Internet Freedom Annual Program Statement: Internet Freedom Technology (Limited Submission)

The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor has released the Internet Freedom Annual Program Statement for Internet Freedom Technology, which announces the availability of funding under the "Governing Justly and Democratically" Foreign Assistance program objective.  Interested organizations are invited to submit up to two Statements of Interest for projects that will "foster freedom of expression and free flow of information" around the world."  The Department of State will evaluate the Statements of Interest and invite select organizations to submit full proposals.  

Award:  From $500,000  up to $2.5 million over a period of from one to three years

Important dates:

Mandatory notification of interest deadline:  For the Department of State's May 31, 2013 deadline, provide the notification of interest to limited-submission@ncsu.edu by 5 p.m. April 25, 2013.  Include a working title, and identify which theme is the focal point, either "Technology Expanding Open and Uncensored Access to Information and Communications" or Secure Communication Technology," pages 2 and 3 of the announcement (available at http://research.ncsu.edu/rdo/2013/04/internet/).  

Internal preproposal submission:  Due by 5 p.m. May 6, 2013 to limited-submission@ncsu.edu .  Internal requirements are available at http://research.ncsu.edu/rdo/2013/04/internet/ .  

Estimated internal review completion date:  May 10, 2013

Department of State Statement of Interest submission deadline:  May 31, 2013.

For more information and a link to the Department of State announcement, see http://research.ncsu.edu/rdo/2013/04/internet/ .

EPA Announces University Challenge to Find Innovative Uses for Toxics Data

This is a very interesting opportunity for scholars working in environmental policy. The areas in which I believe CHASS participation would be particularly strong are indicated in bold in the last full paragraph of this announcement. Please visit the first listed link below to learn about how to participate in Webinars on this program. Of course, the Research Office is ready to help you apply for any funding.

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News Release: EPA Announces University Challenge to Find Innovative Uses for Toxics Data
03/19/2013

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today launched the TRI University Challenge, a new initiative designed to use academic partnerships to find innovative uses for Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data. TRI gives all Americans access to information about toxic chemicals in the environment as a tool to better protect health and the environment.

“For more than 20 years, individuals, organizations and communities have relied on TRI as a powerful tool for environmental protection,” said Malcolm D. Jackson, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Environmental Information and Chief Information Officer. “Now, EPA is encouraging students and professors to submit ideas for new projects that will increase the knowledge, use, and understanding of TRI data.

EPA will accept TRI University Challenge applications between March 18 and May 13, 2013 for projects that will begin this fall. Two informational webinars about the challenge are planned for April.

Institutions whose project proposals are selected will become TRI University Challenge partners. Partners gain practical experience collaborating with EPA to understand and solve local environmental challenges and may receive national recognition for their efforts. While no monetary assistance is available as part of this challenge, partners will receive direct support and guidance from EPA TRI experts.

Priority will be given to projects related to one or more of the following four topics: pollution prevention and sustainability, stakeholder engagement, technology and data mashups, and environmental education.

TRI helps industry, government, non-governmental organizations and the public make environmentally responsible decisions .by providing them with information about toxic chemical releases into the air, water and land.

More information on the Challenge, webinars and sample project ideas: www.epa.gov/tri/university

More information about the Challenge: http://challenge.gov/

More information about TRI: www.epa.gov/tri

Nominations for the 2013 International Food Prize

Colleagues, if you have a colleague you'd like to nominate, please see the link below.

The World Food Prize Foundation is accepting nominations for the 2013 international World Food Prize to "recognize the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world."  The late Nobel Peace Prize Laureate for 1970, Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, was the founder.  

The award is $250,000 formally presented at the Laureate Award Ceremony in mid-October, on or around World Food Day, in conjunction with the Borlaug Dialogue international symposium.

To nominate an individual, see

http://www.worldfoodprize.org/index.cfm?nodeID=25290 .

The World Food Prize program is not a limited submission program.  

Event on "Big Data"

Colleagues, many you have raised an interest in the idea of "big data," which involves the collection, storage, curation, and analysis of very large sets of data. Big data ideas are important to commerce and industry, but also to government, national security, social service provision, and, indeed, any human endeavor (including the humanities).

This announcement is taken direction from The Bulletin, at http://bulletin.ncsu.edu/2013/03/big-data-event/

The text of that announcement is listed below. If you attend this event, or any part of it, please let me know what you learned.

Tom

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Faculty, staff and students are invited to attend an informational program on big data analytics next month that kicks off the spring meeting of the Center for Innovation Management Studies. “Big Data for Fun & Profits: Your Guide to Top-Line Growth in the 21st Century” will be held 9–11 a.m. Tuesday, April 16, in the Hunt Library.  Register in advance for the free event.

The program includes:

Postdoctoral Native American Studies Research Fellowship

Colleagues, I received this information from Ray Fornes in Physics, who is NCSU's point of contact with Oak Ridge Affiliated Universities (ORAU). This may be a very good opportunity for CHASS. Please share with any colleagues who may find this interesting.

Tom

Dear Colleagues:

The National Institute of Justice is seeking proposals for the funding of one or more postdoctoral Native American Studies Research Fellowships to applicants who show the greatest potential for future achievement as scholars and researchers, and who can demonstrate experience relevant to the unique demands of working with tribal communities, including experience working in Indian Country and Alaska Native villages. As the principal research agency within the Department, NIJ is dedicated to improving knowledge and understanding of crime and justice issues through science. The program offers scientists an opportunity to participate full-time on research addressing tribal crime, victimization, and justice issues relevant to the work of NIJ and public policy.

For assistance with substantive requirements of this solicitation, contact Christine Crossland, Senior Social Science Analyst, by telephone at 202–616–5166, or by e-mail at 

Christine.Crossland@usdoj.gov.

Download the solicitation.

View all current funding opportunities from NIJ.

Fuqua School of Business Roundtable: Immigration and Visa Policies on US Competitiveness

People who study labor force, competitiveness, and immigration may find this interesting.

This is a reminder that we hope you can join us for a March 28 roundtable discussion at the Fuqua School of Business on the impact of American immigration and visa policies on U.S. competitiveness, hosted by the NFTC Foundation, Duke University, the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce and the Partnership for a New American Economy. 

Discussants include Madhu Beriwal, President and CEO, IEM; Aaron “Ronnie” Chatterji, Associate Professor, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University; Judith Cone, Special Assistant to the Chancellor for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chris Hare, Founder, The nTeTe Group; Nicole Hedrick, Director, Global Immigration, IBM; Jeremy Robbins, Director of the Partnership for a New American Economy; and Michael Schoenfeld, Vice President, Public Affairs and Government Relations, Duke University.

To RSVP, visit: http://nftc.org/calendar/calendar.asp?Mode=CalendarViewDetails&ID=643 

Regards,

Jake

Jake Colvin

Vice President, Global Trade Issues
National Foreign Trade Council
Tel: (202) 887-0278 x2025 / jcolvin@nftc.org
nftc.org / usaengage.org / globalinnovationforum.com

University of New Hampshire: 1st Annual Seminar in Culture and Sustainability

Colleagues, this is relevant to the humanities, not just social scientists. Indeed, it is aimed and humanists, and many of you will find this interesting.

This July, UNH will offer what we hope will be the first annual seminar in Culture and Sustainability.  

http://www.sustainableunh.unh.edu/summerseminar

(Deadline extended!)

UNH is a nationally recognized leader in sustainability, especially in the areas of climate & energy, biodiversity, and food systems.  We now want to ramp up the participation of humanities scholars in sustainability. For a week, you can join us in Durham to discuss readings and work on a writing or teaching project in the company of like-minded people at our new summer seminar, "Ecology and Ethnicity: Sustainability Studies' Contributions to Place." 

I hope you'll take a look and think creatively about how your work might apply. You do NOT need to be researching and writing about "nature": to us, "sustainability" means attending to "coupled human-natural systems," meaning that it is not solely about ecological issues but also calls for attention to historic preservation, public memory, digital cultures, as well as to the questions around gender, ethnicity and power that are the mainstay of much of the best humanities scholarship.  So, for instance, we have invited one seminar leader (Angel Nieves, Hamilton College) who's an architectural historian working with black diasporic public memory projects, and another (Darren Ranco, University of Maine) who's a cultural anthropologist working with Maine Indian basket makers and cultural revitalization.

Send a 1-page c.v. and 1-page statement describing your current scholarship to our our faculty fellow Siobhan Senior atssenier@unh.edu.

Please spread the word, and consider joining us.  And if you have an idea you'd like to run past us, please don't hesitate to be in touch with Siobhan.

Siobhan Senier
Associate Professor, English
Faculty Fellow, Sustainability Institute
James H. and Claire Short Hayes Chair in the Humanities
University of New Hampshire
95 Main St.
Durham NH 03824-3574

Research Funding Workshop for Early-Career Faculty

Colleagues, please share this announcement with your junior colleagues--this is an excellent opportunity to learn how to use COS Pivot to find research funding opportunities, including those in the humanities and social sciences. This is the same tool we use in the Research Office to find opportunities for research funding. It's a very powerful tool, and well worth learning.

Research Funding Workshop:

A hands-on opportunity for

early career faculty, co-presented 

by Chris Horn of Refworks' Pivot 

and Carol Ashcraft of NC State 

March 22, 2013 

9:30 a.m., repeat session at 1:30 p.m.

Room 3412 College of Textiles

Centennial Campus

Early career faculty are invited to a workshop by Customer Education and Training Manager Chris Horn of RefWorks, developer of COS Pivot, and NC State’s Research Development Office, with Carol Ashcraft co-presenting.  

The workshop is intended to equip participants with the knowledge and skills they need to:

·       Create, refine and save customized funding alerts

·       Track specific opportunities to receive immediate, automated alerts for any changes in those programs

·       Share opportunities with colleagues

·       Create, claim and effectively update a research profile

·       Identify prospective collaborators inside and outside NC State

·       Use help and support resources

Individual assistance will also be provided.

The workshop is free, but reservations are required because space is limited.  Please RSVP to carol_ashcraft@ncsu.edu and specify which session you prefer to attend.   Detailed directions to Room 3412 will be provided.

Presentation on Fulbright Programs for Faculty

Interesting in Teaching or 
Doing Research Abroad?


Consider

Presentation on Fulbright Programs for Faculty
Panel Discussion with Recent Fulbright Scholars
Light lunch will be provided

Friday, March 22
11:30 am-1:00 pm
126 Witherspoon
(Cates Ave and Dan Allen Drive)
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Sponsored by:


NC State Office of Faculty Development
NC Fulbright Association
Information: 919-513-3636 or contact jcaustin@ncsu.edu
Directions: 126 Witherspoon Student Center (click on link for map.  See Bldg. # 81)

Available Parking (for a small fee):
Reynolds Coliseum Deck     (Click on link. See Bldg. #99)

Dan Allen Drive Deck
Note: Dan Allen Drive is closed to thru traffic from 9 a.m. -5 p.m.  Approach must be from Hillsborough St. only.
Click on link.  See Bldg. # 60

Please RSVP by opening the link below.

Follow this link to the Survey:
Take the Survey

Or copy and paste the URL below into your internet browser:
http://ncsu.qualtrics.com//WRQualtricsSurveyEngine/?Q_SS=3qkKI5aohkUCNy5_d7rnxO3byMKkuCF&_=1

If this link doesn't work, please direct your inquiries to the number and email listed above.

North Carolina Sea Grant Request for Preproposals

North Carolina Sea Grant Opens New Funding Cycle
Preproposals Due April 5, 2013

North Carolina Sea Grant invites preproposals for coastal and marine research projects for the 2014-2016 core funding cycle.  Completed preproposals are due April 5, 2013.

"Preproposals identify coastal research priorities and describe the relevance of the research to North Carolina," explains Susan White, executive director.  "We expect a wide range of topics for projects seeking improved understanding, utilization and management of marine and coastal resources, particularly relating to coastal North Carolina and adjacent regions."

Full proposals will be requested later this year only from investigators who have submitted preproposals.  Maximum Sea Grant funding for the two-year funding period will be $100,000 per project.  Sea Grant requires nonfederal matching funds for at least one-third of the project's total costs.

Joint EPA & NCSU Poster Session for EPA and NCSU Researchers on Thursday, March 28

Research Collaboration Event

Between EPA-RTP and NCSU

You are invited to attend

The Second Joint EPA & NCSU Poster Session for EPA and NCSU Researchers on Thursday, March 28 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the US EPA-RTP Auditorium –Main Building C Room 111, Research Triangle Park (flyer is attached)

This event is a major collaboration effort between EPA-RTP and NCSU. It is a follow up to the poster session hosted by NC State on Centennial Campus in Spring 2012 attended by 84 NCSU and EPA researchers presenting 57 posters.

EPA-RTP will host this next event with the continuing effort to accomplish the following objectives:

Trends in Arts & Humanities Funding 2004-2012

Many of you will find this research report on global trends in arts and humanities funding. I am not sure that the data square with everything we know about these trends in the United States, but this does inform an interesting discussion and points to opportunities to increase funding in the humanities.

American Community Survey Data Users: Request for Input on New ACS Data Users Group Activities and Topics

ATTENTION: AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY DATA USERS

REQUEST FOR INPUT ON NEW ACS DATA USERS GROUP ACTIVITIES AND TOPICS

With funding from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Population Reference Bureau (PRB) and Sabre Systems are forming a new American Community Survey (ACS) Data Users Group. The purpose of the ACS Data Users Group is to improve understanding of the value and utility of ACS data. Membership in the group is free and open to all interested ACS data users. The ACS Data Users Group will not play a role in advising the Census Bureau or advocating to the Census Bureau on behalf of ACS data users. The group is led by a Steering Committee comprised of selected external stakeholders representing a broad spectrum of data users with different interests. 

To facilitate communication among ACS data users, PRB and Sabre Systems will create and maintain an online forum, organize webinars and special sessions at professional meetings, and hold an annual ACS Data Users Conference. The online forum is the centerpiece of this project and will provide a discussion site where people can share messages, materials, and announcements related to ACS data and methods. Specific activities and topics will be determined based on input from ACS Data Users Group members, Steering Committee members, and Census Bureau staff.

CHASS Junior Faculty Development Award (JFDA) Announcement

CHASS Junior Faculty Development Award (JFDA)
Announcement
Due dates for submission: April 1, 2013

The CHASS research office is pleased to announce that it will offer up to five Junior Faculty Development Awards, to support tenure-track faculty in their scholarly endeavors. This is a one-time program, but may be announced next year if funds are available.

Eligbility: Any junior faculty member  in any discipline in CHASS may apply. Only tenure-track faculty are eligible. Faculty who will apply for promotion and tenure in AY 2013-2014, or whose promotion to tenure will take effect any time during the 2013-14 academic year are not eligible for this award.

Faculty who have been funded under the SRA mechanism during the 2012 cycle are not eligible for this funding. Faculty may apply for these funds if they are being offered summer research salary for May or June 2013, or any portion of these months.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Human Subjects Office Hours

Colleagues, Sam Snyder, my counterpart in the College of Education, shared this with his colleagues in  his college. I know that this will be very helpful to our college as well. Please feel free to visit Deb Paxton during her office hours in Poe to ask anything at all about human subjects research. Of course, you can contact the IRB at any time, and if you have general questions please ask me as well (Sam and I are co-chairs of the IRB).

Once again NC State Regulatory Compliance Administrator Deb Paxton will be holding "IRB office hours" in Poe Hall.  Deb is available for walk-in traffic or by appointment on Tuesdays and Thursdays from about 4:20 until about 5:20 in room 530.

This is a real opportunity for residents of Poe Hall and nearby buildings to talk through those IRB issues that can slow the review of your proposal, so I encourage you to take good advantage.

US DOJ/NIJ call for applications for research on firearms and violence

In the aftermath of Sandy Hook, the Obama Administration has taken executive action to make federal funding available for studying violence related to firearms. This is an excellent opportunity to pursue some high-quality research in a field that lacks rigorous analysis. 

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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), National Institute of
Justice (NIJ) is seeking applications for research on firearms and violence. This program furthers the Department’s mission by sponsoring research to provide objective, independent knowledge and tools to meet the challenges of crime and justice, particularly at the State and local levels.

More details are at https://ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/sl001048.pdf and at this link

New York Public Library: Short Term Research Fellowships

Short-Term Research Fellowships

The New York Public Library is pleased to offer Short-Term Research Fellowships to support visiting scholars from outside the New York metropolitan area engaged in graduate-level, post-doctoral, and independent research.  Fellowship stipends are $1,000 per week for up to four weeks and researchers must be in residence at the Library for a minimum of two weeks between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014.  Scholars needing to conduct on-site research in the Library’s special collections to support projects in the humanities including but not limited to art history, cultural studies, history, literature, performing arts and photography are welcome to apply. Applicants must be United States citizens or permanent residents with the legal right to work in the U.S.

In 2013-2014, the Library will offer additional fellowships to support the study of food and society focusing on manuscript cookbooks and related archival collections held by the Library. With support from the Pine Tree Foundation, the Food Studies Fellowships are intended to support multidisciplinary research and expose individuals working in the area of food studies to manuscript recipe books and archival collections held at the Library. Applicants for this fellowship should follow the same guidelines as the Short-Term Research Fellowship program.

[More information after the jump]

Google Faculty Research Awards

Colleagues,

Google has announced its deadlines for its Faculty Research Awards. They are April 15 and October 15 of this year. While these awards tend to focus on technical fields, the breadth of their interests is considerable, and I believe that there are faculty in CHASS who could find this opportunity exciting. The funds tend to support graduate students, but the research project must be directed by a faculty PI.

The announcement is at http://research.google.com/university/relations/research_awards.html

Their FAQ page is http://research.google.com/university/relations/FAQ.html

Please visit these pages for more details. Please also note that Google funds research as unrestricted gifts, not grants, to the University. For now, this distinction is not important--your time is better spent considering how you might apply for this funding! But since this is unusual in the research world, you will want to work with the CHASS research office carefully to ensure that we follow both Google's and our University's processes for handling unrestricted gifts.

Following is a blurb from the Google announcement. I think this is very exciting, and I urge you to read this announcement!

What are Google Research Awards?

Google Research Awards are one-year awards structured as unrestricted gifts to universities to support the work of world-class full-time faculty members at top universities around the world. Faculty members can apply for Research Awards by submitting a proposal to one of our two 2013 funding rounds. Our 2013 deadlines are April 15 and October 15. Recipients are selected through a comprehensive internal review process and notified of their awards within 4 months of the initial submission. Faculty members can apply for up to 150,000 USD in eligible expenses, but actual award amounts are frequently less than the full amount requested. Most awards are funded at the amount needed to support basic expenses for one graduate student for one year. Please see our FAQs for more details on eligibility and budgets.

More details on applying for the FRPD awards

Colleagues, in my earlier announcement about the Faculty Research and Professional Development (FRPD) awards, I failed to provide you with details of the college process and application guidelines. You can find that information at

http://www.chass.ncsu.edu/research/resources/funding/FRPD/index.php


Please share this information broadly with your CHASS colleagues.

FRPD application period is now open

The Individual Faculty Research and Professional Development (FRPD)  -  http://research.ncsu.edu/rdo/funding/internal-funding/frpd/

We are pleased to announce the release of the proposal guidelines for the 2013-14 Faculty Research and Professional Development Fund (FRPD).  Do not hesitate to contact Missy Seate in the CHASS research office if you have any questions about this award.  

Update: Additional information on this process is at http://www.chass.ncsu.edu/research/resources/funding/FRPD/index.php

PINS Proposal must be routed to the CHASS Research Office by April 12, 2013.