External Funding Advisor
July 2017 Newsletter
In this Issue:
  1. Director's Note - Office of Sponsored Programs' Recognition Reception
  2. Featured Funding Opportunity - Madison Trust 2018
  3. NSF Updates - 
  4. NIH Updates- Interactive Tutorials, Discover NIH's Research Interests & Next Generation Researchers  
Director's Note
The Office of Sponsored Programs' Recognition Reception

Please join us and invited speakers in honoring all involved in the pursuit of external funding at James Madison University. 

Friday, October 6, 2017
2:00pm - 4:00pm 
Festival Ballroom 

We will be presenting selected awards to faculty and staff for their accomplishments during fiscal year 2017 (June 01, 2016 - June 30, 2017) and throughout their entire career at JMU. 

Hors d'oeuvres, desserts, and refreshments will be served. 

Welcoming remarks from JMU's new Provost, Heather Coltman, will begin at 2:30pm, followed by our faculty highlight speaker, Caroline Lubert from the Mathematics and Statistics Department, and award announcements. 

Based on the survey feedback from last year, the formal program will be shortened to allow more time for guest mingling. 

If you are unable to attend the event in its entirety, please feel free to come as you are able. 

Please RSVP no later than October 2nd by emailing Megan Resch at reschmm@jmu.edu 

We hope to see you there! 

Please submit a photo and a short bio when you RSVP, to be displayed on our slideshow during the event. 
Featured Funding Opportunity 
Madison Trust 2018 Call for Proposals 

Madison Trust is a dynamic, personal and rewarding experience that aims to foster JMU's enterprising spirit and results in potentially life-changing innovations. It was founded in hopes of supporting the inspiring innovations of our faculty and staff while creating a one-of-a-kind experience for our investor-judges. 
 
Madison Trust 2018 call for proposals is now open. You can access the online submission process via  https://app.reviewr.com/site/MadisonTrust2018 .  

When will Madison Trust take place on campus?
Friday, February 16, 2018

Do you need more information about Madison Trust?
We invite you attend a Madison Trust info session:
  • Tuesday, Sept. 12th: 9:30-10:45AM: Festival, Allegheny Room
  • Wednesday, Sept. 13th: 3:00-4:15pm; Madison Union 404
We’ll provide a brief program overview, walk through the proposal process and answer questions.  Register now.

For more information please visit our website: jmu.edu/madison-trust .
NSF Updates

Presentations from the most recent NSF Grants Conference are Available: 

  1. Types of Funding Opportunities
  2. Proposal Preparation
  3. Merit Review Process


NSF Outreach Materials Available

  • How to Prepare an NSF Proposal: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Spring 2017
  • NSF Grants Conference - The next NSF Grants Conference will be held November 13-14, 2017 in Phoenix, AZ. To receive information about the conference, visit the conference website
  • NSF Update - Spring 2017
    Topics • What’s New • NSF Policy Update - Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) Significant Changes • Automated Proposal Compliance Checking • Proposal Submission Modernization • Collaborators & Other Affiliations Pilot • Research Terms & Conditions Update • Research Performance Progress Report Update • Key Award Information • Proposal & Award Policy Outreach • Q&A

NIH Updates
New Interactive Tutorials on Preparing and Submitting Your NIH Grant Application

New to the NIH grant process? Ever wish someone would explain and walk you through applying for NIH grants step by step? If so, we hope NIH's newest resource will be the next best thing to joining you for an in-person lesson. 

Linked from NIH's How to Apply page, you will find four new interactive tutorials on the basics or preparing, writing, and submitting your application. Tutorials take between 4 to 11 minutes each to listen through, and you can easily jump ahead to chapters of interest, or navigate back to review something you've missed. These tutorials provide links to additional resources and transcripts.   
NIH Getting to Know Federal Funders and their Research Interests

Learning what projects NIH supports, using a robust database of historical and newly-funded projects, provides researchers valuable insight as they consider developing their own research programs and applications for funding. Click here for more information.  
NIH's New Next Generation Researchers Initiative

The National Institutes of Health has launched the Next Generation Researchers Initiative to bolster support for early-stage and mid-career investigators to address longstanding challenges faced by researchers trying to embark upon and sustain independent research careers. The initiative, which will involve a reallocation to "free up substantial funds from NIH's base budget, beginning this year with about $210 million, and ramping to approximately $1.1 billion per year after five years," director Francis Collins announced June 8. 

NIH will take a multi-pronged approach to increase the number of NIH-funded early-stage and mid-career investigators and stabilize the career trajectory of scientists by: 
  • Further extending the payline for early stage investigators, with an aim of funding most applications that score in the top 25 percent 
  • Providing additional support for mid-career investigators with 10 years  or less as a principal investigator 
    *Extending the payline for those about to lose all NIH funding 
    *Identifying "rising stars" who are seeking support for their second RPG, but just missed the payline. 


NIH will also place greater emphasis on current NIH funding programs aimed at early-stage and mid-career investigators, such as: 


See also the page dedicated to Early Research Career Development

  Notice:

From May 8, 2017 - August 18, 2017, the Office of Sponsored Programs will be following JMU's Summer Schedule: Monday - Thursday, 8:00am - 5:00pm, and Friday 8:00am - 12noon

  Office of Sponsored Programs | James Madison University | 540-568-6872|  jmu_grants@jmu.edu  |