DER Weekly Newsletter, April 2nd, 2021


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April 02, 2021

Past DER Weekly Newsletters

Weekly In Progress Report

April 2021

Message From DER Director

It seems every year we all come out of the winter hibernation to celebrate so many events that mark the beginning of spring. For me, the annual emersion from my winter cocoon is usually celebrated with Fat Tuesday/Paczki Day, March Madness, and the Tigers’ Opening Day. Fat Tuesday was not quite the festive gathering I am use to, but at least I ate a Paczki (a few if I was being honest). Our Spartans certainly did not quite last as long as any of us hoped in March Madness, but we did have basketball to watch. The capacity limit at Comerica this week made it look more like a mid-season game than Opening Day, but we still got a win!

DER is here to support you, your career, and your NSF CAREER proposals. As we look forward into the summer and into a busy proposal season, help and join us in looking forward. Just as we mentioned on in the DER newsletter 2 weeks ago, “It Is Never Too Early to Begin Preparing for Your NSF CAREER Proposal.”

Already this year, the offices of the Vice President for Research & Innovation and University Outreach and Engagement held the Broader Impacts of Research: Strategies, Resources, and Partners 2021 Conference on March 17^th and 18^th.

In the near future, the College of Engineering will be holding two different sessions to help empower and educate faculty directly for their CAREER award. A Pitch Competition will be held next Friday, April 9th at Noon, and from Noon-1pm on May 12^thjoin as John Verboncoeur and other faculty talk through early drafts. Email me at alexd@msu.edu to get those session links, passwords, and information.

While it is difficult not to be a little sour that spring wasn’t exactly as I’m used to and it is easy to get caught up in the negativity of the moment, I am taking a moment to tell you what I am most grateful for as the Director here in DER. I’ve said it before, and I’m positive I’ll say it again, I’m so thankful for a dedicated team that is working harder than you can imagine. This amazing team continually remains flexible as we adapt to changing dynamics, transitioning leaders, maternity leaves, staff surgeries, and continually stepping up when we are short handed to make sure that you are supported.

If you have additional questions regarding NSF Career Proposals, please send an email to proposals@egr.msu.edu as you begin to prepare now and remember DER is here to help and support faculty. Feel free to contact me directly at alexd@msu.edu with any questions relating to DER.

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

March 25, 2021

Subject: NSF Research.gov Updates – Additional Proposal Types, New FAQs and Video

From: Craig O’Neill

To: SPA News Listserv

Three additional proposal types can now be submitted in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research.gov Proposal Submission System

Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities (FASED)
Equipment
Travel proposal types
Web link for Research.gov

Why is this important to the user?

New automated compliance checks and associated error and warning messages for these proposal types have been implemented.

· Web link for auto compliance checks

New NSF Research.gov FAQ training resources:

New and updated system-related FAQs by topic are available on the Research.gov About Proposal Preparation and Submission page (left navigation menu).
Web link to the About Proposal Preparation and Submission page

New NSF Research.gov Video training resource:

A new 16-minute Research.gov proposal demo video has been added.
The video highlights key proposal preparation steps including:

Setting up a proposal
Uploading a document and compliance messaging
Preparing Proposal File Update/Budget Revisions
Web link to the new Research.gov proposal demo video

Questions? If you have IT system-related questions, please contact the NSF Help Desk at 1-800-381-1532 (7:00 AM - 9:00 PM ET; Monday - Friday except federal holidays) or via rgov@nsf.gov. Policy-related questions should be directed to policy@nsf.gov. Questions related to MSU proposal processes should be directed to your OSP Proposal Team.

Engineering Research Reactivation SharePoint

The Engineering Research Reactivation all-inclusive SharePoint page has helpful reopening resources, important processes, and documents that need to be completed and approved to "return to research". Please request access if prompted.

Important Announcement:

Where is my "LABORATORY PLAN FOR A SAFE RETURN" in the approval process?

You can see what step of the approval process your plan is on by looking under the “Engineering Research Reactivation” folders on the SharePoint site.

If the plan has been approved by the Department Chair, you can see if it has been sent to VPRI by clicking on “EGR ADR Review” > “At VPRI for Review”. If the plan is in the “At VPRI for Review” folder then it is currently being reviewed by VPRI.
To check to see if your plan has been completely approved by all required departments (DC, EGR Dean's Office, and VPRI), you can click on the “VPRI Final Approved Plans” folder. If your plan is in the “VPRI Final Approved Plans” folder then you approved to return to research. Monique Blackmer (monique@msu.edu) will reach out to you.

SharePoint Page

U.S. Department of Energy Announces $52.5 Million to Support U.S. Manufacturers and Industrial Workers

DE-FOA-0002452: INDUSTRIAL ASSESSMENT CENTERS

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is being issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO). The U.S. manufacturing sector uses 25% of the nation’s energy and has an annual energy bill of more than $150 billion. Efficiency improvements in manufacturing not only benefit the manufacturing sector, but also impact the energy efficiency of products used throughout the economy.

Learn more HERE.

The First 1000 Days: Promoting Healthy Brain Networks

We all know what a difference a day makes. The first 1000 days can make all the difference to a child’s start in life, perhaps more so than we ever understood before. In this early period, we develop critical cognitive abilities, such as executive function (EF) and self-regulation.

Leap has a $45 million program towards developing accurate, scalable, early screening methods to predict EF outcomes, risk-stratify children, and predict responses to interventions in the first 1000 days of life.

Learn more HERE.

Broader Impacts of Research: Strategies, Resources, and Partners

The offices of the Vice President for Research and Innovation and University Outreach and Engagement are excited to announce the Broader Impacts of Research: Strategies, Resources, and Partners conference taking place March 17-18, 2021. It will provide faculty, staff, and students who are interested in applying for NSF grants an overview of the broader impacts (BI) of research criterion and introduce them to the wide array of resources, supports, and partners available at MSU to help them design innovative broader impacts activities and write winning BI plans.

RSVP HERE.