Inside Research & Funding Opportunities
03/08/2023, 11:05:01 AM
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Inside Research
News, Events and Resources for the UH Research Community
 
Latest News Upcoming Events Featured Event Featured Funding Ops

Announcements

  • The Grants.gov Production System and Grants.gov Training System will be offline for planned maintenance during the following period:
  • The UH Drug Discovery Institute has announced the Request for Applications for its 2023 Seed Grant Program. All full-time UH faculty are eligible to apply. 
     
  • The HEALTH-FAST Program is now accepting applications for Summer 2023The HEALTH-FAST (Helping Everyone Achieve a LifeTime of Health – Future Addiction Scientist Training) Program is designed to enhance the education and training of doctoral scholars, postdoctoral fellows, and Early-Stage Investigators (ESIs) in addiction sciences, with a particular focus on encouraging individuals from groups underrepresented in the health sciences to pursue substance abuse research careers in an academic or medical setting.
View past announcements on the Division of Research website.

Campus News

Professor Richard Willson at home

Enhancing At-Home COVID Tests with Glow-In-The Dark Materials

Based on a glow-in-the-dark star he spotted on the ceiling of his daughter's bedroom, Professor Richard Willson has developed technology to enhance COVID-19 home tests. 

shadow of farmer over a dry field

How Underserved Farmers Can Improve Crop, Impact Climate Change

UH researchers are developing a program to teach small-scale, underserved and limited resources (SULR) farmers how to improve their crop production by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing carbon removal. The work is supported by a nearly $5 million grant from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service.

H-Town CHATS Event

Hobby School Partners with The OpEd Project

The Elizabeth D. Rockwell Center on Ethics and Leadership at the Hobby School of Public Affairs is collaborating with The OpEd Project to help elevate the diverse viewpoints of UH faculty members beyond campus.

Upcoming Events

UH Drug Discovery Institute: The Rise of mRNA Vaccines and Therapeutics
Friday, March 10
2 p.m. — 3 p.m.
Register 

UH is a member of the Gulf Coast Consortia (GCC), one of the largest inter-institutional cooperatives in the world. 

IDDD Roundtable Workshop
Thursday, March 9
Register

GCC 60-second Elevator Talk Workshop
Tuesday, March 21
1 p.m. — 3 p.m.
Register

Pathway to Independence: Preparing the K99/R00 and Understanding the NIH
Wednesday, April 5
1 p.m. — 4 p.m.
Register

Featured Event

UH Drug Discovery Institute: The Rise of mRNA Vaccines and Therapeutics

Over the past few years, mRNA medicines have been front-and-center in public discourse due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the development of the COVID-19 vaccine is a case study in the ability of science and technology to aid humanity in moments of need. With the success of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, this previously little-known technology is spearheading the next wave of precision genetic medicines. 

Join Jason Murphy Ph.D., Vice President and Head of DNA and Chemical Operations and Strategy as he discusses drug commercialization during a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic and the coming mRNA revolution.

Friday, March 10
2 p.m. — 3 p.m.
Register 

Featured Funding Opportunities

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

Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health

Title: Exploratory Grants for Climate Change and Health Research Center Development (P20 Clinical Trial Optional)

Application Deadline:  November 07, 2023

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to solicit P20 planning grant applications for Climate Change and Health Research Centers (CCHRCs). This program will support the development of a transdisciplinary research environment to sustain a program of fundamental and applied research to examine the impacts of climate change on health and to develop action-oriented solutions to protect the health of individuals, communities, and nations from the hazards posed by climate change. This opportunity will allow development of new research teams collaborating with communities and other partners to develop projects that generate data that will build or expand research capacity across a range of thematic scientific areas in support of the four core tenets of the NIHs Initiative in climate heath research: health effects research, health equity, intervention research, and training and capacity building (https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/research-training/initiatives/climate-change/nih-climate-change-framework.pdf).    

 

Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health

Title: Translational Research in Maternal and Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)

Application Deadline:  Multiple deadlines

The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to support translational and clinical research to (1) advance precision medicine in pregnant persons, lactating persons, and children through the development of novel tools, models, and other technologies that could have a direct clinical or health impact; (2) enhance the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of drug action, including the role of pediatric ontogeny and the dynamic physiological changes that occur during pregnancy and lactation; and (3) discover and develop novel therapeutics or enhance the usage of existing drugs or drug repurposing for safer and more effective medications in pregnant and lactating persons, neonates, and children. The overall goal is to improve safe and effective precision therapeutics for pregnant and lactating persons, fetuses, neonates, and children, including those with disabilities.    

 

Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health

Title: Ex Vivo Models for Studies at the Intersection of HIV and Poly-Substance Use (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

Application Deadline:  Multiple deadlines    

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites grant applications aimed at elucidating neuroimmune and neuronal-glial pathophysiological mechanisms of HIV-associated neurological disorders (HAND) using ex vivo culturing platforms derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) in the presence of addictive substances. Specific emphasis is on unbiased, reproducible analysis of genetics and epigenetics, neuroglial interactions, and neuroimmune cell activities from the single cell to neural circuit levels.

 

Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health

Title: Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program in Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases (R25 Independent Clinical Trial not Allowed)

Application Deadline:  October 25, 2023

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) provides support to eligible, domestic institutions to develop and implement Postbaccalaureate Research Education Programs in Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases (DDEMD). These post-baccalaureate research programs will incorporate extensive research experiences and well-designed courses for skills development to prepare recent college graduates from diverse backgrounds to transition into and complete rigorous, research-focused biomedical doctoral degree programs (e.g., Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D.). The long-term goal of post-baccalaureate participants admitted to the program should be pursuing a career focused on DDEMD-related research. Eligible applicants for the R25 must be research-intensive doctoral degree-granting institutions with a research base in DDEMD science of at least $3 million in direct costs of peer-reviewed research projects, and research opportunities for students admitted to the program must be in DDEMD science.    

 

Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health

Title: Clinical-Community Linkages to Address Social Needs and Social Conditions to Advance Health Equity among Populations Experiencing Health Disparities: The Bridge-to-Care Initiative (R01 Clinical Trial Required)

Application Deadline:  May 01, 2023

Care delivery, in which a patients health is viewed apart from their social context, must be reimagined to make meaningful improvements in health, eliminate health disparities, and advance health equity. The purpose of the Bridge-to-Care initiative is to promote research that links clinical care with community services and resources to address unmet social needs and adverse social conditions. More specifically, this funding opportunity invites intervention research studies, conducted in partnership with healthcare and community organizations, that address individuals' and families' unmet social needs and communities' adverse social conditions, with a focus on populations that bear an excess burden of morbidity and mortality.    

 

Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health

Title: Using Secondary Data Analysis to Determine Whether Preventive Interventions Implemented Earlier in Life Reduce Suicide Risk (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

Application Deadline:  October 10, 2023

The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to encourage research to integrate/harmonize existing large prevention trial data sets implemented earlier in life to examine whether they reduce risk for later suicide, including suicide thoughts and behaviorsfatal and nonfatal (STB), and related external injuries (e.g., nonfatal SUD/OUD/accidents, and all-cause mortality (e.g., National Death Index).  This U01 will be competed and funded to: 1) obtain existing prevention trial data sets, with collaboration of the PIs who have the original data sets; 2) anonymize and aggregate and harmonize prevention trial data sets; 3) provide methodological and statistical expertise needed to examine, using theory-based approaches, whether intervening early reduces risk for STB and mortality, and potential mediators and moderators; and 4) oversee a final harmonized prevention trial data that will be deposited into the NIMH Data Archive (NDA).  This harmonized dataset will serve as an ongoing resource to the research community for years to come.    

 

Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health

Title: Advancing Integrated Models (AIM) of Care to Improve Pregnancy Outcomes among Women Who Experience Persistent Disparities (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)

Application Deadline:  May 01, 2023

Disparities in maternal health outcomes is a public health crisis that requires new insights and solutions. The purpose of this initiative advancing integrated models (AIM) of careis to stimulate research to develop or evaluate supportive care models that address healthcare access or healthcare quality together with structural or social inequities in order to prevent adverse maternal health outcomes among racial and ethnic minority women. This includes original intervention research and research evaluating the impact of federal, tribal, state, local, or organizational policies and programs on maternal health outcomes. Outcomes of interest include pregnancy-related morbidity (e.g., hypertension, diabetes, obesity, cerebrovascular disease, mental illness) including severe maternal morbidity; pregnancy-associated factors (e.g., violence exposure including firearm violence, substance use disorders, dietary patterns), and maternal mortality.    

 

Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health

Title: Evaluating the Impact of Pandemic Era related Food and Housing Policies and Programs on Health Outcomes in Health Disparity Populations (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)

Application Deadline:  May 01, 2023

The purpose of this FOA is to identify and evaluate the ongoing and long-term impacts of the pandemic era, focusing specifically on governmental (local, state, tribal, federal) policy and programmatic actions that address two specific social determinants of health: food/nutrition security and housing security. Applications are requested to examine how these food/nutrition and housing policies and programs aimed at lessening the effects of the pandemic era impacted health and health equity in individuals, families, and communities from health disparity populations. Health disparity populations include Blacks/African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, underserved rural populations, and sexual and gender minorities.    

 

Funding Agency: Food and Drug Administration

Title: Natural History and Biomarker Studies of Rare Neurodegenerative Diseases (U01) Clinical Trials Optional

Application Deadline:  May 04, 2023

The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to support efficient natural history studies and/or biomarker studies that fill unmet needs for rare neurodegenerative diseases for children and adults. Through the support of prospective natural history and/or biomarker studies with high quality and interpretable data elements, FDA expects to address critical knowledge gaps, remove major barriers to progress in the field, exert a significant and broad impact on a specific rare neurodegenerative disease or multiple rare neurodegenerative diseases with similar pathophysiology, and facilitate rare disease product development.    

 

Funding Agency: Health Resources and Services Administration

Title: Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention (NEPQR)-Pathway to Registered Nurse Program (PRNP)

Application Deadline:  April 27, 2023

The purpose of this program is to create a pathway from academic training to clinical practice through the creation and implementation of Licensed Practical Nurse/Licensed Vocational Nurse (LPN/LVN) to Registered Nurse (RN) Bridge Programs and employment of Clinical Nurse Faculty. Funding will be used for: • Program Development: Funds can be used to develop and implement or enhance an accredited LPN/LVN-to-RN Bridge program targeting the needs of LPNs/LVNs. • Direct Support for LPN/LVN to RN students: Funds can be used to assist in student success such as stipends, tuition, and other social supports (e.g., transportation and childcare assistance). LPNs/LVNs are nursing professionals and when entering a degree program there may be barriers in place that keep these students from being successful. • Curriculum and Partnership Development: Funds can be used to develop curriculum and build/enhance/maintain partnerships between clinical and educational institutions. Challenges exist for students as they move from one educational institution to another (e.g., academic credits not transferring from 2-year to 4-year institutions) and working experiences are not always counted as credit toward their degree program. Strong partnerships are encouraged between clinical training sites and academic institutions including technical/vocational schools and community colleges to help to mitigate these challenges. • Preceptor/Faculty: Funds can be used to recruit, retain, and develop clinical and didactic faculty and clinical preceptors. Faculty and preceptors are needed to train new students in the bridge program being created.    

 

Funding Agency: Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs

Title: Traumatic Brain Injury and Psychological Health Research Program

Anticipated Application Deadline:  TBD    

The TBIPHRP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop ideas for submission to the anticipated FY23 funding opportunities. This pre-announcement should not be construed as an obligation by the government. The FY23 TBIPHRP funding opportunity announcements and General Application instructions/General Submission Instructions for the following award mechanisms will be posted on the Grants.gov website. Pre-application and application deadlines will be available when the announcements are released.

Image Science, Engineering, & Technology

Funding Agency: Department of Energy

Title: Large Wind Turbine Materials and Manufacturing

Application Deadline:  Concept papers due: March 23, 2023; full proposal due: May 09, 2023    

This opportunity targets the use of additive manufacturing for lower-cost, higher-performance wind blade, and non-blade wind turbine system components, with an additional focus on automation, digitalization, and sustainability. This funding opportunity targets three areas of interest: (1) Large Wind Blade Additive Manufacturing, (2) Additive Manufacturing of Non-Blade Wind Turbine Components; and (3) Large Wind Blades: Advancing Manufacturing, Materials, and Sustainability.

 

Funding Agency: National Science Foundation

Title: Synthesis Center for Understanding Organismal Resilience

Application Deadline:  Preliminary proposal required: Due date, January 12, 2024. Full proposal deadline: July 15, 2024    

IOS seeks to establish a new Synthesis Center to advance our ability to explain and predict organismal resiliency and plasticity in response to complex and dynamic environmental circumstances encountered over a lifespan through the synthesis of varied data sets and types that bridge multiple scales and levels.

 

Funding Agency: National Science Foundation

Title: Dear Colleague Letter: GEO EMpowering BRoader Academic Capacity and Education (GEO-EMBRACE)

Application Deadline:  Deadlines depend on specific program    

The Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) recognizes that individuals and institutions traditionally underserved by NSF face barriers to obtaining federal funding. To lower barriers, broaden participation, and promote access to funding support, the GEO-EMpowering Broader Academic Capacity & Education (GEO-EMBRACE) Dear Colleague Letter calls attention and encourages submissions to existing NSF and GEO opportunities of potential interest to investigators faced with barriers such as those noted above.

 

Funding Agency: National Science Foundation

Title: DCL: NSF Convergence Accelerator 

Application Deadline:  TBD    

Building upon the National Science Foundation's (NSF) investments in foundational research, the NSF's Convergence Accelerator program, within the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships or TIP, supports use-inspired solutions toward societal impact. The NSF's Convergence Accelerator program model comprises three phases: topic ideation, followed by convergence-research Phases 1 and 2. The 2023 solicitation is expected to be published in the coming months. The purpose of the DCL is to provide additional time prior to the funding opportunity for researchers, innovators, practitioners, educators and others to form teams and proposal submission ideas aligned to the track topics. There are three tracks: Equitable water solutions, real-world chemical sensing applications, and bio-inspired design innovations.

 

Funding Agency: Department of Energy

Title: Quantum Testbed Pathfinder

Application Deadline:  May 03, 2023

The mission of the ASCR program is to discover, develop, and deploy computational and networking capabilities to analyze, model, simulate and predict complex phenomena for the advancement of science. Since 2015, ASCR has held a series of workshops to assess the potential of quantum computing to advance transformative science and identify its potential impact. A wide range of high-impact applications of quantum computing were identified in areas such as chemistry, materials, and biology as well as in computational techniques such as optimization. However, the quantum resources required to achieve a practical advantage in any area of computational science remain inadequately understood. While it is possible to make a rough estimate based on the number of logic gates needed to run a specific algorithm, details such as the physical configuration of qubits in a processor device architecture, noise mechanisms, approaches to compilation and transpilation, gate set selection and implementation, etc. can have a significant impact on whether a specific quantum computer will be able to execute a useful computation. ASCR therefore invites applications for basic research to address the following questions: 1. What can fundamental physical limits on quantum processors tell us about what quantum computers can and cannot do? 2. How can we use NISQ devices to move our understanding of when and how quantum computers might be useful as far forward as possible? 3. How can we best assess the utility of a given (existing or hypothetical) quantum processor for advancing the frontiers of computational science?    

 

Funding Agency: Department of Energy

Title: Lasernetus for Discovery Science and Inertial Fusion Energy

Application Deadline:  April 18, 2023

The DOE SC program in Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) hereby announces its interest in receiving applications to advance North America’s First High Intensity Laser Research Network (LaserNetUS). The goal of this FOA is to offer support to new and existing LaserNetUS nodes that will advance the frontiers of laser science and applications, provide students and scientists with broad access to unique facilities and enabling technologies, foster collaboration among researchers and networks from around the world, and develop the workforce needed to advance high intensity laser science and Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE).    

 

Funding Agency: Department of Energy

Title: Increasing Utilization and Reliability of Electric Infrastructure with Grid-enhancing technologies (GETs)

Application Deadline:  May 09, 2023

Increasing Utilization and Reliability of Electric Infrastructure with Grid Enhancing Technologies. This Funding Opportunity Announcement is designed to seek applicants to conduct Research, Development, and Demonstration RD and D for innovative approaches that demonstrate real world benefits and usage of Grid Enhancing Technologies through at scale field demonstration.    

 

Funding Agency: Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy

Title: Unlocking Lasting Transformative Resiliency Advances By Faster Actuation Of Power Semiconductor Technologies (ULTRAFAST)

Application Deadline:  March 28, 2023

The goal of this FOA, entitled Unlocking Lasting Transformative Resiliency Advances by Faster Actuation of power Semiconductor Technologies (ULTRAFAST), is to advance the performance limits of silicon (Si), wide bandgap (WBG), and ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) semiconductor devices3 and significantly improve their actuation methods to support a more capable, resilient, and reliable future grid. This new program seeks to engage technical experts from power electronics, optoelectronics, photonics, and other related fields to support the development of next-generation ultra-fast semiconductor devices and modules for enhanced resiliency, reliability, and control of power flow at all grid interfaces.    

 

Funding Agency: Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy

Title: Unlocking Lasting Transformative Resiliency Advances By Faster Actuation Of Power Semiconductor Technologies SBIR/STTR  (ULTRAFAST SBIR/STTR)

Application Deadline:  March 28, 2023

The goal of this FOA, entitled Unlocking Lasting Transformative Resiliency Advances by Faster Actuation of power Semiconductor Technologies (ULTRAFAST), is to advance the performance limits of silicon (Si), wide bandgap (WBG), and ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) semiconductor devices5 and significantly improve their actuation methods to support a more capable, resilient, and reliable future grid. This new program seeks to engage technical experts from power electronics, optoelectronics, photonics, and other related fields to support the development of next-generation ultra-fast semiconductor devices and modules for enhanced resiliency, reliability, and control of power flow at all grid interfaces.    

 

Funding Agency: Department of Defense

Title: 2023 AFRL/RW Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA)

Application Deadline:  April 07, 2023

The Government is seeking Partnership Intermediary Agreements (PIAs) with entities that will facilitate joint projects and accelerate technology transfer/transition between the AFRL and the commercial market. These intermediaries will act in a matchmaker capacity, to assist companies in identifying federal technologies that can be licensed and commercialized, with a goal of successful collaboration between the AFRL, small businesses, academia, and industry. 

Funding Agency: Department of Defense

Title: U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences Broad Agency Announcement for Basic Research (Fiscal Year 2024)

Application Deadline:  July 15, 2023

ARI requests proposals to conduct basic research that will provide a scientific foundation to support broad capabilities. The Basic Research program employs four strategic focus areas for advancing science. (1) Science of Measurement of Individuals and Collectives: Advanced psychometric theory for deriving valid measurements from complex assessments and continuous streams of data. (2) Understanding Multilevel and Organizational Dynamics: Multilevel theory and methods for understanding dynamic restructuring, coordination, and composition processes in complex organizations. (3) Formal/Informal Learning and Development: Holistic models of individual and collective learning across work settings and contexts throughout the career span. (4) Context of Behavior in Military Environments: Integrative theory specifying the interactive relationships between individual characteristics and contextual drivers in predicting human behavior.

Social Science, Arts and Humanities

Funding Agency: Modern Language Association

Title: Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Publication Award for a Manuscript in Italian Literary Studies

Application Deadline:  June 01, 2023

The Committee on Honors and Awards of the Modern Language Association invites authors to enter the competition for the twenty-sixth Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Publication Award for a Manuscript in Italian Literary Studies. The prize is awarded each year to an author of an outstanding manuscript dealing with any aspect of the languages and literatures of Italy, including medieval Latin and comparative studies or intellectual history if the work's main thrust is clearly related to the humanities.    

 

Funding Agency: The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

Title: Grant Program 

Application Deadline:  September 01, 2023    

The Foundation actively supports the advancement of the visual arts through an extensive artist-centered grantmaking program. Our aim is to encourage and facilitate the production of original work that expands and enhances the contemporary art field. Our grants serve the needs of artists by funding the arts organizations and cultural institutions that support them. The grants we provide cover the full spectrum of artistic activity, from grassroots happenings at alternative spaces to contemporary exhibitions at major museums, and every phase of the creative process, from conception and production, to presentation and documentation.        

Education

Funding Agency: Department of Education (ED)
Title: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE): Project to Support America’s Families and Educators (Project SAFE) Grant Program Assistance Listing Number (ALN) 84.184N
Application Deadline: Rolling
The Project SAFE grant program provides grants to eligible LEAs to improve student safety and well-being by advancing strategies consistent with CDC guidance to reduce transmission of COVID-19 in schools. (must partner with an LEA).

Tim Holt | University of Houston Division of Research
cjholt@uh.edu | uh.edu/research | 713-743-8959

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