In this Issue
Vice President's Message
Good News and Coming Events
•
News
•
Events
Opportunities and Sponsor Information
•
Outstanding New
Environmental Scientist Award
•
NIH Loan Repayment
Programs
•
IC/Ellison Overseas Fellowship Program
•
NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein
National Research Service Awards
•
Phi Beta Kappa Mary
Isabel Sibley Fellowship for French Studies
•
Upcoming Funding Opportunities
•
Interdisciplinary Seminars
•
Music for Meetings
Essential
Policies, Procedures and Resources
•
2005 Important Updates to SBU's Human Subject Protections Program
(HSPP)
•
Spring Semester 2006 Tuition Waiver Program
•
Open Enrollment for
Research Foundation Employees
For More Information
Vice
President's Message
Another report from Washington – Last week the Council on
Governmental Relations (COGR) held its regular fall meeting.
Many of the same areas of concern for research universities as
addressed at previous meetings were again the subject of much
discussion. First among them was “effort reporting”, actually a
misnomer for most in that the federal government is really
interested in salary distribution – it does not want to pay for
more of your effort than you actually invest in the federally
sponsored research you do. This becomes highly problematic for
individuals who receive 100% of their salaries from federal
funds. Further information will be forthcoming in this space;
one of the potential consequences of getting this wrong is
mentioned below.
Attorneys for Hogan and Hartson and our colleagues at Penn
addressed recent fraud claims act (FCA) settlements where
universities were required to make significant payments to
return funds to the federal government for penalties. Of 8
recent settlements, 5 originated from Qui Tam (whistleblower)
reports, 2 from self-reporting and one discovered at audit. All of them had
to do with inappropriate salary charges to federal grants.
NIH Deputy Director
for Extramural Research Norka Ruiz Bravo spoke on behalf of Elias Zerhouni
to give some insight into NIH thinking and planning. Emphasis will
be placed on the NIH Roadmap, especially on training translational scientists. GCRC’s
will merge with these programs.
A new Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic
Initiatives (OPASI) will report to the Director and is designed
to provide the NIH Institutes and Centers better management of their research
portfolios. OPASI will accelerate investments
where multiple institutes and centers are involved. It will
operate with a “common fund for shared needs,” with a percentage
(up to 5%) of the NIH budget set aside.
Another area of concern is the upcoming conversion of NIH
proposal submissions to electronic format through the portal
known as
grants.gov. Unless significant improvements are put
into effect, electronic submission of NIH RO1 proposals may
require submission as much as a week before the actual due date.
Significant delays are anticipated due to sheer volume of NIH RO1 proposals
and to requirements for secondary resubmissions after review by both the
sponsored program office and the principal investigator. Hopefully, wiser
heads will prevail and the electronic proposal submission will be postponed
until the federal system is actually ready.
As you undoubtedly know the NIH has issued a new, stricter
policy that governs Conflicts of Interest for their intramural
researchers. However, their interest is not all focused inward.
Auditors have recently visited three (3) universities to review
the universities' conflict of interest policies and activities.
Universities are obligated to report any conflict of interest
involving NIH funded activities and how those conflicts of
interest are being managed. So far the visits have been fact
finding in nature. Another 12 to 15 universities are thought to
be in line for visits from the auditors. I am deeply grateful
to the members of Stony Brook's campus-wide committee, chaired by
Peter Stephens, Physics and Astronomy, and including
representatives of all major academic units, for giving of their
insight, energy and time to ensure that our campus is in compliance with
these critical regulatory expectations.
On a more upbeat note: Thursday,
November 3, 2005, the RF hosted a dinner in Albany to celebrate
the entrepreneurial accomplishments of SUNY faculty. Stony Brook was well
represented with 24 individuals whose innovations led to a
license agreement during FY05 (Esther Arkin, Dmitri Averin,
Gregory Belenky, Peter Brink, Benjamin Chu, Ira Cohen, Harbans
Dhadwal, Richard Gambino, Yaacov Hod, Benjamin Hsiao, Peisen
Huang, Roger Johnson, Imin Kao, Israel Kleinberg, Joel Levine,
Jon Longtin, Serge Luryi, Erich Mackow, Todd Miller, Joseph
Mitchell, Sanjay Sampath, William VanNostrand, Eckard Wimmer
and Emro Yildirim); 5 individuals honored for receiving their
first patents (Josephine Aller, Ira Cohen, Michael Hadjiargyrou, Paul
Kemp and Stanislaus Wong); 7 promising inventors, Alvin Bicker,
Petar Djuric, Robert Kelly, Richard Kew, Chad Korach, Lawrence
Martin and Nicolas Nassar). The single Award for Innovative
Research sponsored by Sun MIcrosystems, Inc., and ServerWare
Crop. honoring the lifetime efforts of a SUNY scholar whose
cutting-edge discoveries and willing participation in the
technology transfer process has created numerous patented
creations that harness next-generation innovations and launch
new ventures was won by Arie Kaufman, Chair of the Department
of Computer Science at Stony Brook. Arie delivered an inspiring
address that traced the history of his inventions during his
20 plus years at Stony Brook. Congratulations to all our
awardees!
Jack Petersen was applauded for his years of service as the
founding Director of the Office of Technology Licensing industry
Relation Industry that resulted in 836 invention disclosures, 786 patent
applications filed, 468 patents issued, 362 licenses executed and more than
$117 million in royalty income shared between the inventors and the university's
research enterprise. For those of you who don’t know – Jack
retired at the end of October but his expertise remains available to us on
a consulting basis.
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our new
Director of the Office of Technology Licensing and Industry
Relations, Chester (Chet) Bisbee. Chet comes to us from the
University of Massachusetts Medical School where he was Acting
Executive Director of the Office of Technology Management.
Besides a wealth of experience he brings a background in
molecular cell biology (Ph.D., University of California) and
is, himself, a licensed patent attorney.
Welcome, Chet!
Informational Programs
This office was delighted to host a very well
attended reception for new faculty (which accommodated some
long-time faculty as well) on Wednesday, November 2 at the Wang
Center. Participants were introduced to various aspects of the
grants application process, post-award management, compliance
issues, economic development and technology transfer matters.
We anticipate holding another of these sessions next year and would
welcome your comments for improvement. You may view this
presentation on our website in
PDF or
PowerPoint format.
Library Resources
We are pleased to report that this office
supports the University Libraries’ offerings of online access to
two collections of key physics journals, the publications of the
American Institute of Physics (AIP) and those of the Institute
of Physics (IOP). This includes current issues as well as back
files to 1931 (Journal of Applied Physics), 1933 (Journal of
Chemical Physics), and 1874 (Proceedings of the Physical Society
of London). The Libraries also subscribe to IOP’s Encyclopedia
of Astronomy and Astrophysics online and to such publishers as
Blackwell, Taylor & Francis, Springer, and ScienceDirect.
Indexing for these collections is available through the Science
Citation Index online (Web of Science) from 1900 to the present. All these
resources and many more like them are available from the library website
at -
http://sunysb.edu/library/eresources/databases/physics.html
{Top}
Good
News and Coming Events
News
Please join
us in rejoicing with colleagues for achievements that have become
known since last issue.
Anthropology
Prof. David
Bernstein, director of the department's Long Island Institute of
Archaeology, commented for the Associated Press on the discovery of
an ancient burial ground at Suffolk County's Indian Island County
Park by parks supervisor James Richeson, who was checking out erosion damage
after last month's torrential rains. He uncovered skull and bone fragments,
artifacts including a ceramic bowl and pipe covered with ornate geometric
markings dating back at least 500 years - and possibly as far back as 700
B.C. Prof. Bernstein pointed out that their uncovering after
decades of erosion is a clear sign of the impact of global warming.
"It's no secret the level of the oceans is rising,
something that's been accelerated by climatic warming," he
said. Full article can be found on
Newsday.com.
College of Engineering and Applied Sciences
On November 2 the College celebrated receipt of a $1.4 million gift
of new equipment from Anorad Corporation, a division of Rockwell
Automation, by renaming a College facility the Rockwell Automation
Anorad Mechatronics Laboratory. The laboratory, which will now be
one of the best equipped of its type in the country, will be used to
teach undergraduate and graduate courses in control, manufacturing
automation, and robotics, and for research. Mechatronics is the
synergistic combination of mechanical engineering, electronic
engineering, and software engineering.
Computer Science
Leading
Professor and Chair Ari Kaufman is the recipient of the 2005 IEEE
Visualization Career Award for seminal contributions to the theory and practice
of volume visualization. The Award was established in
2004 to be presented annually in recognition of an individual’s
lifetime contributions to visualization. As only the second person
selected to receive the award, Ari clearly enjoys unquestioned stature among
his peers.
Prof. Steven
Skiena coauthored an article on Airplane boarding, polynuclear
growth, disk I/O scheduling and space-time geometry“ that was
featured on the front page of The Wall Street Journal last week.
Prof. Skiena and coauthors describe a mathematical model for
determining the effectiveness of aircraft boarding policies based
on Lorentzian geometry; the mathematics associated with Einstein's
theory of relativity. The Journal reported that airlines have long
looked for marginal improvements to save money. Boarding time is one of several
variables affecting how quickly airlines can turn their planes around and
get them back in the sky. The paper has been submitted for journal publication;
the conference version is available
here.
School of Medicine
Governor George
E. Pataki announced on October 21, 2005 that more than $5 million
has been awarded to 30 teaching hospitals and Graduate Medical Education
(GME) consortia statewide to support clinical research training
opportunities for physicians. Stony Brook received $360,000, one
of the highest awards to any single institution. The program supports
the training of 'Fellows' in clinical research who have finished
all of their clinical training.
Read full press
release at -
http://www.ny.gov/governor/press/05/oct21_05.htm
School of
Dental Medicine
A new technology
that was developed at Stony Brook University’s School of Dental Medicine,
and which can be incorporated into confections, will be used to
market candy, chewing gum, and other treats that do not promote
cavities often associated with their consumption. The technology,
known as CaviStat®,
was proven significantly more effective than fluoride in a two-year
toothpaste study recently published in the quarterly Journal of Clinical
Dentistry (Volume
16, Number 3). CaviStat was designed to mimic and integrate the
powerful anti-acid, buffering and re-mineralizing benefits of saliva.
CaviStat was developed, clinically tested, and patented by researchers
in the Department of Oral Biology and Pathology at Stony Brook
University. “CaviStat
can be considered to be a super-saliva complex that picks up where
fluoride has left off,” said Dr. Israel Kleinberg, the lead researcher
and Founding Chair of the Department of Oral Biology and Pathology. Please
see the OVPR front page for more info.
Physics
and Astronomy
Four out of ten
students accepted into this year's International Optics REU program,
who got their optics education in whole or part at Stony Brook, were
re-united on 17 October, 2005, in Tucson, Arizona, after spending
the summer working on advanced projects at laboratories in France
and Germany. Melissa Friedman, Peter Iapozzuto, Lidiya Mishchenko
and Molly Bright presented papers on their research at a Symposium
on Undergraduate Research sponsored by the Division of Laser Science
(DLS) of the American Physical Society (APS). The event was
organized by Stony Brook's Prof. Harold Metcalf, who will lead the
Division for the coming year, and was held in conjunction with the
annual joint meeting of APS-DLS and the Optical Society of America (OSA).
Also participating in this year's Symposium were Stony Brook physics
majors Azure Hansen and Kyung Choi, Jonathan Kaufman from the
University of Pittsburgh, and Amol Jain from Herricks High School.
Events
BSA Distinguished Lecture
"Einstein 1905: The Standard of Greatness." Professor John Rigden,
Washington University. Thursday, November 10th beginning at 4
pm. BSA Distinguished Lecture Series at Brookhaven National
Laboratory. The lecture will be held in Berkner Hall, Brookhaven
National Laboratory. This lecture is open to the public and visitors
to the Lab must bring photo identification.
National SBIR/STTR Conference
The Fall, 2005, National SBIR/STTR Conference will be held in
Albany, NY, on November 14-17, 2005. Its goal is to help its
attendees learn how to write a competitive grant proposal for this
technology developmental program. Program officers and other
representatives from federal agencies with SBIR/STTR programs will
be present. The conference cost is $350, with discounts for multiple
registrations. The New York State Office of Science, Technology and
Academic Research (NYSTAR) is offering scholarships to enable
companies and individuals affiliated with a NYSTAR program to attend
at a reduced fee. (Stony Brook faculty and incubator companies are
eligible. Please visit
http://www.sbirworld.com/Albany/nystar/ for more
information, and notify Ann-Marie Scheidt,
amscheidt@notes.cc.sunysb.edu if you would like to attend
so that this office may help arrange for the most beneficial rate.
The tentative agenda may be accessed
here.
Provost's Lecture Series: Giovanni Di Stasi
When:
Monday, November 21, 4:00 pm
Where: Wang Center, Lecture Hall 1
Giovanni Di
Stasi is President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
of the Council of Europe, working to strengthen democracy in the
Council of Europe member countries. He has supported the processes
of decentralization of public authorities and institutional reforms
aimed at strengthening local democracy.
WINE TRADITIONS SERIES
Ginger, Wasabi, and Wine
Thursday, November
10: 6:30–8:00 p.m. Learn how to cook
authentic Japanese dishes and choose exciting wine pairings for them
with author Machiko Chiba. Signed copies of her book Japanese Dishes
for Wine Lovers will be available.
Location:
Wang Center on the Main Campus of Stony Brook University
Fee: Each class will offer 6-8 quality wines and will include
light food pairings complementing the wines and region of origin.
Classes are $55.00 per person.
A
Passion for Spanish Wines
When:
Friday, November 11, 6:30-7:30 pm
Where: This event precedes José Porcel’s Ballet Flamenco at
the Staller Center.
Fee: $15.00 per person (must be over 21)
Join us for a
tasting of an array of Spanish wines selected by wine specialist
Jorge Ordonez. "Spain is leading the
world in terms of sensational wine bargains that possess
considerable character and soul."– (The Wine Advocate).
Linguini and Lust
When:
Thursday, November 17: 6:30–8:00 pm
Where: Wang Center
Professor Fred
Gardaphe of SBU’s Italian Studies Department is a raconteur par
excellence. His enchanting stories get behind the macho, Mafioso
image of the Italian American to reveal how food and wine drive
the reality and reputation of the ethnic male. With appropriately
decorous wine and food tastes.
To Register: Call
Ginny Clancy at (631) 632-9404. Space is limited, so please register
early. Note: You
must be 21 or over to participate in wine tasting events.
{Top}
Opportunities and Sponsor Information
Opportunities for Postdoctoral Researchers:
Outstanding New Environmental Scientist Award
This award is intended to assist outstanding scientists, identified early in
their careers, in launching an innovative research program focusing on
problems of environmental exposures and human biology, human pathophysiology
and human disease. Approximately $3.6 million in FY 2006 funding is expected
to be available for six awards. Applicants may request a project period of
up to five years and a budget for direct costs of up to $400,000 in years
1-2 and up to $275,000 in years 3-5. Applicants must have a Ph.D., M.D., or
equivalent graduate degree. Optional letters of intent are due November
20, 2005; applications are due December 21, 2005.
More information is available at:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-ES-05-005.htmlml
Please bring these graduate support
opportunities to the attention of students in your department:
NIH Loan Repayment Programs
The NIH Loan
Repayment Programs (LRP) Application Cycle will close on December
1, 2005. The five LRPs offered by the NIH include the Clinical
Research LRP, Clinical Research LRP for Individuals from Disadvantaged
Backgrounds, Contraception and Infertility Research LRP, Health
Disparities LRP, and Pediatric Research LRP. Through these programs,
the NIH offers to repay up to $35,000 annually of the qualified educational
debt of health professionals pursuing careers in biomedical and
behavioral research. The programs also provide coverage for Federal and
state tax liabilities.
To qualify,
applicants must possess a doctoral-level degree, devote 50% or more
of their time (20 hours per week based on a 40-hour work week) to
research funded by a domestic non-profit organization or government
entity (Federal, state, or local), and have educational loan debt
equal to or exceeding 20% of their institutional base salary.
Applicants must also be U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or U.S.
nationals to be eligible.
All
applications for 2006 awards must be submitted online by 8:00 p.m.
eastern time, on Thursday, December 1, 2005. The online
application and detailed information about the LRPs are available at
www.lrp.nih.gov or by calling 866-849-4047. . Please call your
department’s Sponsored Programs representative in the OVPR to obtain
the required institutional sign-off. The departmental assignments
list may be found
here.
IC/Ellison Overseas Fellowship Program
The
FIC/Ellison Overseas Fellowship Program, an exciting clinical research
training experience for graduate level U.S. students in the health professions,
is sponsored by NIH's Fogarty International Center (FIC) in partnership
with other institutes and The Ellison Medical Foundation, and managed
by AAMC and the Association of Schools of Public Health. The program
offers a one-year clinical research training experience to qualified students
at sites in South and East Asia, Africa and Latin America. The
program is designed primarily for medical, osteopathic and doctoral students
with a strong interest in, and potential for, a career in international
health activities and/or clinical research, strong academic records and
U.S. citizenship or permanent U.S. resident status. Support from the students’ home
academic institution, including a committed mentor, is also required.
To learn more about this program, whose application deadline is December 29, please visit
http://www.aamc.org/overseasfellowship.
NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein
National Research Service Awards
These
predoctoral fellowships are awarded to promising applicants having
the potential to become productive, independent investigators in
their respective scientific mission areas. They provide up to six
years of aggregate support plus reimbursement of 100% of the cost
of tuition up to $3,000 and 60% of tuition above $3,000 and individuals
also receive an institutional allowance of $2,750 per 12-month period. Applicants
who are citizens or non-citizen nationals of the U.S., or have been lawfully
admitted to the U.S. for permanent residence, must have received
a baccalaureate degree and be enrolled in an accredited M.D./Ph.D. program
at a medical school. Applications are due by the standard receipt dates – the
next is
January 10 - which are available at:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/submissionschedule.htm.
For more
information, visit:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-05-151.html
Phi Beta Kappa Mary Isabel Sibley Fellowship for French Studies
Each year the
Phi Bet Kappa Society offers the Sibley Fellowship in either French
or Greek. The $20,000 award is used to support the fellow for one year
studying French language and literature. Candidates must be unmarried
women between the ages of 25 and 35, holding a doctorate or ABD, and willing
to start full-time research on Sept. 1, 2006.
The deadline for the award is January 15, 2006.
For more info
please visit
http://www.pbk.org/scholarships/sibley.htm.
Upcoming Funding Opportunities
For a complete list of upcoming deadlines, please go to -
http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/fndopp/deadlcal.html
Interdisciplinary Seminars
Please remember that, in an effort to encourage interdisciplinary
research on campus, this office will supply $100 toward a speaker's
luncheon when your department invites a Stony Brook colleague from
an unrelated discipline to give a seminar. Please contact Ann-Marie
Scheidt
amscheidt@notes.cc.sunysb.edu to determine eligibility. You will
be asked to provide a copy of the seminar notice annotated with the
number of attendees and a brief description of any anticipated
collaborations with the speaker's department.
Music for Meetings
Please remember that the OVPR would like to assist those of you who
are planning a research meeting on campus by providing musical
interludes. If you would like to have Stony Brook student musicians
play at the reception for your meeting it can be arranged by
contacting Ann-Marie Scheidt
amscheidt@notes.cc.sunysb.edu. OVPR will make a payment to the
Department of Music and the Department in turn pays the students.
You get to listen to some nice music.
{Top}
Essential Policies, Procedures and
Resources
2005 Important Updates
to SBU's Human Subject Protections Program (HSPP)
Our Human Subject Protection
Program (HSPP) has many active participants, including Principal
investigators and their study teams, staff of the Office of Research
Compliance (ORC), and the membership of our Institutional Review
Boards (IRB). Our combined efforts continue to help ensure that our
HSPP is solid and effective in keeping safe those individuals who
volunteer to participate in our research activities at SBU.
The ORC and the IRBs are constantly evaluating the program to assess
the need for clarifications of current SBU policies and procedures,
promulgation of new policies and procedures, and dissemination of
new federal guidance and regulations. The following is a summary of
such actions that have been taken or proposed over the past year,
including some clarifications of unchanged policies and procedures,
since our last update in 2004.
Quick Links
--Contributed by
Judy Matuk, Director of Research Compliance, Phone: (631)
632-9036
Spring
Semester 2006 Tuition Waiver Program
The application for the B140w Tuition
Waiver Program is now available to all full-time Research Foundation
employees. The waivers are available on a first-come-first-serve
basis. Please check the West Campus Benefits website under
Research Foundation for complete information about the program. An
application may be requested by calling the West Campus Benefits
office at 2-6167 or 2-6136; please include your departmental zip
code with your request.
STATE HOSPITAL/VETERANS HOME/TECH PARK employees must contact
Shirley Menzies at 4-4759 for a waiver form.
--submitted by:
Alessandra White
Open Enrollment
for Research Foundation Employees
Open enrollment for Research Foundation Employees is November 1
through November 30, 2005. During this period you may change from
one health plan to another or from one coverage level to another
(e.g. add or subtract dependent coverage). We are pleased to
announce that the Research Foundation is adding two new
employee-paid benefits to its benefits package, Dependent Term Life
Coverage and Voluntary Short-term Disability coverage.
All Open Enrollment Changes are effective January 1, 2006. To make
one of these changes or to sign up for an additional benefit, go to
the HR website, select forms and publications, click on Benefits and
select the appropriate Benefits Enrollment Forms.
http://www.stonybrook.edu/hr/benefits
--submitted by: Cori
Ribaudo
{Top}
For More Information
An abundance of specific information for the research community is
available on our Website, where past issues of this bulletin can
also be found.
Office of the Vice President for Research -
http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/
Monday Memo archive -
http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/monmemo/mmarchive.html
All past issues of Monday Memo are keyword searchable.
And if you are challenged by the embarrassment of riches in the over 2,000
individual Web pages that comprise the Website, you may find the
alphabetical site index helpful. The index can be accessed at
http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/sitemap.html.
{Top}
