Inside Research & Funding Opportunities
06/17/2020, 11:05:01 AM
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Inside Research
News, Events and Resources for the UH Research Community
 
Latest News Upcoming Events Announcements Recent Grant Awards Featured Funding Ops
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Poll: Energy Industry Worried About 2020 Presidential Election

More than three out of four executives in the oil and gas industry say the potential election of Democrat Joe Biden in the November presidential election is a threat to their companies’ economic well-being, according to a survey of members of the Texas Oil and Gas Association.

Overall, association members are optimistic about the prospects for global economic growth, suggesting that May 2020 was a low point for oil prices and for the world economy. Most respondents predicted oil prices will be higher next year. But the survey, conducted last month by the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs, working with TXOGA and covering the upstream, midstream, downstream and service sectors, found that association members view a potential Biden victory as comparable to a continuing oversupply and weakened demand for oil and gas.

Read More

 

Campus News

UH Researchers Explore Options for COVID-19 Prevention and Treatment

Across the world, efforts continue to develop medicines to put the coronavirus to rest, including at the University of Houston. Two researchers are working on vaccines, and another is working on a drug to block the virus.

The Big Idea: "Zoom Fatigue" is Real

There’s an uncomfortable intimacy of maintaining sustained eye contact with just one person for a long period of time. Or trying to concentrate on five different people in five different rooms all at once. These are just two of the scenarios that may be causing you something being referred to as Zoom Fatigue.

People are not just using Zoom for work during the day, but hosting happy hours, shared dinners and extracurricular classes, such as art and crafts sessions, on the platform. In a word, people are tired of Zoom. And research backs this exhaustion with real science.

Upcoming Events

Online: VPR Virtual Office Hours
Friday, June 19
11:30 a.m.-Noon
Accept the Zoom invite in the VPR Virtual Office Hours channel on the Research & Innovation Teams site

Online: Optimizing Seismic in the Cloud for Performance and Cost
Thursday, June 25
11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
Register

Online - COVID-19: A Surprisingly Effective Data Driven Model
Thursday, July 9
11 a.m.-Noon
Register

Announcements

Request for Proposals!

The Center for Carbon Management in Energy (CCME) at UH seeks to advance carbon management to help transform global energy markets and achieve sustainable energy development. 

Proposals are being sought to generate new transformative research concepts in carbon management. The grants will foster the development of these concepts by providing preliminary data and concept proofs, as well as build a base for significant industry and marketplace support of impactful and relevant research that will attract industry investment and result in a long-term research program.

Learn More

 

Limitation of Visas for Graduate Students and Researchers from the People's Republic of China

On Friday May 29, 2020, President Trump issued a proclamation, limiting the entry of nonimmigrant graduate students and researchers from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) into the U.S. on F or J visas. This applies to those who have now or in the past “received funding from, been employed by, studied at, or conducted research at or on behalf of an entity in the PRC that implements or supports the PRC’s military-civil fusion strategy.” The proclamation does not list the entities that would fall under this rule.

The proclamation currently only applies to new visas. However, it does direct the Secretary of State to review whether existing F or J visas who otherwise meet the criteria should be revoked.

The U.S Department of State press release dated June 1, 2020 stated that “[o]ur actions last Friday are a direct consequence of PRC government strategies and policies that exploit the access of some of China’s brightest graduate students and researchers, in targeted fields, to divert and steal sensitive technologies and intellectual property from U.S. institutions, taking undue advantage of our open and collaborative academic and research environment. This action will help safeguard U.S. national and economic security interests and the productivity and security of the U.S. research enterprise.”

View past announcements on the Division of Research website.

Recent Grant Awards

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON HIGHER EDUCATION EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND-INSTITUTIONAL PORTION

PI/Department: Jim McShan
Sponsor: U.S. Department of Education
Amount: $18,351,641

PREPARING EFFECTIVE STEM TEACHERS BY ADVANCING IN THE CULTURAL AND COMPUTATIONAL ENGAGEMENT OF STEM SCHOLARS

PI/Department: Paige Evans, Mathematics
Co-PIs: Donna Stokes, Jaspal Subhlok, Conra Gist, Weihang Zhu
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Amount: $1,199,872

STUDY OF AND SEARCH FOR REALISTIC SUPERCONDUCTING AND RELATED MATERIALS WITH HIGH PERFORMANCE FOR SCIENCE AND DEVICES FOR USAF

PI/Department: Ching Wu Chu, Physics
Sponsor: U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Amount: $800,000

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: USING CA, SR, MG, AND FE ISOTOPE PROXIES TO CONSTRAIN REDOX AND CONTINENTAL WEATHERING DURING OCEAN ANOXIC EVENT 2

PI/Department: Alan Brandon, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Amount: $212,443

CLINICAL OUTCOMES IN COLORECTAL SURGERY

PI/Department: Faisal Cheema, Biomedical Sciences
Sponsor: HCA Gulf Coast Division
Amount: $100,000

SALARY REIMBURSEMENT AGREEMENT

PI/Department: John Craft, Biology & Biochemistry
Sponsor: Texas Heart Institute
Amount: $36,500

INVASIVE SPECIES UNDER STRESS

PI/Department: Kerri Crawford, Biology & Biochemistry
Sponsor: Braun & Gresham Attorneys at Law
Amount: $8,612.65

EDUCATIONAL STRATEGY TO IMPROVE EVIDENCE-BASED CLINICAL REASONING OF MEDICAL STUDENTS

PI/Department: Olivera Nesic-Taylor, Biomedical Sciences
Sponsor: Int. Assoc. of Medical Science Educators
Amount: $4,750

DIGITIZING THE HERBARIUM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON COASTAL CENTER

PI/Department: Steven Pennings, Biology & Biochemistry
Sponsor: The Garden Club of Houston
Amount: $4,390

Featured Funding Opportunities

Health Science, Engineering & Technology Social Sciences, Art & Humanities Education
Image Health

Funding Agency: NIH
Title: Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (P30 Clinical Trial Optional)
Application Deadline: 10/29/2020

The OAIC awards are designed to develop or strengthen awardee institutions’ programs that focus on and sustain progress in a key area of aging research. Applicants should identify an area of focus in which progress could contribute to greater independence for substantial populations of older persons and offer opportunities for education in aging research. This area of focus should be a common theme around which all proposed OAIC activities are organized.

Funding Agency: NIH
Title: Emergency Awards: SARS-CoV-2 Serological Sciences Centers of Excellence (U54 Clinical Trial Optional)
Application Deadline: 7/22/2020

The purpose of the FOA is to establish Serological Sciences Centers of Excellence with the goal of identifying and advancing research opportunities to characterize the immune responses elicited by SARS-CoV-2 viral infection; understanding the mechanisms driving the serological, humoral and cellular immune responses; determining host, genetic, and environmental modifiers of the immune response; determining the serological correlates of disease pathogenesis and protection against future infection; defining access, communication, and implementation barriers related to SARS-CoV-2 serological testing. 

Funding Agency: NIH
Title: Emergency Awards: Research Projects in SARS-CoV-2 Serological Sciences (U01 Clinical Trial Optional)
Application Deadline: 7/22/2020

The purpose of the FOA is to establish Serological Sciences Research Projects with the goals of: identifying and advancing research opportunities to characterize the immune responses elicited by SARS-CoV-2 viral infection; understanding the mechanisms driving the serological, humoral and cellular immune responses; determining host, genetic, and environmental modifiers of the immune response; and determining the serological correlates of disease pathogenesis and protection against future infection; defining access, communication, and implementation barriers related to SARS-CoV-2 serological testing.

Funding Agency: NIH
Title: Alcohol-HIV/AIDS Program Project Comorbidities, Coinfections, and Complications Research: Intervention and Cross-Cutting Foundational Research (P01 Clinical Trial Optional)
Application Deadline: 11/17/2020

The Funding Opportunity Announcement will solicit applications for human studies that will advance operations or implementation research in the context of alcohol and HIV/AIDS by facilitating the development of: (1) broader systems approaches for monitoring complex HIV and alcohol-related morbidity and mortality, and (2) interventions to reduce the impact of alcohol on HIV disease progression and transmission. 

Funding Agency: Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation
Title: Neuroimaging and CSF Biomarker Development Program
LOI Deadline: 7/10/2020
Application Deadline: 8/7/2020

The aim of this RFP is to develop biomarkers for which there is a clear clinical need in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

Specifically, this RFP focuses on:

  • developing novel PET ligands for clinical use
  • supporting novel CSF biomarkers
  • validating established MRI approaches in larger cohorts

Funding Agency: Glaucoma Research Foundation
Title: Shaffer Grant
Pre-Application Deadline: 7/15/2020

Glaucoma Research Foundation support new high-impact clinical, epidemiological and laboratory research based on our strategic research goals.

Strategic Research Goals

  • Protect and restore the optic nerve
  • Accurately detect glaucoma and monitor its progress
  • Find the genes responsible for glaucoma
  • Understand the intraocular pressure system and develop better treatments
  • Determine the risk factors for glaucoma damage using systematic outcomes data

Funding Agency: CDC
Title: Centers for Disease Control COVID-19 Broad Agency Announcement: Developing Strategies for Protection, Prevention & Control in Communities
Application Deadline:  6/24/2020

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) works to protect the U.S. from health, safety and security threats, both foreign and domestic. Specifically, CDC works with its partners to monitor health, detect and investigate health problems, conduct research to enhance and implement prevention strategies, develop and promote sound public health policies, promote healthy behaviors, foster safe and healthful environments, respond to current and emerging threats, and provide public health leadership and training.

Funding Agency: USDA National Institute of Food and Agricultural
Title: Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative
Application Deadline: 7/15/2020

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative (AG2PI) focuses on collaborative science engagement and invites innovative research proposals that will lay the foundation for expanding knowledge concerning genomes and phenomes of crops and animals of importance to the agriculture sector of the United States. AG2PI supports multiple goals within the USDA Science Blueprint, USDA Innovation Agenda, the Genome to Phenome: USDA Blueprint for Animal Genomics Research, and relevant publicly initiated and led crop research initiatives to catalyze and coordinate research linking genomics and predictive phenomics to achieve advances that generate societal and environmental benefits.

Funding Agency: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Title: Focus Grants: Short-Term Risk
LOI Deadline: 8/1/2020
Application Deadline: 12/7/2020

The Focus Grant for Short-Term Risk is open to innovative, potentially high-yield proposals that focus on short-term risk for suicide.

The goal of this grant is to develop identification and/or intervention strategies for short-term suicide risk that can be implemented in clinical settings.

Funding Agency: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Title: Focus Grants: 20% by 2025
LOI Deadline: 8/1/2020
Application Deadline: 12/7/2020

AFSP has set a goal to reduce our nation's suicide rate 20% by 2025. We believe that by targeting areas known to contribute to suicide burden we can reach this goal. This Focus Grant RFA seeks applications that address potential biological, psychological, social and/or environmental pathways and interventions that can significantly reduce the national suicide rate if ultimately implemented on a large scale.

Image Science, Engineering, & Technology

Funding Agency: DOD
Title: C4ISR, Information Operations, Cyberspace Operations and Information Technology System Research
Application Deadline: 6/3/2021

The Naval Information Warfare Center, Pacific (NIWC Pacific) is soliciting white papers and proposals in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.102(d)(2), FAR 35.016 and Department of Defense Grant and Agreement Regulations (DoDGARS) 22.315(a) which provides for competitive selection of basic research, applied research, advanced technology development, and advanced component development and prototype (hereinafter referred to as research). Submissions in response to this announcement shall be for areas relating to the advancement of Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) capabilities, enabling technologies for Information Operations and Cyberspace Operations, and Information Technology systems.

Funding Agency: NSF
Title: Division of Physics: Investigator-Initiated Research Projects  (PHY)
Application Deadlines:

  • 10/19/2020: Deadline for Physics of Living Systems
  • 11/16/2020: Deadline for Plasma Physics
  • 11/25/2020: Deadline for AMO - Theory and Experiment; Gravitational Physics - Theory and Experiment; LIGO Research Support; Integrative Activities in Physics
  • 12/1/2020: Nuclear Physics - Theory and Experiment; Elementary Particle Physics - Experiment; Particle Astrophysics - Experiment
  • 12/8/2020: Elementary Particle Physics - Theory; Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology Theory; Quantum Information Science

The Division of Physics (PHY) supports physics research and the preparation of future scientists in the nation’s colleges and universities across a broad range of physics disciplines that span scales of space and time from the largest to the smallest and the oldest to the youngest.

Funding Agency: William T. Grant Foundation
Title: William T. Grant Scholars Program
Application Deadline: 7/1/2020

The William T. Grant Scholars Program supports career development for promising early-career researchers. The program funds five-year research and mentoring plans that significantly expand researchers’ expertise in new disciplines, methods, and content areas.

Funding Agency: NASA
Title: ROSES 2020: Solar Irradiance Science Team
LOI Deadline (not required): 8/7/2020
Application Deadline: 10/11/2020

The primary purpose of the SIST is to support the development of consistent multi-instrument/multi-platform space-based data sets of both total and spectrally resolved solar irradiance. The data sets should be useful as input to global models (e.g., general circulation models, atmospheric chemistry/transport models) and data assimilation systems, so that the effects of variations in solar output can be properly represented and their impacts on the Earth system investigated.

Social Science, Arts and Humanities

Funding Agency: Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Title: Alternative Methods For Calculating Fair Market Rents (FMRs) in Rental Markets with Rapidly Rising Rents
Application Deadline: 8/4/2020

HUD is soliciting proposals for research that will accomplish the following:

1. Define "rental markets with rapidly rising rents"

2. Identify alternative calculations to generate FMRs that more closely track market conditions in rapidly rising rental markets than current methods. This may include, but is not limited to, alternative sources of gross rent data and/or alternative calculation methodologies using existing data.

Funding Agency: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Title: Call for Proposals to Community-Based Archives
Application Deadline: 7/1/2020

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation invites community-based archives in the United States and its territories to submit applications for its 2020 Call for Proposals to Community-Based Archives.  These grants will provide support to archives in one or more of the following areas of need:

  • Operational costs, including staff, space, and utilities.
  • Collections care, including the acquisition of new materials, physical and digital storage fees, and access and preservation efforts.
  • Programming activities, including events, exhibitions, and publications.

Funding Agency:  Department of Justice
Title: Expected Practices Video Project
Application Deadline: 8/4/2020

This program will develop, enhance, and expand on training resources for federal, state, local, and tribal correctional agencies. Since the safety of inmates, staff, the public, and the orderly operation of correctional agencies is critical for successful outcomes, the need for training that reinforces professionalism and excellence in some of the primary correctional duties exists. While many of the video topics will be relevant in several corrections settings (e.g. community corrections, jails, and prisons), these videos will primarily be portrayed in the institutional environment.

Education

Funding Agency: Department of Education
Title: Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE): Coordinating Center for Transition Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities into Higher Education (TPSID-CC)
Application Deadline: 7/10/2020

The purpose of the TPSID program is to support a national coordinating center charged with conducting and disseminating research on strategies to promote positive academic, social, employment, and independent living outcomes for students with intellectual disabilities. 

For more information about available grants, visit our Pivot system or Grants.gov.

Lindsay Lewis | University of Houston Division of Research
lrlewis@uh.edu | uh.edu/research | 713-743-0951

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