprehensive private and public insurance coverage of cessation treatments and promote health systems change to integrate tobacco dependence treatment into the clinical workflow.

READ MORE HERE

New (Early Career) Investigator Program in Earth Science

NOIs are requested by June 28,
2013, and proposals are due on or before August 30, 2013.

Introduction
The New (Early Career) Investigator Program (NIP) in Earth Science is designed to support
outstanding scientific research and career development ofscientists and engineers at the early
stage of their professional careers. The program aims to encourage innovative research initiatives
and cultivate scientific leadership in Earth system science. The Earth Science Division (ESD)
places particular emphasis on the investigators' ability to promote and increase the use of spacebased remote sensing through the proposed research.
The NIP supports all aspects of scientific and technological research aimed to advance NASA’s
mission in Earth system science (http://science.nasa.gov/about-us/science-strategy/). In basic
research and analysis, the Focus Areas include:
• Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems,
• Climate Variability and Change,
• Water and Energy Cycle,
• Atmospheric Composition,
• Weather, and
• Earth Surface and Interior.

READ MORE

Public Health Law Research: Making the Case for Laws That Improve Health

2013 Call for Proposals

Deadline: July 24, 2013, 3:00 p.m. ET

• Release Date: June 5, 2013
 

Purpose

Public Health Law Research: Making the Case for Laws That Improve Health (PHLR) is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation® (RWJF). The program seeks to build the evidence for and strengthen the use of regulatory, legal and policy solutions to improve public health. PHLR is equally interested in identifying and ameliorating laws and legal practices that unintentionally harm health. PHLR’s purpose is to answer important questions, such as: How does law influence health and health behavior? Which laws have the greatest impact? Can current laws be made more effective through better enforcement, or do they require amendment?

Total Awards

• Up to 18-month awards of up to $150,000 each for short-term studies.
• Up to $1 million will be available under this call for proposals (CFP).

Key Dates

• June 18, 2013 (2:30 to 3:30 p.m. ET)—Optional applicant Web conference call. http://www.rwjf.org/en/grants/calls-for-proposals/2013/public-health-law-research--making-the-case-for-laws-that-improv.html

Deadline Sep 20 2013 Postdoctoral Fellowship Program at the Institut Pasteur in Paris

Postdoctoral Fellowships

The deadline for postdoctoral fellowship applications is September 15th, 2013.

Thanks to the generosity of our U.S. donors, and in particular with the pace-setting support of the Florence Gould Foundation, the Pasteur Foundation administers this fellowship program to bring U.S. postdoctoral researchers to work in any one of the 130+ Institut Pasteur laboratories in Paris. Guided by the institute's administration, which seeks to develop international scientific exchanges to ensure the vitality of Institut Pasteur labs, this program is open to American citizens who are not already in France and who have received their PhD degree within the last five years.

The three-year fellowship package is $72,000 annually: $62,000 fellowship plus $10,000 bench fees to support the research. For more information, please download the application guidelines here.

The first step is to identify a host laboratory at the institute to sponsor your application.

For a list of Institut Pasteur laboratories, click here (you will exit the Pasteur Foundation site).

Human Frontier Science Program Long-Term and Cross-Disciplinary Early Career International Fellowships

HFSP postdoctoral fellowships encourage early career scientists to broaden their research skills by moving into new areas of study while working in a new country.

2014 competition: the application guidelines are available now.

The next submission deadline is 29 August 2013.
 

HFSP fellowships are for three years. Fellows may choose to stay for up to three years in the host country or use the last year of their fellowship to return to their home country or to move to another HFSPO member country.

Long-Term Fellowships (LTF) are for applicants with a Ph.D. in a biological discipline, who will broaden their expertise by proposing a project in the life sciences which is significantly different from their previous Ph.D. or postdoctoral work.

Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships (CDF) are for 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.

http://www.hfsp.org/funding/postdoctoral-fellowships