In this issue ;-)
1. Urgent Reminder - Did Your NIH F32 Application Miss Funding?
2. 2007 Bodil-Schmidt-Nielsen Award Presentation Available Online
3. Call for Nominations - Bodil M. Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award
4. APS Science Policy Update #46 - July 27, 2007
5. FASEB Launches New Web Site on Financial Conflicts of Interest
6. NIH Launches New Program to Fund Exceptionally Innovative Research
1. Urgent Reminder - Did Your NIH F32 Application Miss Funding?
APS Launches One Year Stop-Gap Measure to Aid Top Fellowship Candidates - The APS Council has launched this stopgap initiative in response to the diminishing success rate of candidates competing for NIH F32 Fellowship support. In order to assist our members contending with the reduction in available resources from NIH in support of postdoctoral fellowships, the Initiative targets individuals who have narrowly missed NIH funding. This interim initiative is designed to provide our members with the ability to continue the training of future independent physiologists. The goal is to support postdoctoral fellowship candidates who are scheduled to work in the laboratories of members of the American Physiological Society. The Council has committed funds to support up to 10 postdoctoral fellowships as part of this short-term initiative. Deadlines: August 1, 2007 and January 2, 2008. For additional information: http://www.the-aps.org/awards/student/postdocinitiative.htm
2. 2007 Bodil-Schmidt-Nielsen Award Presentation Available Online
"Mentoring - Lessons Learned"
2007 Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Awardee talk by Barbara A. Horwitz, Ph.D. (University of California, Davis) is now available.
http://www.the-aps.org/awards/society/S-Nawardee.htm
3. Call for Nominations - Bodil M. Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award
Deadline: September 15, 2007
Award: $1,000 honorarium + commemorative plaque + travel expenses for EB 2008 meeting
This award recognizes an APS member (male or female) who is judged to be both a superb mentor and an outstanding scientist. All nominations need to be submitted online this year.
For more information on how to nominate a person for this award, please see:
http://www.the-aps.org/awards/society/schmidt-nielsen.htm
4. APS Science Policy Update #46 - July 27, 2007
In this issue:
• Washington Post Op-Ed on NIH funding
• Nature features new NIH OPASI director
• FASEB Washington Update
• NASA and NIH to collaborate?
WA Post on NIH funding
An op-ed piece in the Washington Post describes how a lack of funding increases in recent years will affect future generations of scientists.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/23/AR2007072301364.html
Nature focuses on OPASI director
The most recent issue of Nature features a profile of Dr. Alan Krensky, the new director of the NIH office of portfolio analysis and strategic initiatives.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v448/n7152/full/448406a.html
FASEB Washington Update
For an update on the appropriations process, see the latest FASEB Washington Update.
http://opa.faseb.org/pages/Washingtonupdate/July2007/
NIH experiments on the space station
NASA and NIH are considering collaborations that would enable NIH funded research to be conducted on the International Space Station.
http://www.the-scientist.com/news/home/53389/
5. FASEB Launches New Web Site on Financial Conflicts of Interest
The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology opened a Web site (http://opa.faseb.org/pages/Advocacy/coi/Toolkit.htm) with guidelines for researchers, universities, scientific societies, research publications, and industry to manage and disclose financial relationships that could give rise to conflicts of interest.
The Web site, which the federation dubbed a COI Toolkit, is based on the premises that scientists should do their research objectively, work transparently, and be accountable.
The site provides sets of principles for each group involved in potential conflicts of interest. Some policies have already been adopted by organizations or institutions; others are recommendations. The toolkit will allow groups and individuals to find a ready reference to consult as they formulate their own approaches to the issue.
Leo T. Furcht, a previous president of the federation and head of the committee that developed the Web site, said the issue presented researchers with a major challenge. "The lack of clarity and consistency in current conflict-of-interest policies," he said in a written statement, "may cause confusion by investigators and ultimately inhibit their ability to protect the integrity of research."
The Federation, the largest coalition of biomedical-research groups in the United States, based the new resource on a report it issued one year ago that was intended to help educate university researchers and others about how to handle financial conflicts of interest that arise when industry supports their work (The Chronicle, July 17, 2006).
6. NIH Launches New Program to Fund Exceptionally Innovative Research
The National Institutes of Health announces a new program to fund exceptionally innovative research that, if successful, will have an unusually high impact. The program, called EUREKA (for Exceptional, Unconventional Research Enabling Knowledge Acceleration), targets investigators who are testing novel, unconventional hypotheses or are pursuing major methodological or technical challenges. The potential impact of the proposed research must be substantial in terms of both the size of the scientific community affected and the magnitude of its impact on the community.
Highlights of the EUREKA program include direct costs of up to $800,000 over 4 years and a specialized R01 application focusing on significance and innovation.
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences anticipates making between 13-17 awards under this program in Fiscal Year 2008. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases plan to fund additional awards.
The application receipt date for the EUREKA program is October 24, 2007. To view the full funding opportunity announcement, see http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-GM-08-002.html.
Martin Frank, Ph.D.
Executive Director, American Physiological Society
9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20814-3991 USA
Tel: 301-634-7118
Fax: 301-634-7241
E-mail: mfrank@the-aps.org
APS Home Page: www.the-aps.org
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